Shaimaa Samy Abdellatif reacts after qualifying for the semi-finals following close win over Elke Rongen of Germany at the 4th Fazza Dubai Para Badminton International 2022.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Egypt’s Shaimaa Samy Abdellatif moved one step ahead towards her dream — to become first shuttler from Arab countries to win a gold medal at a major championship — after she reached the semi-finals of the 4th Fazza Dubai Para Badminton International 2022.

“It was a difficult match. Last time she beat me in Uganda International 2021, so I was a bit worried before the match. And I tried very hard. I tried to do everything I had done during my training.

“And luckily, I managed to pull it off. All these wins will push me a step ahead towards my goal. I am so proud of myself,” said the top seed Shaimaa, who battled past Elke Rongen of Germany with a 21-19, 20-22, 21-15 win in 53 minutes.

The 41-year-old, who has been the face of wheelchair tennis in the country for the last decade and has also played and won medals in Para Athletics, is keenly looking forward to her semi-final match against Korean Kwon Hyunah and hopes to reach the final.

Shaimaa, who has a gold in WH1-WH2 mixed doubles at the Uganda International 2021 and singles silver and bronze in Spain Internationals this year, is now hoping to make the cut for the World Championships after Friday’s win had lifted her to fifth in world rankings.

“I want to win a medal at the World Championships.

“Like I did in Para Athletics, I want to make history in a new sport - Para Badminton and raise the popularity of the sport in Egypt, also in Arab and African countries. Para Badminton is a new sport in Africa and we are still working on developing a pool of young para shuttlers in our country,” said the shuttler from Cairo who added saying that Egypt now has around 30 women para shuttlers.

“I hope we can have a bigger team this time in the African Championships."