By Maydaa Abo El-Nadar
CAIRO, MAR.17 (SEE) - Egyptian squash champion Raneem El-Welily, World number 1, claimed the 2019 CIB Black Ball Squash Open’s title, after a final that lasted for 53 minutes, against her fellow citizen Nour El-Sherbini, world number 2.
Reigning World Champion El-Sherbini marked a good start winning the first game 11-9. However, El-Welily revenged taking the second 11-2.
23-year-old El-Sherbini, champion of the 2019 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions and the 2019 Professional Squash Association (PSA)’s World Championships, did not surrender and took the third 11-6.
Nevertheless, 30-year-old El-Welily was not, by any means, giving up her 20th PSA title. She closed out the match winning the last two games 11-1 and 11-5, respectively.
[caption id="attachment_41197" align="aligncenter" width="500"]
Nour El-Sherbini, Raneem El-Welily at the Final (Photo Credit: SquashSite)[/caption]
Expressing her happiness, El-Welily said, “It feels good to have won this match. Playing Nour is never easy and today was a little bit different than any other time we have played.
She added "We are very good friends off the court, and we fight until the end and respect each other. I think that is why we fought so hard tonight.”
“I think we both showed very good patterns throughout the match and we had some very good patches where we both played well. That hasn’t happened in a while, so I am very happy to have been a part of this good match.”
[caption id="attachment_41198" align="aligncenter" width="374"]
Photo Credit: PSA[/caption]
On her side, El-Sherbini expressed, “It’s been a tough week, and it was a bonus to be playing in Egypt in front of my friends, family, and my team. I’m glad I made it to the final here after winning the Worlds a few days ago.
"I have played a lot of hard battles with Raneem and she was better today. Hopefully, we’ll have more battles to come.”
Last time both faced each other in a PSA's final was at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, in New York, last January. In a three-games-match and by a score of 3-0 (11-9/11-8/11-8), El-Sherbini was the champion.
Follow the latest news on Google News
