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 EN BREF
#4
All
you never knew you needed to know about Sharm El Sheikh |
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STUNNING
SETTINGS...
Well, you may have seen a few pictures here and there during
this week, but you may wonder where the heck we are....
The resort we are staying in is called
Laguna Vista, and I must stay, the architecture and
general infrastructure of the place is breathtaking.
The arrival is majestic, especially at this time of year, with
the Christmas and New Year decorations and lighting, but
at the entrance, you have
just got to stop and admire!
It looks like, well, a castle really. With a lobby where you
could put two glass courts!
Plenty of comfortable armchairs, a lovely grand piano where an
artist sits every evening, and accompanied by a violinist,
enchants the grateful patrons...
You also have a bar on the left,
that is opened till very late, where all drinks, including local
Alcoholic beverages are free - as for most clients here, it's an
all inclusive deal.
I especially enjoyed the outside terrace. During the day, it can
be quite warm, but in the evening, it's a great way to unwind,
as you watch the illuminated pools right below.
From that lobby, you can go to the right to the main restaurant,
where the choice of food is varied enough, and where the
barbecue works full blast at every meal!
 Beware
you may have to make sure you are not leaving your plate outside
for too long without surveillance, as you may not find it
again!!!
I must say I was surprised to see how the kids - numerous here -
are well behaved, and kept under perfect control by their
different parents. We have a lot of Russians, Italians, and a
few British too... Everybody living rather peacefully together,
with apparently some football matches organised on the beach
between the different nationalities!
Below the lobby, you have a night club, with the traditional
dance floor and karaoke...
You have a few shops, from jewelleries to clothes, mini
supermarket and pharmacy. A little business centre, and a room
service - rather affordable - available 24h a day.
 The
pools are just amazing. They seem to go on forever, and some
rooms do actually have their own private pools as well. A bit
further down, as you are going to the sea, people can rent
bungalows, or duplex bungalow, on two levels.
Of course, you have a spa centre, with a little indoor
swimming pool and Jacuzzi, and a beauty salon.
Now, to get to the rooms, you have multitude of corridors, and
stairs, you may get a bit overwhelmed to start with, but you
soon find your way round. I particularly thought the lighting
was amazing, and the doors, well, a piece of art, nothing less.
And the rooms, honestly, are lovely. Vast, airy, with a large
balcony at least, giving on an amazing view over the pools and
the sea.
Wish you were here....?
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THE PERFECT PLACE....
 "I
search a lot of places when I wanted to organise the event" says
Dr Ahmed, tournament promoter, also main actor in bringing
the Ladies' Worlds to Soho Square, in Sharm, a couple of months back.
"I wanted to make sure that the owner of the resort would
understand what I was trying to achieve. Some of them didn't
give me the time of day then. But here, I was well
received. And they trusted
me."
This tournament doesn't have the weight that the Worlds
had, of course, and Dr Ahmed - who is specialised in
transforming salty water in drinkable, crucial in that part
of the world - is a happy man.
 "I
want to make sure that everybody is happy. I made sure that even
the qualifiers get accommodation for free here. And that's how I
was able to get young Egyptians, as their parents can travel
with them, and make sure they get the right support."
And Dr Ahmed is a clever man. He listens to everybody, he
takes note of everything that is not perfect to make sure that
next time, it will be. You need something? You have it.
Difficult to be unhappy in those conditions...
I must say it was a real treat to work here, the weather
is now absolutely gorgeous, the tourists are happy, the girls
are relaxed, the animation team is getting wild outside my
window, and ask me how much I want to go back to London's snow... |
Dr
Ahmed with Mr. Ayman El Harras, hotel manager
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FOOTBALL WITH THE GIRLS... |
EN BREF
#3
All
you never knew you needed to know about Sharm El Sheik |
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MEET EGYPT's
MOTHER OF SQUASH
Flashback. 1992. No Girls or Ladies' Egyptian Team has
ever been on an International Team event. There are 6 players in
Egypt. Yes, 6, one girl 12 years old,
two of 15, and
three
of 16.
Flashback. A few years before that. In a Mixed
English School in Egypt. A young girl, excellent at sport,
record women for her age group for the 100 yards, wants to play
tennis. Rain.
