Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Raneem El-Welily, Ali Farag Secure El-Gouna Squash's Title


Sat 27 Apr 2019 | 11:52 PM
maydaa nadar

World No.1s Raneem El-Welily and Ali Farag cheered up the Egyptian public after both champions won 2019 El Gouna International Squash Open.

On Egyptian soil, at El-Gouna's eye-catching Abu Tig Marina, spectators enjoyed the tournament's all-Egyptian finals.

Worth noting is that El-Welily was also the tournament's champion in 2018.

The Women's Final

In a marathonlike final that lasted for 61 minutes, El-Welily met her fellow citizen Noran Gohar, world number 7. The former took the opening game 11-8 and the latter won the second 7-11.  El-Welily turned the tables taking the following two 12-10 and 11-6.

[caption id="attachment_47951" align="aligncenter" width="608"]Raneem El-Welily v Noran Gohar at El Gouna Squash's Final (PSA) Raneem El-Welily v Noran Gohar at El Gouna Squash's Final (PSA)[/caption]

Expressing her happiness, the champion commented, “It's definitely hard pushing yourself this way, but when you're in a final of such a great tournament, you do your best to stay in, and you do your best to win. That's what I was thinking at that point."

The Men's Final

On the other side, the men's 46-minute battle took place between Farag and his compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad (world no.6).  The result was 3-0 (11-9/12-10/11-3) in Farag's favor.

[caption id="attachment_47953" align="aligncenter" width="608"]Ali Farag after Claiming El-Gouna Squash's Title (PSA) Ali Farag after Claiming El-Gouna Squash's Title (PSA)[/caption]

After his win, Farag expressed, “This season has been amazing for me, I couldn’t have asked for a better one. I might have won a lot of big titles, like the World Championships and claiming that No.1 spot at the ToC, but this one is a very special one as I’m sharing it in front of my people.”

Egyptians at El-Gouna Previous Editions

Regarding the tournament's previous men finals, it was all won over by the Pharaohs, except in 2017.

Legendary Ramy Ashour nicknamed the Maestro, claimed the title in 2012, 2014, and 2015. Karim Darwish was the 2010's champion. In 2016, Mohamed El-Shorbagy, world no.2, snatched the title. His brother Marwan secured the crown in 2018.

France's Gregory Gaultier broke the rule in 2017, beating Abdel Gawad in the final (11-6/11-8/11-7).