Men's final:
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [7] Karim Darwish (EGY) 5-11,
11-8, 11-4, 11-5 (60m)
Women's final:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [11] Vicky Botwright (ENG) 5-11,
11-1, 11-6, 11-9 (44m)
Ramy Ashour & Nicol David Share
World Honours In Manchester
Egyptian Ramy
Ashour and Malaysian Nicol
David shared the
honours in the Hi-Tec World Open
Squash Championships after victories in the
finals of the first joint staging of the Men's World
Open andWomen's World
Open in
the UK at the National Squash
Centre at Sportcity in Manchester.
Spurred on by a capacity home crowd in the English city in which
she was born and raised, England's Vicky
Botwrighttook the opening game against favourite Nicol
David in the women's final - but failed to prevent the world number
one from reclaiming the title she lost last year in Madrid.
Botwright, the 11th seed playing in her last competition before
retiring to take up a position as Head Coach at the National
Centre, led throughout the opening game to take a surprise
lead.
But, after dropping her first game of the tournament, David
raised her game in the second to draw level after the loss of just
a single point.
The Malaysian superstar extended her lead by taking the
third. It was
nip and tuck in the fourth before David clinched the
match 5-11, 11-1,
11-6, 11-9 in 44 minutes to win the world title for the third time
- and extend her unbeaten Tour run to 43 matches since last
October.
"I knew I had to play my best squash of the week - after all
she's world number one, the best player in the world," said the
31-year-old local heroine who made her breakthrough when beating
Australia's defending champion Rachael
Grinhamin the second round.
"It's been a fantastic week - the crowd were
fantastic. When they started shouting as
I went onto court, I felt a bit emotional. But I am definitely not going
to play on the Tour anymore," Botwright confirmed.
David, who has massive support in her home country, acknowledged
the significance of the crowd: "I now know what it's like for
people to play me in Malaysia."
But she was full of praise for her opponent, ranked 12 in the
world: "Every
shot she played, every drive, was so tight," said David of her
unexpected opponent in the final. "She really kept on fighting -
it was a great achievement to get to the final."
Less than 24 hours after competing in the world final, Botwright
will be back at work for her employers Manchester City Council,
running a coaching session at the city's Abraham Moss Recreation
Centre!
The men's event climaxed in an all-Egyptian clash
between Ramy Ashour,
the fourth seed from Cairo who removed compatriot and defending
champion Amr
Shabana in
the semi-finals, and close friend Karim
Darwish, the No7 seed who ousted Australia's two-time
champion David
Palmer.
Both were playing in their maiden world final - and 27-year-old
underdog Darwish took the opening advantage by winning the first
game.
But the exuberant Ashour, the 21-year-old world No4 and twice
winner of the world junior title, changed his tactics and clinched
the second game to draw level.
By now the younger Egyptian was in the ascendancy and - to the
joy of the vociferous Egyptian section of the crowd - beat
Darwish 5-11, 11-8,
11-4, 11-5 in 60 minutes to become only the second player in
history (after Pakistan legendJansher Khan) to win
both the junior and senior world titles.
"Putting me in the same category as Jansher is a huge thing for
me," said new champion Ramy Ashour. "I have been watching his
videos on YouTube recently - and have used some of his shots in my
game.
"I didn't think about becoming world champion during the whole
match," added Ashour. "Karim is a very tough player
- I had to keep my focus the whole time."
Manchester is
clearly a lucky city for the 21-year-old, who won the PSA's
flagship Super Series
Finals last year at the National
Squash Centre. "For sure I'll be back to try
and win another title in front of this great crowd."
Ashour, who now has ten PSA
Tour titles to his name, admitted
that he had played conservatively in the first
game: "I did
it on purpose - but he came out doing the things I should have been
doing, and this provoked me!"
When asked what winning the world title would mean to him,
Ashour said: "It will mean a lot - but it
will mean more to my mother and father."
