Darwish Delivers In Qatar Classic Final

Egyptian Karim Darwish finally fulfilled the promise he has shown all year when he defeated world number one compatriot Amr Shabana in straight games in the final of the Qatar Classic to secure the biggest PSA Tour title of his career at the Khalifa International Squash Complex in the Qatar capital Doha.

The women's final saw Nicol David of Malaysia claim her third successive title after beating Dutch rival Natalie Grinham, also in straight games.

It was a case of 'third time lucky' twice for sixth seed Darwish when he celebrated his stunning 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 victory over Shabana, the favourite and defending champion, in just 27 minutes in the final of the $145,000 Super Series Platinum PSA Tour event.

Firstly, it was the 27-year-old's first win over his Egyptian team-mate in three meetings in the past year. Furthermore, it was Darwish's third Tour final in a row, after finishing as runner-up both in the Petrosport International Championship in August in Cairo, and last month's World Open in Manchester.

"I had done my homework. I know him well, come what may, he will give his best," Darwish told the Gulf Times. "It was just that I was greedier for this title," added the new star of Egyptian squash who can now surely look forward to celebrating his highest world ranking in next week's new Dunlop PSA World Rankings.

After winning his first PSA Super Series crown, Darwish brings his Tour tally to 14 titles.

Nicol David showed no signs of holding back on her domination of the women's game as she stormed to an 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 triumph in just 29 minutes over the younger Grinham sister, ranked three in the world, in the final of the $74,000 Gold WISPA World Tour event

The victory took the 25-year-old World Open champion from Penang's career statistics to a new high: 33 Tour titles in total; her 11th in a row; and the 48th WISPA match without defeat in just over a year!

Grinham summed up the match: "She (David) was in an awesome form and never allowed me to settle down. She was more determined to retain her crown here. I was struggling to keep pace with her game all through."

Men's final:
[6] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [1] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 (27m)

Women's final:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [3] Natalie Grinham (NED) 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (29m)