11 - 17 April 2002
Issue No.581
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 11 - 17 April 2002 Issue No.581 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Surprise queen
Nashwa Abdel-Tawab reports on the new Hurghada squash champion
England's Natalie Pohrer crowned a sensational two weeks by beating second-seeded compatriot Cassie Campion in the final of the Hurghada Women's International Squash Championship.
Pohrer, a former world No 4 and now 12 on the list, claimed the biggest title of her career and became the first unseeded player to win a WISPA (Women's International Squash Player's Association) World Tour event in more than two years.
A week after reaching the final of the Heliopolis Open in Cairo -- also unseeded -- Pohrer carved through the field of the Grand Prix event in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada to reach the final after adding top seed Carol Owens, the world No 2 from New Zealand, to her list of world top 10 scalps.
Sadly, the swirling breeze which carried fine sand onto the open-air court in Hurghada put paid to a quality international final. After losing a tentative first game, Campion became increasingly concerned about the weather conditions but gave it a further try in the second. After falling three times when lunging for the ball, the former world champion conceded the match to give Pohrer the title after 18 minutes of play with the score at 9-2, 9-5.
Campion underwent back surgery last year and was understandably reluctant to risk further injury in the difficult conditions. "I'm naturally disappointed," said the world No 4 from Norfolk. "I was looking forward to playing in the final but having given it a go, I couldn't continue after falling over so often."
Pohrer, fighting back to top form after a six- month layoff last year, was not experiencing the same problems. "It was really unfortunate for Cassie as she seemed to struggle. But I went out to win and wasn't slipping. I don't lunge the way she does," said the 24-year-old, now based in the United States city of St Louis.
WISPA Director Andrew Shelley, the on-site championship organiser, was called into action to deal with the problems as they unfolded. "The court was clearly difficult but with only one player having severe problems it would have been inappropriate to abandon the match," Shelley said. "It was very hard on Cassie but the combination of the court and her stretching placed her in danger. A professional cannot risk her career recklessly and she made every effort to complete the match."
Ibrahim Nafie, chairman of the Al-Ahram Organisation, awards first prize to Pohrer who, at the top, displays the form that won the Hurghada meet (photos: Hossam Diab)
Pohrer had cruised to the final after securing a stunning 9-5, 8-10, 9-3, 9-3 victory over Owens, the top seeded player and title holder. A rueful Owens conceded afterwards: "I kept going short and didn't want to work to win. I didn't get up for the match."
Despite the disappointing climax, the championship was deemed a great success by the Al- Ahram Organisation, promoters of the event, and negotiations on dates for next year are already taking place.
England's Suzanne Horner, the 39-year-old world over-35 champion from Yorkshire, showed why she is still ranked in the world's top 10 when she came back from 2-0 down to beat Egypt's 16-year-old star of the future Omneya Abdel-Kawi on the second day of first round action in Hurghada. It was sweet revenge for the experienced England international who lost to the youngster in the Heliopolis Open in Abdel- Kawi's hometown of Cairo a week earlier. With the Egyptian serving for the match at 8-7 in the third game -- the TV lights were shining and the partisan crowd was roaring the local heroine on -- it looked as if history would be repeated.
Horner, however, remained focused and turned the match around as Abdel-Kawi's earlier deceptive racketwork became less effective. Although Abdel-Kawi got to five-all in the fifth, the home crowd was to be disappointed as seventh- seeded Horner clinched the match 6-9, 6-9, 10-8, 9-2, 9-5 in just over an hour. Horner acknowledged that she was lucky to scrape through in the third. "Omneya started to tire after the third. I jumped on her and she crumpled a bit. Hard and low cross court shots were the key."
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page