El Welily Lifts Wadi Degla Open Crown

Egypt's world No.4 Raneem El Welily claimed the inaugural Wadi Degla Open title after overcoming compatriot Nouran Gohar in the final of the women's PSA W50 tournament taking place at her home club in Cairo.

The pair went into the match with a head-to-head record 3/2 in former world number one El Welily's favour - but it was the younger Gohar, the reigning world junior champion who is still only 19 years old, who won their two most recent clashes.

The duo are both representatives of the prestigious Wadi Degla Club and it was 27-year-old El Welily who took an early lead after coming through a nervy start and a flurry of errors to go a game ahead - only for Gohar to capitalise on some loose shots from her opponent in the second to draw level.

Gohar's comeback was short-lived though as El Welily worked her way back into the contest, moving the younger Egyptian into all four corners of the court as she restored her lead in the third, before an unstoppable display in the fourth saw her surge to victory, closing out an 11-8, 7-11, 11-4, 11-5 triumph to lift her second PSA World Tour title of the season.

"I'm absolutely happy, Nouran is such a tough opponent, she's a great player," said El Welily, who was competing in her 30th Tour final and now has 14 titles to her credit.

"It's a pleasure playing with her in the final in front of the Wadi Degla Club and I'm really happy that I managed to win today.

"I was trying to get the ball to the back and was volleying as much as I could. I was trying to do that in the second, but then my length got short and I had to find another way to get the ball to the back. I'm really glad I found a solution there, otherwise it would have been a nightmare."