Ons Jabeur and top 10 Arab sportswomen to watch in 2023
After a historic year that saw her reach back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open and become the highest-ranked African woman in tennis history at No 2, Ons Jabeur is aiming even higher this season.
The Tunisian trailblazer has declared she has set the No 1 ranking as a target for 2023 and considering she has zero points to defend at three of the four Grand Slams this year, Jabeur has a legitimate chance of catching up to current No 1 Iga Swiatek.Read More : Ons Jabeur and Emma Raducanu confirmed for Mubadala World Tennis Championship Winning a major is also high up on Jabeur’s priority list, after placing runner-up twice in 2022. The 28-year-old begins her 2023 campaign in Adelaide this week before heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open, which she missed last year through injury.
A firm believer in vocalising her goals and drawing strength from doing so, it’s fair to expect great things from Jabeur once again this season.
When Ines Laklalech quit golf for three years while studying in London, she probably never imagined she would become the first Moroccan, Arab or North African to win a title on the Ladies European Tour a little over two years later.
The 25-year-old from Casablanca enjoyed a stunning 2022 as a rookie on the LET, winning the Lacoste Ladies Open de France in Deauville in September – just six months after turning pro – and scoring four more top-10 finishes.
Last month, she finished 19 under par after an eight-round qualifying event to become the first North African to secure playing privileges on the LPGA tour for 2023.
Keep an eye on Laklalech this year as she competes on the most high-profile tour in women’s golf. She just bagged her second platinum title of the season last month in Hong Kong and at No 3 in the world rankings seems determined to close the gap on Nouran Gohar and Nour El Sherbini, the Egyptian duo occupying the top two spots at the moment.
Hania El Hammamy beat Gohar and El Sherbini in each of her title runs in Hong Kong and the Egyptian Open in recent weeks and is up to No 2 in the CIB Road to Egypt race.
The 22-year-old had a tremendous 2022 overall, having won the prestigious British Open as well as the Gouna International, which saw El Hammamy come back from two-games-to-love down to defeat Gohar in a 90-minute final that was considered one of the best matches of the year.
She closed out the year by joining forces with Gohar, El Sherbini and Nour El Tayeb to claim the WSF Women’s World Team Championship for Egypt.
The fierce battle between the world’s top three will likely continue to dominate the rest of the 2022/23 season and it will be interesting to see how far El Hammamy can push her rivals.
UAE national football team captain Nouf Al Anzi became the first ever Emirati woman to play for a club in Spain when she signed for CD Leganes – a team in Madrid’s ‘Preferente’ league – last October.
Two minutes into her debut with the team, she scored an incredible ‘golazo’ as they say in Spain. “I knew that this is the step that would level me as well as the national team up; because it’s like putting the UAE on the international map. And then being the first to be in Spain as well. It was always my dream and I’m very thrilled that it happened,” the 26-year-old told The National in a recent interview.
Leganes team captain Maria Lazaro told Marca Al Anzi’s arrival has been “a breath of fresh air” as the squad seek promotion to second division. An Emirati woman playing football in Spain? That’s definitely something to get behind!
The Tunisian trailblazer has declared she has set the No 1 ranking as a target for 2023 and considering she has zero points to defend at three of the four Grand Slams this year, Jabeur has a legitimate chance of catching up to current No 1 Iga Swiatek.
A firm believer in vocalising her goals and drawing strength from doing so, it’s fair to expect great things from Jabeur once again this season.
When Ines Laklalech quit golf for three years while studying in London, she probably never imagined she would become the first Moroccan, Arab or North African to win a title on the Ladies European Tour a little over two years later.
The 25-year-old from Casablanca enjoyed a stunning 2022 as a rookie on the LET, winning the Lacoste Ladies Open de France in Deauville in September – just six months after turning pro – and scoring four more top-10 finishes.
Last month, she finished 19 under par after an eight-round qualifying event to become the first North African to secure playing privileges on the LPGA tour for 2023.
Keep an eye on Laklalech this year as she competes on the most high-profile tour in women’s golf. She just bagged her second platinum title of the season last month in Hong Kong and at No 3 in the world rankings seems determined to close the gap on Nouran Gohar and Nour El Sherbini, the Egyptian duo occupying the top two spots at the moment.
Hania El Hammamy beat Gohar and El Sherbini in each of her title runs in Hong Kong and the Egyptian Open in recent weeks and is up to No 2 in the CIB Road to Egypt race.
The 22-year-old had a tremendous 2022 overall, having won the prestigious British Open as well as the Gouna International, which saw El Hammamy come back from two-games-to-love down to defeat Gohar in a 90-minute final that was considered one of the best matches of the year.
She closed out the year by joining forces with Gohar, El Sherbini and Nour El Tayeb to claim the WSF Women’s World Team Championship for Egypt.
The fierce battle between the world’s top three will likely continue to dominate the rest of the 2022/23 season and it will be interesting to see how far El Hammamy can push her rivals.
UAE national football team captain Nouf Al Anzi became the first ever Emirati woman to play for a club in Spain when she signed for CD Leganes – a team in Madrid’s ‘Preferente’ league – last October.
Two minutes into her debut with the team, she scored an incredible ‘golazo’ as they say in Spain. “I knew that this is the step that would level me as well as the national team up; because it’s like putting the UAE on the international map. And then being the first to be in Spain as well. It was always my dream and I’m very thrilled that it happened,” the 26-year-old told The National in a recent interview.
Leganes team captain Maria Lazaro told Marca Al Anzi’s arrival has been “a breath of fresh air” as the squad seek promotion to second division. An Emirati woman playing football in Spain? That’s definitely something to get behind!
Source: www.thenationalnews.com
