Raneem El Weleily
Raneem Mohamed Yasser Saad El Din El Welily (Arabic: رنيم محمد ياسر سعد الدين الوليلي; born 1 January 1989, in Alexandria, Egypt) is a former professional squash player from Egypt.[1] She has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 1 in September 2015. She is a three-time finalist at the World Open, in 2014, 2016, and 2019/2020. She became the World Champion in 2017, after defeating Nour El Sherbini in the finals. El Welily announced her retirement from professional competition in June 2020.
Nickname(s) | The Enigma, Butterfly, Rino | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Country | Egypt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Raneem Mohamed Yasser Saad El Din El Walily 1 January 1989 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 3 in (160 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Haitham Effat, Ahmed Faragallah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Racquet used | Harrow | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Women's Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest ranking | No. 1 (September, 2015) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Title(s) | 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tour final(s) | 35 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Open | W (2017) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Last updated on: March, 2017. |
Career
Junior career
Alexandria-born El Welily has emerged as one of the most skillful players on the PSA Women's World Tour since she turned professional in 2002. Raneem followed her brother into squash at the age of six and first played for Egypt in the World Juniors 2001 in Penang, Malaysia, then aged ten.
Two years later when the event was played in Cairo she was part of the Egyptian winning squad, and in 2004 she represented the senior team that came fourth in the World Teams in Amsterdam.
The highlight of El Welily's junior career was when she became the world junior champion in Herentals, Belgium in 2005. Then she was voted WISPA Young Player of the Year for 2005 for the second time after winning it in 2004. She lifted the World Junior Championship twice, in 2005 and 2007. Raneem also is a 6-time British Junior Open Winner.[2]
Professional career
El Welily won her first senior Tour title in 2009 when she triumphed at the Heliopolis Open in Egypt.[3]
That win helped catapult her into the world's top twenty and, after making the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open despite being a qualifier, she promptly rose into the top ten. The Egyptian shot-maker doubled her Tour title tally in 2011 and four months later won the biggest event of her career so far, by topping then-World No.2 Jenny Duncalf to lift the prestigious Carol Weymuller Open.[4]
2012 saw El Welily reach World No.2 for the first time and in September of that year she won her first World Series title by defeating World No.1 Nicol David in the final in the CIMB Malaysian Open. David got her revenge in the US Open a month later before the Egyptian stunned the Malaysian again in the 2013 Cleveland Classic final to lift another crown. El Welily amassed three runner-up spots in the remainder of 2013, with David winning all three, before she won her second Malaysian Open title in 2014, beating Nour El Tayeb in the final.[5]
She reached the final of the World Championship in December 2014 but David proved to be a stumbling block once more as she denied El Welily squash's biggest crown. Undeterred, El Welily had a terrific opening to 2015 as she won the Tournament of Champions, the Windy City Open and the Alexandria International to close the gap on David's hold on the World No.1 ranking. In May 2015 she was named as the PSA Women's Player of the year for the 2014/15 season.[6] In September 2015, Raneem surpassed David to clinch the World No.1 ranking in the PSA Women's World Ranking.[7]
Personal life
El Welily was born and raised in Alexandria. She is married to Tarek Momen, a professional squash player.[8] She graduated from the German School in Alexandria and between training sessions she also finds time to indulge her interests of music, jigsaw puzzles, and sudoku.[9]
Titles (24)
Outcome | Year | Tournament | Location | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
Winner | 2009 | Heliopolis Open | Cairo, Egypt | Engy Kheirallah | 7–11, 12–10, 11–6, 11–5 |
Winner | 2011 | Carol Weymuller Open | Brooklyn, United States | Jenny Duncalf | 11–7, 15–13, 11–4 |
Winner | 2011 | Hurghada International | Hurghada, Egypt | Omneya Abdel Kawy | 11–5, 12–10, 11–9 |
