Egypt Wins World Team Squash Title

By Parvez Fatteh, TMO, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Egypt continued its dominance of the world of squash, as they defeated England two matches to one to win the 2011 World Team Championship title in Paderborn, Germany this week. England were the top seeds in the tournament, which takes place every two years. Egypt, meanwhile, were the defending champions from 2009, and they were able to successfully defend their title.

In the opening match, world number two, Egypt’s Ramy Ashour, defeated world number one Nick Matthew 11-7, 11-9, 13-11 for his first straight game victory against Matthew in the history of their four year rivalry. But the match was not without controversy, especially in the third game, which Matthew thought that he had one at a couple of junctures. Matthew told The Star, “I had to fight. The crowd knows but the only people who didn’t were the four [referees] who counted.” However, Matthew then went on to add: “He played a lot better than me; he deserved it. I wasn’t playing my best. But if I’d won that third game I think I could have gone on to win the match.” Ashour, for his part, enjoyed the battle, telling The Star, “It was like being in a UFC bout but I am so proud.”

In the second match, Ashour’s older brother, Hisham, fell to England’s Peter Barker, eighth-ranked in the world, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7. That result left Egypt’s Karim Darwish to face England’s James Wilstrop for all the marbles. And Darwish indeed came out the victor, with a thrilling four game victory, 11-5, 13-11, 9-11, 11-4, to bring squash’s top team title back once again to Cairo.

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