 "I
had been playing tennis for years, but I never got anywhere, and
one day, it was raining, and Alaaeldeen Allouba, who was
already a great squash player, told us, why don’t you come and
play squash! Here is the ball, the racquet, why don’t you try.."
"And the minute I had the racquet in hand, I loved it. The
tennis racquet was heavy, but the squash racquet was light, and
I was able to hit the ball well. And from that minute, I knew I
could achieve something in this sport."
The name of that little girl? Samiha Aboulmagd. Better
known as Dr Samiha, or Mama Samiha... The Mother of
Egyptian Ladies' Squash.
Samiha becomes a member of the famous Heliopolis Club,
and trains hard. "I was the youngest player at the time in the
club! And in 1980, I became the first Egyptian lady to
qualify for the British Open! I need to stress that it was
as a lucky loser, but still, I was so proud."
And that's where she gets the opportunity to see other lady
players. "At the time, all the great men players came to Egypt,
I saw Jahangir, Jansher, Qamar Zaman, Geoff Hunt, Jonah
Barrington. But none of the ladies travelled to Egypt. This was so
great for me to see ladies! I also met Andrew Shelley then, and
it was the start of a very long friendship… He is an amazing man
and a dear friend."
"I played two consecutive years in the British Open, but in 1984, I
had my daughter, and I had to make a choice, as I was still
working on my PHD, I’m an Ophthalmologist Surgeon, I had
to make a “time management” choice."
So it was the end of her squash player career, but not of her
administration squash career. |
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With Dr
Ahmed,
Tournament promoter
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 "In
1992, I became a board member of the Egyptian Squash
Association – first for a lady. At the time, we didn’t have
any ladies on the squash circuit at all."
"So I nagged, and nagged, and nagged until at the end of 1992, I
was giving satisfaction. I was told I could have three girls, not
the normal four needed for a team at the time, no coach, no trainer,
and go to the World Juniors in Malaysia in 1993."
“Can I have at least a trainer” I asked? “No, three girls, and you.
Take it or leave it”. And I took it."
"For three months, we trained the girls very hard, three times a
week, with a coach, a physical trainer and off we went. And
against all odds, we ended in the semi-final, and for the
third/fourth play off, we played against England. AND WE WON!!!!
"For our first participation to the event, we finished third, it
was such a great achievement."
"In 1999 we went to Antwerp for the Junior Team event,
and we won. And with the same team – well, with one change as
one of our players were gravely injured in a car crash – we won
the World Team Senior event in 2000 in Edinburgh."
And the rest is history really.
"From the six girls that we
had in 1992 in Egypt, we
have now the third generation and four players in the top 20… And
that, I didn’t think I would see in my lifetime…"
All it took was a very determined lady and the Egyptian
talent...
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THANKS
GUYS
Well, it had to happen one day. I'm very seldom poorly on
tournaments, but I have to say I was not at my best the night
before the quarters.
Thanks to the extreme professional and quick response from the
medical team here in Laguna Vista, I found myself on a drip, and
a few hours later, I was back on my keyboard!
Well, not at a fast usual pace, I managed a few photos and
quotes, but to be honest, without the help of Tim Garner,
from WISPA, and Miss Chatty Lauren Selby, who wrote the
reports for me, I wouldn't have been able to pass
information to you really.
So, merci ŕ vous.... |
PARTY TIME, AGAIN!!!!
Dr Ahmed knows how to treat guests I tell you. At 10pm,
after the first round, we were invited to get on a bus to go to
a lovely bar in the centre of Sharm.
Food was lovely, music at an acceptable level for my ears, and
it gave us the opportunity to relax and have a nice drink -
"Safe Sex on the Beach" for me, a non alcoholic cocktail, I
promise you it's the name of the drink!!!
But the funniest was still to come.
As the road to that bar is quite long, about 30mn from the
hotel, and there a few lot of bumps on that road, our
driver decided to change course for the return.
And took us on a road, well, that looked very dark and deserted.
And it lasted, and it lasted. Ala, Dr Samiha and myself were
started to be a bit wary of the situation.
