The Day Egyptian
Squash felt like an Orphan.
In
the night of the 5th May 2018, the Light that was Dr
Samiha AboulMagd was switched off.
After six years of courageous battle against ovarian cancer, “the
Mother of Egyptian Squash” decided that it was time for her
to rest at last.
Member of the Egyptian Federation from 1992 up to the end of
2017, Dr Samiha as she was known on the Squash World (she
was an ophtamologist surgeon), fought tooth and nail to get “her
girls” to the Team World Juniors in 1993. It was their
first ever participation and they got to beat England to get on
the podium with the bronze medal.
“We
went to Antwerp in 1999 for the same junior competition, and we
won,” she recalled a few months ago. “And with the same
team -except one who was badly injured in a car crash – we won
the Word Team Senior in 2000 in Edinburgh.
“In 1992, only 6 girls were playing squash in Egypt. Now, we
have the 4th generation and 4 girls in the top 10. And that, I
didn’t think I would see in my lifetime” she concluded at
the time.
Raneem El Welily, the first ever Egyptian Athlete to
become world number 1, is part of that golden generation brought
up by Dr Samiha. “We would like to dedicate this to Dr. Samiha
Abou Elmagd, may her soul rest in peace” she declared right
after the Team victory in the City of Dalian during the World
Team, “without her, we wouldn't be standing here today and
Egyptians women's Squash will not have been what it is today.
This one is for her” Welily concluded.
Egyptian
star Omneya Abdel Kawy was alo devastated by the news of
her death. " I still can't believe she is gone and she won't
advise, support and encourage me in everything.. " she said.
"Dr Samiha was the one who convinced my family to leave me
and travel my first BJO, I was 10 yrs old... and she
always pushed me and encouraged me to always do better.. She
always watched the matches online and give me feedbacks
everytime..
"She was the one who pushed women squash to be where it is now
she fought for us so much to get our rights and as u know she
was a determined and well willed woman she got what she wants
and proved she was wright
"I am so grateful to have met her and that I won my last team
title with her in 2016 and I'm so happy that the team kept the
title and dedicated it to her.. She deserves it...
"I really miss her" finished Omneya.
“Dr
Samiha was a pillar to our Sport, to our Country, to our
Federation," declared Egyptian Federation President Assem
Khalifa.
She was strong willed, determined. We sometimes didn’t see
eye to eye, but I always listen to her advices, as I know she
spoke with truth and honour”
“The day she left us was a terribly sad day
for us and I miss her, we all miss her.
"We
cannot not dedicate this title to her, title she won with the
team in Paris in 2016, and that the girls kept for her this time
in China.
"We are going to work very hard to keep winning titles and keep
her memory and legacy alive”. told the President.
Mona Makhlouf, Dr Samiha’s daughter, added:
“My
mum was soo passionate about her girls and squash that the last
website she had opened on her phone in the hospital was
Pharaohsquash.com, I saw it with my own eyes as the nurse
took her to ICU.
“She was always keen to watch the matches especially the girls
live streamed even at 3am in the morning. I have no doubt that
she was with them in spirit and whispering in their ears with
her soft yet firm voice “bravo, well played soo soo proud of
you” with a huge smile on her face.” Mona concluded.

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