Rising Egyptian star Raneem El Weleily continued her promising form on Sunday as she claimed her first title of 2012, the WSA Greenwich Open 2012.
In the tenth WSA title of her career, the 23-year-old claimed victory over Joelle King of New Zealand, having already defeated No6 seed Natalie Grinham and Samantha Teran of Mexico on the way to the final.
King herself was in fine form going in to the final, having already dispatched the tournament favourite, world No3 Madeline Perry in the quarters and ended the run of surprise semi finalist Dipika Palikal.
The match was strongly contested by the lesser seed King, but El Weleily’s array of attacking shots and thoughtful defence proved tricky to break down and the Egyptian took the first two games 11/8.
A lapse in concentration from the young player, along with some effective counteractive measures allowed King to seize an opportunity to get back into the match. She took the third game 11/6 to reassert herself on the game but was unable to keep her momentum as El Weleily regained composure to see out the tie, 11/8, 11/8, 6/11, 11/4.
The Greenwich Open title is the world No7’s fourth ever WSA title win and with it could see El Weleily move up to No5 in the WSA World Rankings next month. The Egyptian, along with King who also finished runner up in last years competition, will both feature in next week’s Cleveland Classic in Ohio.
Final:
[4] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [8] Joelle King (NZL) 11/8, 11/8, 6/11, 11/4.Semi final:
[8] Joelle King (NZL) bt [Q] Dipika Pallikal (IND) 11/8, 8/11, 11/4, 11/9 [4] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Samantha Teran (MEX) 11/5, 11/4, 11/6
Quarter final results:
Samantha Teran def [2] Kasey Brown 7-11, 2-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8
Round1:
[1] Madeleine Perry (IRL) def [Q] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9[8] Joelle King (NZL) def Lily Lorentzen(USA) 11-1, 11-3, 11-6
[Q] Dipika Pallikal (IND) def [L] Line Hansen (DEN) 11-6, 11-5, 11-6
Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) def [5] Annie Au (HKG) 8-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-5
[6] Natalie Grinham (AUS) def. [Q] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 11-7, 11-7, 13-11
Samantha Teran (MEX) def. [7] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-9, 4-11, 11-3, 11-8 [2] Kasey Brown (AUS) def. [Q] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 11-4