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TODAY in
Sheffield ... 2012 Day THREE
Steve in Sheffield |
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 Quarter-finals
Day
A long, long day at Abbeydale and
Hallamshire, each having 16 quarter-finals
on their main court with one from each each
age group in each of four batches of
matches.
Here's what happened at Abbeydale for the
U19 and U15 events, with a quick look at
what happened in the U17 and U13 at
Hallamshire ...
Batch One:
Top seeds all through ...
Batch Two:
Off to an upset ...
Batch Three:
More Egyptian winners ...
Batch Four:
Emily delighted, Epke limps out ...
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Batch one: Top seeds all through ...
at Abbeydale, anyway ...
 One
down, 15 to go as top seed Nour El
Sherbini beat unseeded compatriot Nouran
Badr 11/1, 11/2, 11/8.
The 2010 champion (she was missing through
injury last year) wasn't too impressed with
such an early start, especially as she has
to hang around until 15.30 to see room-mate
Kanzy play, but was her usual clinical self
on court.
For Nouran it
was, surprisingly, a first BJO. "I've never
been seeded high enough in Egypt to come
before," she admitted, "but I'm ranked three
now so it was great to be able to come this
time. I hadn't played Nour for about five
years, but I was surprised and pleased to
get through to the quarter-finals."
 The
first Boys U15 match was one of those
"little v large" encounters. After winning a
tight first game the power of top seeded
Pakistani Israr Ahmed was too much
for Jordan's Mohammed Alsarraj, who had
upset the seeding to reach this stage.
Girls U15 top seed Nouran Gohar also
looked in good form as she beat Malyasia's
Aika Azman 11/2, 11/8, 11/1.
Last up was World Junior Champion Marwan El
Shorbagy, in what on paper looked a tricky
encounter with Danish Atlas Khan, both with
elder brothers on the circuit (Mohamed and
Aamir of course).
 For
a while it was as close as expected, Marwan
taking the first 11/7 then pulling back an
early deficit to take the second 11/7 before
easing through the third 11/2.
"When I saw the
draw I knew this could be a tough one,"
admitted Marwan, "but I'm getting better
every day and I think I played well today, I
was happy with my shots and my game.
"The pressure's on me, being world champion
and after what Mohamed did here, but I enjoy
the pressure. This is my last BJO and I want
to finish it in good shape ..."
Meanwhile,
over at Hallamshire, Yathreb Adel
wins 3/1 as Pakistan's Kashif Asif
takes out the B13 top seed in straight
games, Habiba Mohamed justifies her
G13 top seeding in straight games and
England's Ashley Davies sprang a big
surprise, coming from a game down to beat
Osama Khalid Khalifa 7/11, 11/7, 11/8,
13/11. |
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Batch two: Off to an upset ...
 The
second G19 quarter-final provided the first
upset at Abbeydale, as Egypt's Salma
Hatem Esmat squeezed past 3/4 seed Anaka
Alankamony in three tight games 11/9, 11/6,
11/9.
"I haven't
played well this week before today," she
admitted, "I nearly lost my first round
match. But I played my best today, until I
was 10/5 match ball and she started to come
back, I really thought I was going to lose
as I always get nervous when I'm ahead.
"Thank God I won and got through to the
semi-finals. It will be my first semi-final
since I lost to Nour [El Sherbini] in the
U13 final in my first BJO, so I'm looking
forward to playing her again tomorrow!"
 Reigning
B13 champion Eain Yow Ng gave
Malaysia its first semi-finalist (in the
B15) as he beat Finland's Miko Aijanen in
three competitive games 11/5, 11/7, 11/7,
and fellow 3/4 seed Mayar Hany made
it two all-Egyptian semi-finals as she beat
compatriot Nadin Shahin 11/5, 11/7, 11/3.
A third
all-Egyptian semi was set up when Mazen
Gamal, last year's U17 champion, proved
too strong for home hopeful Ollie Holland,
taking the match 11/7, 11/7, 11/6 in 31
minutes.
 "Ollie
is a good friend, but we all want to win, so
I couldn't think about him being the home
player, and no I don't feel bad about
beating him," said a delighted victor.
"Marwan again tomorrow, like in the worlds
where he beat me 3/0. He's played some big
PSA events including the senior world open,
so there's no pressure on me, but it should
be a good match - I love this court, I've
played my best matches ever here ..."
Ollie tweeted: "Lost to the better player on
the day"
Over at
Hallamshire, further upsets as 17/32 seed
Abdalah Al Masry ensures Egyptian
interest in the B13 semis. Satoma
Watanabe wins in straight games to give
Japan representation in the G13 last four,
and Mariam Metwaly sets up yet
another all-Egyptian semi in the G17.
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Batch Three: More Egyptian winners, a
controversial end and two five-setters for
the Gilis sisters ...
