Abdel Kawy & Gohar To Contest All-Egyptian Monte Carlo Final by Howard Harding November 7, 2014
- Omneya Abdel Kawy and Nouran Gohar will battle for the Women's Monte
Carlo Classic title at Stade Louis II in Monaco in the first
all-Egyptian final in the 19-year history of the WSA Silver 25 event.
Eighth seed Gohar, the 17-year-old world No22 from Cairo who reached
last year's semi-finals as a qualifier, produced her second upset in 24
hours when she beat second-seeded Indian Dipika Pallikal.
The world No16 from Chennai led 2/0 and looked on course to become the event's first Indian finalist.
But plucky teenager Gohar (pictured above, left, with Pallikal) was in
no mood to concede - and took the next three games in convincing style
to overcome Pallikal 9-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 11-2 in 70 minutes.
The win marked Gohar's fifth victory over a world top 20 player in the last two months.
"It was my first match against Dipika - she is very difficult to play
because she plays such good shots and is also deceptive on the court,"
said Gohar, now in the third WSA World Tour final of her career.
"I like playing here - it's the only tournament I have played three times. I love the atmosphere here."
By contrast, experienced world No11 Abdel Kawy achieved her semi-final
win in half the time. The No4 seed ended the impressive run of
compatriot Habiba Mohamed Ahmed, the unseeded 15-year-old who ousted
top seed and defending champion Camille Serme 24 hours earlier.
Abdel Kawy (pictured above, left, with Mohamed) had to be at the top of
her game to see off Ahmed 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 in 36 minutes - a win which
takes the 2010 champion from Cairo into the 31st Tour final of her
illustrious career.
"I am happy with the way I am playing and recovered well from my
five-game match yesterday," said the 29-year-old later. "I am happy to
win in three games.
"It's my fifth time in Monaco and second time in the final tomorrow, so for the moment everything is going well!"
