12:00 am
6 May 2024

Egyptian Teenager Gohar Grabs Irish Open Crown

26 Apr 2014

Egypt's No4 seed Nouran Ahmed Gohar clinched her second Women's Squash Association World Tour title as a 16-year-old when she upset second-seeded English opponent Sarah Kippax in today's final of the Women's Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open, the WSA Tour 15 event at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin.

The youngest player in the draw, Gohar reached the final after beating 'giant-killer' Olivia Blatchford, the unseeded 21-year-old from the USA who produced the shock of the tournament when she upset Irish favourite and five-time champion Madeline Perry.

The Cairo teenager went into the final having gone down to Kippax, the world No22 from Halifax, a month ago in Canada in straight games.

But Gohar clearly learned from her experience - and this time got the better of her experienced 30-year-old opponent in four games, winning 11-3, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5 in 49 minutes to double her WSA Tour title tally after winning her maiden tournament in December in the Czech capital Prague.

Semi-finals:
[4] Nouran Ahmed Gohar (EGY) bt Olivia Blatchford (USA) 11-8, 13-11, 11-4 (31m)
[2] Sarah Kippax (ENG) bt [5] Tesni Evans (WAL) 11-13, 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (51m)
Final:
[4] Nouran Ahmed Gohar (EGY) bt [2] Sarah Kippax (ENG) 11-3, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5 (49m)