Kanzy El Dafrawy started the Egyptian
train rolling again as the third batch of
matches starteed, beating surprise
quarter-finalist Julia Lecoq 11/2, 11/5,
6/11, 11/5. The French girl made too many
unforced errors to start with, fought back
well to take the third but Kanzy reimposed
in the fourth as the French errors
resurfaced at the end of the game (Julia
bounced her racket off the floor after a
final tin, into the waiting arms of
team-mate Melissa Alves!
 "I
didn't have too hard a draw up until now, so
I'm happy to get a bit longer on court this
time," admitted Kanzy. "My boasts weren't
going well at all, and in the third I just
kept playing them to try and get them
better!
"I've been playing the BJO for six or seven
years and not taken it yet, so hopefully I
can play well tomorrow and Friday."
More Egyptian
success in the following B15 match, but a
controversial ending.
Moustafa Taha ("He hits the ball
harder than John White", commented the
watching former U19 finalist Dylan Bennett)
took a two game lead, 12/10 11/9, over
Malaysia's 5/8 seed Mohd Mukhtar (who was
apparently "diving all over the place" in
one spectacular rally).
 The
Egyptian took the lead in the third too,
reached 10/7, but the Malaysian pulled it
back to 10/9. Taha went for a winner off the
serve, yelled "aargh", took off his goggles
and asked the referee if he could clean
them. The referee, perhaps alone in the
crowd, thought the return was good and
called "11/9 match". Taha couldn't believe
his luck, and raced to shake his
disbelieving opponent's hand.
Sadly even though I was only inches from the
ball I was probably in the worst position to
confirm it up or down ...
 The
following G15 match was a real thriller, as
Hana Ramadan and Tine Gilles went at
each other hammer and tong for five games,
the Egyptian finally winning 12/10, 3/11,
5/11, 11/8, 12/10.
It only took 39 minutes, but it felt twice
as long, every bit as fast and furious and
committed as the U13 boys, and the crowd
really got involved, especially in the tense
ending which saw the Egyptian pull back from
4/8 down to lead 10/8 before finally taking
it.
Even the watching Peter Nicol was impressed,
"how fast are they!" he remarked, "so good
for that age."
 There
was rather less drama about the final match
of this batch as Fares Desouky kept
the Egyptian bangwagon rolling with a 11/3,
11/6, 11/7 defeat of England's last hope in
the Boys U19 Declan James.
James' best spell was at the end of the
match, but a poor opening to the third which
saw him slump to an 8/0 deficit had already
cooked his goose.
Over at
Hallamshire Tine's older sister Nele
was also involved in a five-setter, beating
Lucy Beecroft in a see-saw 54-minute G17
match, while Jordan's Mohamed Alsaraj
prevailed in just short of an hour against
Pakistan's Ammad Fareed to reach the B17
semis and Amina Nousry won a
five-game all-Egyptian marathon in the G13. |
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Batch Four:
Emily delighted, Epke limps out, Abouelghar
makes it 4 Egyptians ...
 "I
know I was seeded to win but I'd never
beaten her before," said a delighted
Emily Whitlock after her 11/7, 11/7,
11/9 win over Egypt's Menat Nasser to keep
the hosts' hopes of taking one of the top
titles alive. "I know my reaction might have
been over the top but for me that was a good
win!"
The match was tough enough to suggest that
too, Emily was always ahead but never by
much, and as Menat closed in the third the
nerves were clear to see, for both players
and both sets of supporters.
 "I've
always had tough quarter-finals here," added
Emily, "I never used to be as strong as some
of the girls so even if I won I was
knackered for the next round, last year was
the only decent run I've had!
"So I'm really chuffed to win, especially
three-nil. I know I'm seeded to get to the
final but Kanzy has been getting better
results than me so in my head I'm not
favourite to win tomorrow, but I'll give it
my best!"
 The
following B15 match saw a resumption of the
Egyptian semi-final production line, but
second seed Youssef Soliman had to
work hard, very hard, to get past Germany's
Lucas Wirths who looks a strong boy and a
good prospect.
From 10/6 down in the first the Egyptian
sneaked it 14/12 before proceeding to take
the next two 11/3, 11/8.
 The
penultimate match of the day (are we really
near the end .....) ended in unfortunate
circumstances when New Zealand's second seed
Eleanor Epke was forced to retire with a
hamstring injury after three games of her
match with Malaysia's Nazihah Abdul Razak.
A very competitive match saw Epke take the
first 11/6, Razak levelled 11/8, then at 8/7
in the third the injury occurred. Epke
continued that game, losing it 11/7, but was
in some distress and was unable to come out
for the fourth.
Abbeydale's final match was a high-qualify
B19 match, in which second seed Mohamed
Abouelghar completed the all-Egyptian
semi-final lineup a 11/7, 12/10, 11/6 win
over Pakistan's Nasir Iqbal.
Meanwhile at Hallamshire (which I set out
for the the bus decided to miss it out and
head straight for the hotel!, Andrew
Fahmy justified his second seeding to
reach the B13 semis, reigning U15 champion
Salma Hani eased through her G17 semi
in just 19 minutes ... |
Egypt stacking up the
semi-finalists ...
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