Darwish & David Qatar Classic Champions

By Afzal Mehmood Shaikh
QOC - Sports Editor
From Squash360.com

Defending champion and WISPA world number one Nicol David of Malaysia convincingly retained her Qatar Classic title defeating Natalie Grinham in Friday's final at the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex.

The 25-year-old Malaysian ace, extended her unbeaten run of 53 matches with a flawless straight games win 11-6, 11-3, 11-9 in 29 minutes over the Dutch Grinham in $82,000 women's event.

"Everything came in well today, it was important to keep the momentum," said the Malaysian. "I felt confident with my shots and kept it simple, but sharp," revealed the three-time world champion.

David has been the dominant force in women’s squash since winning the first of her successive World Opens in 2005. However, the Penang-based star was a bit cautious after the semifinal match against Natalie Grainger, where she was made work really hard for a 3-1 victory.

"I took my chances earlier today, and kept the pressure on her (Natalie), didn’t wanted to do like what I done yesterday (Thursday) for a fightback," explained the WISPA 2008 player of the year.

In men's event, the underdog Karim Darwish shocked top seed and world no. 1 Amr Shabana with 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 triumph in 28 minutes in an all-Egyptian final.

To much of everyone's surprise, Darwish 27, who had earlier beaten world no. 2 Gregory Gaultier of France in the quarters, showed no mercy for the experienced Shabana's class.

The Cairo-based, 2007 Qatar Classic semifinalists Darwish, lauded Shabana's performance and was glad to win against the world number one and the top favourite in the $145,000 total prize money men's event."

It was a pleasure playing against Shabana, who is been one of the best players in the world and am happy to win the Qatar Classic 2008 title for the first time," said a visibly elated Darwish.

Final Results

Nicol David (MAS) bt Natalie Grinham (NED)
11-6, 11-3, 11-9 (29mins)

Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Amr Shabana (EGY)
11-4, 11-5, 11-3 (28mins)