WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: All Africa Games, Abuja, Nigeria

Men's final:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [2] Mohamed Abbas (EGY) 9-5, 9-0, 9-1

Women's final:
[1] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [2] Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 9-3, 7-9, 2-9, 9-2, 9-1

Darwish & Kawy Win All Africa Games Gold

Egyptians Karim Darwish and Omneya Abdel Kawy made history as the first man and woman to win squash gold medals at the All Africa Games in the Nigerian capital Abuja. 

Top seed Darwish, the world No8 from Cairo, beat second seed and fellow Egyptian Mohamed Abbas 9-5 9-0 9-1 in a thrilling match, the best so far in the Games.

"I knew I would win, but it was a great feeling winning the gold here," said Darwish, a former world junior champion..

Women's favourite Omneya Abdel Kawy had a much tougher battle in the other final - having to fight back from 2/1 down before overcoming compatriot Engy Kheirallah, the No2 seed, 9-3 7-9 2-9 9-2 9-1.

"It is such a great feeling to win this gold for my country," said Kawy, the world junior champion who is ranked 14 in the world.

In addition to the gold and silver medal presentations after the two finals, South Africans Rodney Durbach and Adrian Hansen received bronze medals for reaching the men's semi-finals, and Amnah El Trabolsy and Eman El Amir completed Egypt's clean sweep of the women's medals.

The All Africa Games team event now follows, with hosts Nigeria joining top seeds Egypt and Sierra Leone in Pool A and second favourites South Africa leading Pool B with Zambia and Zimbabwe.