15-Sep, Day Six, Finals:

Tarek Momen (Egy) 3-2 [2] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) 12/10, 6/11, 12/10, 8/11, 14/12 (109m)

[2] Raneem El Weleily (Egy) 3-1 [1] Nicol David (Mas)               12/10, 11/13, 11/6, 11/2 (36m)
  

Two Egyptian winners in Malaysia
Andrew Cross reports

Tarek Momen and Raneem El Weleily stole the show in the CIMB Malaysian Open 2012 competition.

It's Tarek's Title

Tarek and Mohammed El Shorbagy took to the court first in what was a mammoth final that went all the way to a deciding fifth tie break. This was very similar to the match that they played here two years ago and as the head to head looks that was Tarek’s only win against Shorbagy.

Today he added to that but Shorbagy had enough chances to win all five games. He often led throughout all five games but couldn’t quite finish it off, he led 10-7 in the first before losing 12-10. The second he won after converting a huge lead from 4.1 to 10.3. However Tarek fought back to win some points and get himself back into the zone for the third as he looked frustrated in the second.

The third was similar to the first as Shorbagy reached game ball at 10.6 but again Tarek found a run of 6 points to take the game 12.10 as Shorbagy hit a tin at game ball down.

Momen begins the fourth well leading but this time it is Shorbagy who fights back to take a 5-3 lead, four points in a row though take Tarek to 7-5 and there are becoming more and more lets now. Both seem to be getting edgy and tense as we move towards the closing stages of this game. Shorbagy held on though to take the game 11-8.

In the fifth it's close all the way we are through the game level pegging all the way and both are now getting more and more frustrated as the decision of the referees doesn’t seem to be consistent. Tarek reached game ball first but couldn’t convert, Shorbagy had a chance to win and probably should have had a stroke but not given as Tarek never looked back and went on to win the fifth for his second title in two weeks.

Raneem denies David

Raneem took to the court against Nicol David in front of her home crowd but the crowd was stunned as Raneem played some of the best squash we have probably ever seen her play. Raneem played unbelievable as the whole crowd seemed stunned with what they were witnessing.

Raneem was controlling the rallies, dictating the play, hitting winners from every possible position. Raneem was just either hitting winners or errors. It was just superb to watch and as she said in her post match interview she was under no pressure in comparison to yesterday.

We discussed how good Nicol has been in tie breaks and how good she has been throughout her career towards the end of games and in finals, but in the fourth game Nicol just had no answers to Raneem's amazing racket skills.

Despite losing Nicol was as gracious as ever in defeat as she continued to pose for photographers and please all her adoring fans.

What's great is that the players are willing to give up their own time to come and help the younger Malaysian players improve their games. Nour El Sherbini and Omneya Adbel Kawy were great yesterday and Omar Mossad was brilliant today and we thank them for that.

Malaysian Match Points:

[2] Raneem El Weleily (Egy) 3-1 [1] Nicol David (Mas) 
     12/10, 11/13, 11/6, 11/2 (36m)

1: A 2-0 start for Weleily but David gets the crowd going with a run of 5 points to lead 5-2. Raneem recovers and leads 8/6, extends to 10/6 with a pair of lovely drops. Showing Tarek-like tenacity David takes four in a row to level at 10-all, but tins to give Raneem anther chance which she takes with another fine drophot.

2: David's dropped a game in each of her last three matches so it's far from panic time and she takes a 3/1 lead. Raneem's still going for her shots though, and pulls it back to 4-all. More winners and errors from the Egyptian, it's 6-all, 7-all. Nicol's turn to drop her way to a 9/7 lead, gets the better of a long rally to lead 10/8, but Raneem gets it back to 10-all. Nicol guues one to the sidewall for 11-10 but Raneem's crosscourt levels again. Nicol scurries, Raneem tins an opportunity, then tins again as Nicol levels 13/11.

3: Raneem's not deterred as she leads 4/1 with some quick rallies, stays in control of them extending to 7/3. They trade points to 9/5 then 10/6 mainly on Raneem's winners or errors. One chance only needed this time as the Egyptian retakes the lead 11/6.

4: Raneem leads 2-0, is it panic time yet? It could be, Nicol tins for 3-0, Raneem drops for 4-0, another tin 5-0. A couple of points back for Nicol for 5-2, but another tine for 7-2. A glued drop for 8-2, a stroke for 9-2. Start panicking. A tin and another clinging drive and it's all over as Raneem lets out a shriek of delight.

It's only a fifth WSA title for Raneem, a long way behind Nicol's 62, but it's also her first win over Nicol in ten attempts, so expect both gaps to close ...

Tarek Momen (Egy) 3-2 [2] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy)
       12/10, 6/11, 12/10, 8/11, 14/12 (109m)

1: Shorbagy makes the faster start as he opens up a 4/0 lead, but Momen extends the rallies and levels at 4-all. It's level to 7-all but Shorbagy pulls away to 10-7, but as yesterday fails to finish it off as Momen takes five points in a row to lead 12/10.

2: Shorbagy starts well again for a 4/1 lead in the second, and as Momen starts to show a bit of frustration extends to 10/3. Momen saves three game balls again, but that's not enough this time as Shorbagy levels 11/6.

