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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Back in town
By Nashwa Abdel-TawabA four-man squash championship in Alexandria will include the second best player in the world, but most eyes will be focused on the world's third best -- Ahmed Barada. The local hero will be playing in his first tournament in Egypt since he was stabbed in the back in his apartment in March. Spectators are expected to come out in droves to see what, if any, effect the midnight attack has had on Barada who sought treatment first in Egypt then in Germany.
While Barada may be the main attraction in the tournament, to be played in Montazah and sponsored by Al-Ahram Organisation, his world class challengers should manage to grab some of the limelight. World no. 2 Jonathon Power of Canada, world no. 6 Martin Heath of Scotland and Australian world no. 7 Anthony Hill will all be vying for the title as well as the attention. One noticeable absentee is the world's no. 1, Peter Nicol, who won the Alexandria championship last year when it debuted.
To be sure, Barada's formal return to the court took place last month in London, at the Equitable Life Super Series finals, where he lost to England's Simon Parke in the semi-finals. Barada had reached the semis after Heath was forced to withdraw with a foot injury. The Scot was leading by one game to love but limped off court after 21 minutes after straining a muscle on the sole of his foot. Barada then easily beat Hill, famed for his self-destructive act in tight situations, in straight games in the quarter-finals before going down to Parke who was in control throughout.
Despite the loss, Barada was clearly pleased by his form; reaching the semi-finals was probably more than he could have hoped for. But he admitted afterwards that he had found it difficult to relax in his first game against Heath. "I'm still unsteady," Barada, 23, said. "I need to play more so I'm sure the Alexandria tournament will do me good and will get me back on track."
Barada is not the only Egyptian making waves in the sport. Karim Darwish is top seed in the Men's World Junior Squash Championships in Milan. Darwish is bidding to become the third Egyptian to win the title since the inaugural championships in 1980. Darwish, 18, a British Junior Open champion, is expected to meet France's European junior champion Gregory Gaultier, 17, the second seed, in the final on 22 July.
Spain's Alberto Manso, 18, and England's James Willstrop, 16, are third and fourth seeds respectively in a record field of 170 players from 39 nations.
Should Darwish falter, the slack can be picked up by teammates Mahmoud Abdel-Qader, Hisham Ashour, Mustafa Essam and Akram Youssef, all members of the 1994 World Cup winning team.
In team play, too, Egypt is poised to win the Men's World Junior Team Championships being played in the same Milan event. Although a record 31 countries are competing, Egypt is seeded ahead of most of them, including defending champions England. The two nations are expected to meet in the final for the fourth successive time. England won two of the three encounters, in 1996 and 1998, while Egypt claimed the crown in 1994. Spain and Malaysia are seeded third and fourth while 1982 champions Pakistan are seeded sixth. Australia, champions a record five times, are seeded a lowly 12th.
