Ashour & Kawy In Hurghada Home Double

Second seed Ramy Ashour and third seed Omneya Abdel Kawy, both from Cairo, produced a popular home double in the Hurghada International in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Hurghada after contrasting upsets over higher-ranked opponents.

In a thrilling climax to the men's $61,250 5-star PSA Tour event, world No2 Ashour faced his illustrious compatriot Amr Shabana, the world number one appearing in his sixth successive Tour final.

It was a seesaw encounter - with 20-year-old Ashour twice taking game leads before his experienced opponent came back to draw level.

In a close decider, the young pretender had two match balls from 10-7. But Shabana saved both and delighted the packed crowd when he drew level at ten-all.

But Ashour made no mistake with his third chance, striking a superb low drive glued to the forehand wall to clinch a sensational 11-10 (2-0), 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-10 (2-0) victory after 79 minutes.

The triumph marked the ninth PSA Tour title of Ashour's career - and his second win over Shabana this year.

"The season is still young. There are plenty of opportunities to win matches and tournaments," an upbeat Shabana told www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards.

In the final of the women's $26,200 WISPA World Tour event, Kawy took on Jenny Duncalf, the No2 seed from England who had dropped only one game en-route to the climax.

Kawy the 22-year-old from Cairo who beat Australia's defending champion Rachael Grinham in the semi-finals to reach the final for the fifth year in a row, was in commanding form - racing to an 8-0 lead in the first game before winning it 9-1.

Duncalf led 4-1 in the second - but Kawy reclaimed the advantage to romp to a 9-1, 9-4, 9-2 victory in just 34 minutes.

"It was so nice to hear people chanting my name," said Kawy after her second title triumph at Hurghada.

Men's final:
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [1] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-10 (2-0), 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-10 (2-0) (79m)

Women's final:
[3] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [2] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-1, 9-4, 9-2 (34m)