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[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [11] Vicky Botwright (Eng)
           5/11, 11/1, 11/6, 11/9 (44m)

[4] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [7] Karim Darwish (Egy)
           5/11, 11/8, 11/4, 11/5 (60m)
 

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[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [11] Vicky Botwright (Eng)
           5/11, 11/1, 11/6, 11/9 (44m)

Nicol reclaims the crown

Unbeaten since she unexpectedly crashed out of last year's World Open in the second round, Nicol David has been firm favourite to reclaim the world title for 12 months. She duly fulfilled that prediction today, but didn't local heroine Vicky Botwright, the unexpected finalist playing her last match, make her work for it.

Vicky took the game to Nicol from the start, attacking strongly and not letting Nicol settle and taking the game 11/5 to the delight of the packed crowd.

It was Nicol who was out of the blocks faster in the second though, racing through the game with Vicky only troubling the scoreboard once. She maintained the pressure in the third, and although Vicky put in a mid-game burst it was too late as Nicol moved one game away.

The Mancunian wasn't done though, the rallies were tough, and Nicol wasn't allowed to take anything for granted. 4-all, 6-all, 7-all, 8-all, Nicol goes 9-8 with a drop Vicky thought she could get to, responds with a short kill, 9-all.

Another Nicol drop takes her to match ball, and Vicky hits the ball too close to herself. The players turn, both knowing what is coming, and as the stroke is declared Nicol is the champion of the world again ...

"Oh, that was tough. She was just firing everything in, every shot, every drive was tight and I was just hanging in, trying to stop her playing shots like those again.

"All credit to Vicky for getting to the final and what a final it was, she didn't stop for one moment. I was so pleased and a bit lucky to take those last two points.

"It's a great feeling getting it back after last year, I guess Manchester is my lucky place now!"

"I knew I had to play my best squash of the week, she's been world number one for three years and she's the best player. I threw everything at it, I played as best as I could but she's just better than me.

"I started better, but she was completely in front of me for the next two games and the fourth was close. I would have liked to take it to five, then it would have been anyone's."

"What a great way to finish though, I'm definitely going to cry, but I'd like to thanks England Squash, EIS and the performance programme, they supported me even when I was rubbish ... the England girls, we were a great team, and especially my parents who supported me, shouted at me, comforted me when I needed it. And my future husband Stewart, I hope we have a happy marriage and life together.

"I'm due to do a squash disability clinic tomorrow morning - I'll have to check the time!"

 

[4] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [7] Karim Darwish (Egy)
           5/11, 11/8, 11/4, 11/5 (60m)

Ramy's Graduation

Only two people have won the world junior title and the world open title, and Ramy Ashour joined Jansher Khan in that exclusive club this afternoon in Manchester.

It didn't start well for Ramy though, as Karim Darwish - who was also world junior champion - took control in the first game, catching Ramy out with some lovely crosscourt drops, eventually taking the game with some ease.

But Ramy is nothing if not a quick learner, and for the next three games it was his shots that held sway. Rallies were set up with Ramy's new 'basic' game, and as soon as an opportunity arose he would swoop.

Slowly, he wore down Karim's resistance, and by the close of the fourth game he was as dominant as Karim had been in the first. Fittingly the title was sealed with a delicate crosscourt flick into the nick.

Ramy fell to his knees and arose the new World Champion.

"I'm speechless.

"I didn't do anything in the first game, he was doing all the things I should have been doing, so I had to change my game. There was no time to do that in the first, it was too late, but I started to play my shots from the second game on.

"I kept my composure the whole match until the last couple of points. Yesterday against Shabana I was completely focused on the court, on that match, but today I was thinking about anything else, outside the court - if you think too much about winning a match like that you'll get desperate and you'll make mistakes.

"I can only remember two shots in the whole match, the first and last points of the last game.

"So with two points to go I was thinking about winning, I had 24 million thoughts in my head, and when I hit the last shot everything went blank for a few seconds, I thought 'is that it?' and then I was world champion.
 
"I tried to keep calm, not do too much because he's my friend and team-mate, but I couldn't help it, I just screamed.

"It means a lot to me, I've thought about this for a long time, it will mean a lot to my Mum and Dad too who have helped me so much, I dedicate this win to them."

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