Half is ours
Egypt's squash players put their stamp on the British junior championship.
Inas Mazhar reports
Egyptians claimed half the titles at the British junior championship, winning first place in four of the eight events.
At the just concluded tournament for men and women from under-13 to under-19, Egypt was runner-up in six events and took third place in three events. The country was fourth in two events and fifth in five events. In all, Egyptians reached the semi- final in all eight events in England.
"It's a great achievement coming at the start of the new year which can be added to our remarkable results of last year," Mohamed El-Menshawi, president of the Egyptian Squash Federation, said.
Last year, Egyptian squash hit its peak, with players winning the women's junior team and individual championships in Cairo. The world individual championship in Lahore went to Amr Shabana while Karim Darwish was third. The men's team was fourth at the world team championship. Egypt also claimed all team and individual titles at the All- Africa Games and the Arab Games.
Mohamed El-Zorka was second in the under 13-year event, Mohamed El-Shorbagi third, Mohamed Farah fourth and Omar Mohi fifth.
In U-15, Mohamed Ali Anwar claimed second and Karim Tarek fifth. Omar Mossad won the U-17 title while Omar El-Gharabawi took fifth place. Mahmoud Adel was runner-up at the U-19 while Sherif Mostafa ended in fifth place.
The girls met more success, taking first place in three of the four events. The young women swept the U-13 event, with all Egyptians reaching the semi-final. Heba El-Tereiki was first, Merihan Amr the runner-up, Salma Nasar third and Nour El-Taib fourth.
Shahenda Osama nailed down second place in U-15 and Esra Sami fifth. U-17 saw an all-Egyptian final with Ranim El-Welili beating teammate Sara Badr to take first place. Badr, runner-up at the world junior women's championship, was second.
World junior champion Omneya Abdel-Qawi squashed her opponents to win the U-19 event. Amna El-Taraboulsi was third.
"These scores have pushed the game forward and brought it back to its rightful place," El-Menshawi said. "We are now concentrating on the juniors because they are the future. They will soon be fully prepared for world championships."
"The federation's policy is to promote the game and encourage youngsters to play more squash. That can only be done by giving them the chance to play abroad and improve their world rankings despite its high costs. But we should not deny them the chance, especially when they can achieve results," said El-Menshawi.
