Final: Nouran contains Amina, for now….

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[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 3-1 [8] Amina Orfi (EGY)  9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (52m)

Fram’s report

While watching those two battling on court, I had the impression of seeing double. Double Nouran, that is!

Not that Amina is copying the World number one but it’s the same “I’ll take you by the throat and I won’t let go until you kill me'” squash and intensity!

As the matches unfold, I’m more and more impressed by that young girl, and her maturity. She took the opener with panache and calm, a short game compared to the games played in her previous matches.

No errors yet again from Amina in that opener, only two in the second, one in the third, and none in the fourth. Incredible poise, about the same from Nouran, 10 years older….

Interesting too the regularity of Nouran: 9 winners in the first and second game, 10 in the third and fourth.

I was not surprised that the Challenger took the first game, but I feared she might not be able to sustain that pace and intensity for the rest of the match, given her two huge wins in the previous round, which had kept her on court for one hour longer than her opponent.

One thing is sure, Amina was not happy with her opponent’s movement. She kept asking for lets, explaining that she was impaired on her way to the ball. But as they usually do in Nouran’s match, the refs just kept giving no lets, as nothing seems to show on the videos…

She refused to shake Nouran’s hand at the end, smacked it Hania’s way, not looking at her, and walked off to her towel. Nouran looked at her leaving the court, with a little incredulous smile.

I can feel another rivalry being born, don’t you?

PSA report

The women’s final was up first with two similar styles of play treating the El Gouna crowd as Gohar hunted a third El Gouna International title in a row. The teenager came out to a flying start leafing 7-2 after a somewhat slow start by Gohar. The World Champion worked her way back in however and suddenly the score was 7-7. Orfi moved ahead to 9-7 and took the game 11-7 to shock the El Gouna crowd.

Another strong start followed for the 17-year-old as she won four of the first five points to lead 4-1. ‘The Terminator’ responded however and showed why she is the current World No.1 and World Champion. She started to hit her lines to perfection and took away the weapons that Orfi possesses around the middle. It wasn’t long before she captured the next two games 11-7, 11-6.

The fourth game started in quite scrappy fashion with a couple of refereeing decisions interrupting play. Gohar handled the stoppages better than Orfi and marched through the game, knowing a third consecutive El Gouna title was within sight. Gohar fired in a terrific forehand drop to led 5-3 and stormed ahead to set herself up with five championships balls at 10-5. At the third time of asking, a trademark backhand kill sealed a fourth title of the season and third El Gouna International in a row.

 

Nouran : “I can definitely say that this is my favourite tournament.

“I struggled to win the tournament. I had to reach four finals to win my first El Gouna title but since then, it has been a lucky charm for me. It opened me up to play really well in the World Championships so I’m hoping that its before the worlds every season.

“I’m super happy, this crowd is just amazing, not just Egyptian there’s lots of nationalities here and that just highlights how good El Gouna is. Thank you to everyone who makes it possible to come back every year because it’s a favourite of all the players.

“Egyptian women’s squash is in a great place. Someone that we need to mention is Raneem El Welily. she was the first ever Arab female athlete to be ranked World No.1 in any sport. She taught me a lot of lessons on and off court. Whenever I need someone to help me, she’s always there for me. Omneya [Abdel Kawy] also, has been so generous with advice and I think that’s the reason that we have all of the champions in our sport.”