Ramy Ashour, Nour El-Sherbini lift 2017 China Squash Open titles

Egyptian duo Ramy Ashour and Nour El-Sherbini have won the 2017 China Squash Open after beating compatriots Ali Farag and Nouran Gohar respectively.

The tournament took place in Shanghai, China from Thursday, August 31 to Sunday, September 3.

READ: El Sherbini maintains World No.1 spot, Ashour drops out of Top 10

Ramy Ashour started the tournament against Mexico’s Cesar Salazar and the Egyptian beat him 3-0 to face Daryl Selby in the quarter-finals. Ashour had no problems against the Englishman as he managed to beat him 3-0 to qualify for the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals, Ashour faced his compatriot and World No.2 Marwan El-Shorbagy and he were able to qualify for the final with another 3-0 win. The final wasn’t as easy as the rest of the games as Ashour just managed to edge Ali Farag out 3-2 to lift the trophy.

The 29-year-old becomes the second Egyptian ever to lift the trophy after Mohamed El-Shorbagy, who defeated France’s Grégory Gaultier in the final in 2016.

Photo: PSA

Meanwhile, World No.1 Nour El-Sherbini was crowned 2017 China Squash Open women’s champion after beating Nouran Gohar 3-0 in the final.

Nour beat India’s Joshna Chinappa in the first round, before beating World No.8 Alison Waters and Joelle King 3-0 in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively, while Gohar qualified for the final after defeating Olivia Blatchford, Egypt’s Nour El-Tayeb and World No.2 Camille Serme.

Nour El-Sherbini becomes the third Egyptian woman to be crowned China Squash Open champion after Heba El-Torky and Raneem El-Weleily, who lift their titles in 2008 and 2015 respectively.

On the other hand, Nouran Gohar has now lost in the final of the China Squash Open tournament for the third consecutive year. The Egyptian lost to Raneem El-Weleily in the 2015, before losing to England’s Laura Massaro in 2016 with the same result.