'A dream come true'

By Eman Abdel-Moeti

Winners of the 3rd Al-Ahram Squash Tournament, Ahmed Barada (Up picture) and Michelle Martin (Down) shooting the ball unmercilessly to pave their way to victory photos: Khaled ElÐFiqi

The 21-year-old Barada, ranked no. 7 in the world, invoked all his energy and skill to beat Heath, world no. 21 and a year his junior, 3-2. It is the first time Barada has won the Al-Ahram championship. The first championship in 1996 went to Pakistan's Jansher Khan, who beat Barada 3-0 in the final. The second title in 1997 was lifted by Scotland's Peter Nicol who beat Khan 3-1 in the final. "I didn't want to disappoint this fine crowd this year," Barada said. "I was determined to win the title."

An unprecedented 6,000 spectators turned up to watch the final played on a magnificent glass court at the foot of the Giza Pyramids.

The 98-minute final was a nail-biting affair, with both players exhibiting creativity and skill. Barada took an early lead, winning the first game 15-7. Despite the crowd chanting "win Barada win", the Egyptian star made two costly errors that gave Heath a 17-15 victory in the second game. The third game was a showcase of rivalry as Heath tried to match Barada's fast pace. Barada won 15-11. By the fourth game, the Egyptian was exhausted and Heath took advantage to win 15-13. Barada had to extend himself and took full advantage of the home crowd's cheering to win the decisive game 15-13.

The Egyptian now has his eyes on bigger things. "I am looking forward to becoming the world's top-ranked player," he said.

Some people attributed Heath's defeat to stage fright, but the Scot put a lid on that. "I knew Barada was going to be cheered on, but I was not scared of that at all because my mind was on the game and because I had a lot of Egyptian friends who were actually cheering for me as well, even if not as much as Barada," he told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Heath has not beaten the Egyptian before. "Barada has beaten me several times before, but I hope I will beat him for the first time tonight," he said before the match. "If I lose tonight, I will still be pleased that I reached the final of the biggest championship in the world."

Heath was a surprise finalist after pulling off a sensational 3-0 victory over compatriot and world no. 1 Peter Nicol.

"Nicol and I grew up together and I know how he plays, but I had never managed to beat him before," Heath said.

Nicol blamed his loss on fatigue. "I was very tired after the Commonwealth Games, but I tried to put a lot of work in every match in this tournament," he said. "I was just not strong enough by the time I reached the semi-final against Heath... it happens sometimes... you just get tired and can't go on."

For his part, Barada was disappointed that he could not face Nicol in the final. "Contrary to what many might think, I am actually sad that I didn't get the opportunity to beat Nicol in the final," he said.

The two players had two exhibition matches last August, each winning one. They entered the Al-Ahram championship with a lot of confidence that they would at least reach the final.

Heath denied them the opportunity to face each other. He had earlier had smooth encounters, beating Mark Cairns of England 3-1 in the first round and thrashing David Evans of Wales 3-0 in the second round. He defeated Australian Byron Davis 3-0 in the quarter-final, before pulling off his surprise victory over Nicol in the semi-final.

Barada had a more bumpy path. He beat Paul Price 3-1 in the first round and Nicolas Taylor 3-0 in the second round. He then defeated his arch-rival, Australian Rodney Eyles, 3-1 in the quarter-final, before routing Paul Johnson 3-1 in the semi-final.

In the women's event, Australian Michelle Martin won the Al-Ahram Championship for the first time, regaining the no. 1 position in the world rankings. Martin beat world no. 3 Cassie Jackman of England 3-0 (9-5, 9-3, 9-2) in a spectacular final. Jackman, 25, who had defeated world no. 1 Sarah Fitzgerald of Australia in the semi-final, had hoped to beat Martin and become the first woman ever to defeat the two top-ranked Australians in the same tournament.