Egypt to host 2014 Women's World Squash Championship

The 2014 Women's World Squash Championship will take place in Egypt in December following an agreement reached this week between the Women's Squash Association (WSA) and Wadi Degla Holding.
Offering a USD 150,000 prize-fund, the 2014 championship will be hosted by the Wadi Degla club in Cairo from December 15-20, following three days of qualifying.
The 30th edition of the premier tournament on the WSA World Tour will be staged in Egypt for only the second time since the inaugural event in 1979.
Boasting 48 courts, Wadi Degla is the biggest chain of squash clubs in Egypt - and one of the biggest groups of sporting clubs in the world, with a combined membership worldwide in excess of 500,000. The Wadi Degla Maadi branch is also the training base of World No.3 Raneem El Welily.

"Wadi Degla is pleased to host the world's most prestigious women's squash event," said the company's sports sirector Karim Darwish, the World No.10 and a former world number one.
WSA CEO Tommy Berden added: "We are delighted to take the Women's World Championship to Egypt. Squash is one of the most popular sports in Egypt and there a lot of young Egyptian players coming up rapidly, so it will be great to see them in action on home soil."
Laura Massaro, who at the 2013 Championship in Malaysia in March became the first Englishwoman for 15 years to win the world crown, will face stiff opposition in her title defence later this year from a host of players - not only from El Welily and eight other home players in the current world top 50, but also from Nicol David, the world number one from Malaysia who will be bidding to win a record eighth title.