All-Egyptian clash between El Sherbini and El Welily to decide Women's World Squash Championship

Published 14/04/2017 at 06:32 GMT

There will be an Egyptian winner of the Orascom Development PSA Women’s World Championship after title holder Nour El Sherbini and World No.4 Raneem El Welily prevailed on semi-finals day in El Gouna.

El Sherbini and El Welily to contest Women’s World Championship Final

Image credit: Eurosport

El Sherbini, who became the youngest female World Champion last year when she beat Laura Massaro in the final, was in cruise control in the opening two games against World No.5 Nouran Gohar, nullifying the 19-year-old’s hard-hitting brand of squash to go 2-0 up.

Gohar overturned five match balls in the third game to take the match into a fourth, but got herself back in front in the fourth to complete the win by an 11-4, 11-4, 13-15, 11-9 scoreline to stay in with a chance of being the first female Egyptian to lift the iconic title twice.

“It was a very tough match, Nouran is very young and very tough,” said El Sherbini.

Squash

‘You need to see role models fighting for equality’ - Massaro

26/03/2021 at 23:29

“It would mean everything to become World Champion here playing in front of an amazing crowd.

“They always come to support us and watch us and I’m really glad that we’re having the World Championship in El Gouna. It’s really amazing I’ve reached the final and I’m going to give it everything I have to win the title here.”

Meanwhile, El Welily will appear in a second World Championship final after she overcame French World No.3 Camille Serme in four games.

2014 runner-up El Welily and the in-form Serme – meeting for the 12th time on the PSA World Tour – played out a high-quality 47-minute encounter, with El Welily triumphing by an 11-6, 2-11, 12-10, 11-5 margin of victory.

The 28-year-old from Alexandria squandered four match balls against Malaysian icon Nicol David in the final three years ago in Cairo, but she says that she has learned from that disappointment and it won’t be in her thoughts ahead of tomorrow’s final.

“[Losing the last World Championship] has been out of my mind for so long,” she said.

“It really doesn’t bother me anymore. I’m past it, I’m over it and I’ve learnt so much from it. I’ve become a much better player since then.

“I really appreciate that moment and if it happens again, although I really wish it doesn’t, I’m not going to regret anything.”

Results – Semi-Finals: Orascom Development PSA Women’s World Championship
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [4] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 11-4, 13-15, 11-9 (57m)
[3] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [2] Camille Serme (FRA) 3-1: 11-6, 2-11, 12-10, 11-5 (47m)

Final: To Be Played April 14th – live on Eurosport Player
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [3] Raneem El Welily (EGY)

Squash

PSA Squash Tour suspended until May due to COVID-19

16/03/2020 at 11:50

Squash

Farag and El Sherbini capture 2020 Windy City Open titles

05/03/2020 at 09:18

Squash

Serme and ElShorbagy take the spoils at Tournament of Champions

20/01/2020 at 11:37

Join 3M+ users on app

Stay up to date with the latest news, results and live sports

Download

Scan me