Egypt's Nour El Sherbini lifts squash World Championship crown

Held at the El Gouna resort against the backdrop of Egypt’s Red Sea, El Sherbini – who defeated Laura Massaro 12 months ago to become the youngest Women’s World Champion of all time – was in spell-binding form to dispatch a slightly nervy El Welily, who was appearing in her second World Championship final.

The 21-year-old hit her targets well and never allowed fellow Alexandrian El Welily to get into her game, with El Sherbini closing the win out by an 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 scoreline to etch her name into the history books once more.

El Sherbini’s victory brings a six-month title drought to an end and it is her first major title since she lifted her first World Championship title in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia a year ago.

“I’m over the moon, two or three months ago I wouldn’t have imagined that I would have won because I haven’t won a [major] title this season,” said El Sherbini.

“It felt like like I wasn’t going to win this season anymore, but once I knew that it was going to be in Egypt, I was so excited and I wanted to come and play in El Gouna. 

“I’m really happy to win in front of my home crowd and it’s never easy to play Raneem. I’ve grown up learning a lot from her and she’s told me a lot of things off court and on court. She’s the best ‘sister’ I could ever have besides my squash career and I am really thankful for everything she did for me.”

Result – Final: Orascom Development PSA Women’s World Championship [1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [3] Raneem El Welily (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 (40m)