Winner | 2012 | Malaysian Open Squash Championships | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Nicol David | 12–10, 11–13, 11–6, 11–2 |
Winner | 2012 | Greenwich Open | New York City, United States | Joelle King | 11–8, 11–8, 6–11, 11–4 |
Winner | 2013 | Cleveland Classic | Cleveland, United States | Nicol David | 3–11, 11–5, 9–11, 11–5, 11–9 |
Winner | 2014 | Malaysian Open Squash Championships | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Nour El Tayeb | 7–11, 11–3, 12–10, 2–11, 11–7 |
Winner | 2015 | Tournament of Champions | New York City, United States | Alison Waters | 9–11, 12–10, 11–4, 11–4 |
Winner | 2015 | Metro Squash Windy City Open | Chicago, United States | Nicol David | 12–14, 12–10, 11–7, 11–7 |
Winner | 2015 | Alexandria International | Alexandria, Egypt | Omneya Abdel Kawy | 11–6, 11–5, 11–9 |
Winner | 2015 | China Open | Shanghai, China | Nouran Gohar | 13–11, 11–7, 11–7 |
Winner | 2016 | Metro Squash Windy City Open | Chicago, United States | Nour El Sherbini | 9–11, 11–6, 11–3, 11–6 |
Winner | 2016 | Al-Ahram International | Cairo, Egypt | Nour El Sherbini | 11–5, 11–9, 9–11, 9–11, 11–7 |
Winner | 2016 | Wadi Degla Open | Cairo, Egypt | Nouran Gohar | 11–8, 7–11, 11–4, 11–5 |
Winner | 2017 | Metro Squash Windy City Open | Chicago, United States | Nour El Sherbini | 10–12, 11–7, 11–7, 11–7 |
Winner | 2017 | World Open | Manchester, England | Nour El Sherbini | 3–11, 12–10, 11–7, 11–5 |
Winner | 2018 | El Gouna International | El Gouna, Egypt | Nour El Sherbini | 5-11, 11-8, 11-3, 14-12 |
Winner | 2018 | China Squash Open | Shanghai, China | Camille Serme | 11–5, 8–11, 11–6, 11–5 |
Winner | 2018 | United States Open (squash) | Philadelphia, United States | Nour El Sherbini | 11–6, 11–9, 11–8 |
Winner | 2019 | Black Ball Squash Open | Cairo, Egypt | Nour El Sherbini | 9-11, 11-2, 6-11, 11-1, 11-5 |
Winner | 2019 | DPD Open (squash) | Eindhoven, Netherlands | Nour El Sherbini | 10–12, 9–11, 11–8, 11–8, 11–8 |
Winner | 2019 | El Gouna International | El Gouna, Egypt | Nouran Gohar | 11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 11-6 |
Winner | 2019 | PSA World Tour Finals | Cairo, Egypt | Camille Serme | 3–11, 8–11, 11–7, 11–4, 11–6 |
Winner | 2019 | Netsuite Open | San Francisco, United States | Nour El Tayeb | 11–5, 11–5, 11–5 |
World Open
Finals: 4 (1 title, 3 runners-up)
Outcome | Year | Location | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
Runner-up | 2014 | Cairo, Egypt | Nicol David | 11–5, 8–11, 11–7, 12–14, 5–11 |
Runner-up | 2016 | El Gouna, Egypt | Nour El Sherbini | 8–11, 9–11, 9–11 |
Winner | 2017 | Manchester, England | Nour El Sherbini | 3–11, 12–10, 11–7, 11–5 |
Runner-up | 2019–20 | Cairo, Egypt | Nour El Sherbini | 11–4, 9–11, 11–5, 11–6 |
References
- Info, Squash. "Squash Info | Raneem El Welily | Squash". www.squashinfo.com. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
- "Raneem El Welily Harrow Squash Interview". www.squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- "Raneem El Welily – Professional Squash Association". psaworldtour.com. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
- "Raneem El Welily – Professional Squash Association". psaworldtour.com. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
- "Raneem El Welily – Professional Squash Association". psaworldtour.com. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
- "Raneem El Welily – Professional Squash Association". psaworldtour.com. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
- "Q&A: Egyptian squash champion Raneem El-Weleily speaks about being world number one - Omni Sports - Sports - Ahram Online". english.ahram.org.eg. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- "Raneem and Tarek tie the Knot". SquashSite TODAY. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
- "Catching Up With…Raneem El Welily". U.S. Open Squash. 2014-08-28. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
External links
- Raneem El Weleily at WISPA (archived)
- Raneem El Weleily at WSA (archived)
- Raneem El Weleily at Squash Info
Sporting positions | ||
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Preceded by Nicol David |
World No. 1 September 2015 – December 2015 |
Succeeded by Laura Massaro |
Awards and achievements | ||
Preceded by Laura Massaro |
PSA Women's Player of the Year 2014 |
Succeeded by Current hoder |
Preceded by — |
WISPA Young Player of the Year 2004–2005 |
Succeeded by Tenille Swartz |
Preceded by Kasey Brown |
WISPA Most Improved Player of the Year 2011 |
Succeeded by Alison Waters |