But it's when the man took a roundabout the wrong way to make us
drive in the wrong direction for about 500m that we really got
worried! Thank God it was very late at night, and we only met
with two cars, who had plenty of time to see us coming, but at the
time, it was a bit strange and surreal!
We still didn't have a clue where we were, the man didn't
either, as we turned back at some point! But to his defence,
there were not many signs anywhere!
Still, we arrived safely, and we are still laughing about that
journey, that I'm certainly not going to forget soon!!!! |
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That's what the
English girls found on their beds, compliments of the
cleaner....
They really know what the word hospitality means here...
Awhhhhhh..... |
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EN BREF
#2
All
you never knew you needed to know about Sharm El Sheik |
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PARTY TIME...
I was a bit surprised, I have to say, when I realised - a bit
late - that the opening ceremony was actually happening before
the last match of the qualifying - but I thought it was actually
a great idea, as the qualifiers are so often forgotten, and for
once, they were a true part of the fiesta!
And after Salma Hany delighted the numerous crowd, we all went for
the lovely Players' Dinner, which I have to stress was one
of the best meals I had for a very long time! Excellent food,
lovely service, great. That Dr Ahmed, he knows how to
organise a party I tell you.
 And
after, we were treated to a "Magic Show". And no, you can't have
photos because it was playing on lights, you know, special
lights that glow funny in the dark, and my camera just ignored
them!
At the end, the Animation Team got all the players on stage, and
led them to a funny dance, that from the stand, I fully enjoyed!
It was a great end of a lovely evening, thanks to All who
prepared it.... |
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WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD...
You have evenings that are just
great. First, we had that lovely dinner, and then, I was having
a cup of tea with three English girls, Laura Hill, Lauren
Selby, Miss Chatty as I call her, and Vicky Lust.
And there goes Lauren, explaining to me that as Vicky
and herself were training on court today, some bird came and flew
over the court.
Vicky apparently started screaming! Lauren enquired why that
reaction...
"Well, I got chased by a chicken when I was a baby, and since,
I'm absolutely terrified of birds".
And our Laura Hill came up with this one: "Why did the
chicken cross the road? Because it was chasing Lusty"..... Awwwwwhhhhhh..... |
NOURAN, BABY FACE...
Young El Torky has got one of those faces that looks so
much younger than they are. And although Nouran is 18,
she looks no more than 15.
And it caused her trouble a few years back! On her first day in
University - where she is studying Medicine, like her sister
Heba, one year and a half older - the Uni guard at the entrance
purely and simply refused to let her in.
"You are at the wrong place" he said. "You want to go to the
Girls' school next door". "But I'm a student in the Uni here,
it's my first day". "Show me your ID then". "I'm only 15, you
need to be 16 to get one," explained Nouran. "Well, in that
case, show me you Uni ID" he retorted. "It's my FIRST DAY", I
need to get in to get one!"
He never let her in...
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EN BREF
All
you never knew you needed to know about Sharm El Sheik |
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ARRIVAL
IN SHARM..
 Adorable
Dr. Ahmed Said, tournament promoter, had proposed to me
to get me from London to Sharm via Cairo by Egypt Air. But I saw
there was a direct flight Gatwick Sharm on EasyJet. Sounded like
a good idea at the time.
But by the time we landed in Sharm, I promise you I wished I'd
taken the first option!!!!! To me, Easyjet is a remedy for
travelling!!!!! For sooooo many reasons….
Anyway, after a few hiccups, I finally made it to the Laguna
Vista Hotel, and I must say the setting is stunning, and I’ll
make sure you have a little visit before I go! But today, after
yesterday’s rain – yes, OF COURSE IT RAINED, I’VE ARRIVED,
HAVEN’T I – which is, as you imagine, extremely unusual for the
season/region – the temperature has dropped, and I think I’ll
wait until tomorrow to play with my camera!!!
Still, thanks to the presence of Dr Ahmed – who is a gem of guy,
Alaaeldeen Alouba, who normally works in Qatar and who is helping his great friend Ahmed, and Dr
Samiha Aboulmagd – you’ll hear more about her later, and all
of Dr Ahmed's Team, I feel that I joined a family more than a
tournament.
The squash world is amazing, don’t you think… |
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