3: Four-all is the theme so far as Shorbagy again leads, 4/2, and is again pegged back. The second seed keeps just ahead though, at 7/6, extends it to 10/6. This time Tarek saves four game balls to level, and adds two more to retake the lead 12/10 as Shorbagy tins.

4: In the fourth it's Momen who has the early edge, leading 3/1, but Shorbagy comes back to lead 5/3. The swings continue, four in a row for Tarek to lead 7/5. Getting tense now with a lot of lets as Shorbagy regains the advantage to lead 9/8. Tarek tins a volley to give Shorbagy two game balls and a fistpump from Mohamed as he takes it at the first attempt.

5: Shorbagy is used to playing fifth games now, it's his third in a row, but again Momen starts better to lead 3/1. Shorbagy levels 3-all, lots more lets, 4-all, 5-all, 6-all, 7-all. Shorbagy drops his way to a 9/7 lead then tins for 9/8. Tense. A dying length from Tarek and it's 9-all. Shorbagy tins and it's match ball Momen, a flick drop and Shorbagy forces extra points.

A Momen boast clips the tin for match ball 11/10. Shorbagy thinks his drop has won it but it's a let, same thing happens again on the other side of the court. At the third time of asking it's a stroke to Tarek for 11-all. Tarek tins a winning drop, then slots one in for 12-all. Shorbagy's turn to tin gives Tarek another match ball, and he controls the rally before finally putting in the title-winning shot.

That's two titles in a row and three in all for Tarek.

Women's Draw

Men's Draw

6/11, 11/5, 15/13, 11/5 (46m)

[6] Annie Au

10/12, 11/6, 11/7, 11/8 (52m)

[4] Laura Massaro

12/10, 11/13, 11/6, 11/2 (36m)

[2] Raneem El Weleily

11/13, 11/5, 11/7, 11/3 (35m)

[7] Nour El Sherbini

11/7, 11/5, 11/8 (32m)

[3] Jenny Duncalf

 11/8, 9/11, 11/9, 9/11, 11/9 (64m)

[2] Raneem El Weleily

12/10, 5/11, 11/6, 11/3, (45m)

[2] Raneem El Weleily

Qualifying :

Kylie Lindsay (Nzl) bt Rachel Arnold (Mas)                          11/9, 11/6, 13/11 (34m)
Milou Van Der Heijden (Ned) bt Pushppa Devi (Mas)             11/5, 11/8, 11/3 (21m)
Tong Tsz-Wing (Hkg) bt Sarah Cardwell (Aus)      7/11, 11/4, 11/5, 7/11, 11/5 (85m) 
Joshna Chinappa (Ind) bt Teh Min Jie (Mas)                          11/4, 11/6, 11/2 (20m)
Salma Hany (Egy) bt Carmen Lee (Hkg)                                11/5, 11/6, 11/5 (25m)
Vanessa Raj (Mas) bt Olga Ertlova (Cze)                             12/10, 11/6, 11/3 (28m)
Lisa Aitken (Sco) bt Zulhijah Binti Azan (Mas)                      15/13, 11/4, 11/3 (34m)
Liu Tsz-Ling (Hkg) bt Nouran El Torky (Egy)                          11/7, 11/7, 11/5 (27m)

13/15, 11/7, 11/6, 11/6  (53m)

Tarek Momen

 12/10, 6/11, 12/10, 8/11, 14/12 (109m)

[2] Mohamed El Shorbagy

11/13, 11/7, 10/12, 11/8, 11/8 (64m)

[2] Mohamed El Shorbagy

Qualifying:

11-Sep, Finals:

Max Lee (Hkg) bt Campbell Grayson (Nzl)                  6/11, 11/4, 9/11, 11/7, 11/6 (64m)
Abdullah Al Mezayen (Kuw) bt Muhd Asyraf Azan (Mas)    13/15, 11/7, 11/5, 11/6 (40m
Siddarth Suchde (Ind) bt Mohammed Abouelghar (Egy)      11/9, 6/11, 11/9, 11/7 (53m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) bt Ivan Yuen (Mas)        11/9, 9/11, 11/4, 9/11, 14/12 (100m)

10-Sep, Round One:

Max Lee (Hkg) bt Mohd Syafiq Kamal (Mas)                                    11/8, 11/5, 11/4 (24m)
Campbell Grayson (Nzl) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (Egy)   11/6, 8/11, 11/2, 6/11 12/10 (62m)
Muhd Asyraf Azan (Mas) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy)    11/7, 13/15, 11/7, 9/11, 12/10 (76m)
Abdullah Al Mezayen (Kuw) bt Addeen Idrakie (Mas)             11/4, 11/1, 7/11, 11/3 (37m)
Siddarth Suchde (Ind) bt Kamran Khan (Mas)          10/12, 11/5, 8/11, 11/7, 14/12 (112m)
Mohammed Abouelghar (Egy) bt Matthew Karwalski (Aus)            11/6, 13/11, 11/4 (41m)
Ivan Yuen (Mas) bt Sanjay Singh (Mas)                                          11/7, 11/9, 11/6 (28m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (Mas) bt Gursan Singh (Mas)                          11/0, 11/9, 11/7 (26m)