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Tue 5th, Day FOUR,
Semi-Finals
Six - and only six - Egyptian
Champions guaranteed in Sheffield ...
It was another great day for the Egyptian
contingent as they claimed twelve of the
sixteen available spots in the finals,
securing six all-Egyptian finals - but
neither of the remaining two finals feature
an Egyptian.
 In
the G19 event defending champion
Nouran Gohar met club team-mate Mayar
Hany, and after pulling clear from 7-all in
the first went on to take the match in
straight games.
"I was a little nervous at the start,"
admitted Gohar, the world junior champion,
"and she played really well. We train
together and met in the U13 final and U15
semis here, and it's always close between
us."
England's Gina Kennedy took the lead against
Nadine Shahin, but the Egyptian
fought back to take the next three games,
claiming her first-ever final outing in her
last BJO.
"I'm just so happy to make a final at
last," said Shahin, "the best I managed
before was fourth. And to be playing my best
friend in the final, I'm really looking
forward to it I just hope it's a good
match."
The B19 final will also be all-Egyptian. Top
seed Youssef Soliman took a close
first game against England's Kyle Finch,
eased through the second and then came from
7-10 down to claim the third 12-10.
"He's had some great wins and I never
even saw him play before," said Soliman. "I
needed to play at a fast pace against him,
but at the end I just had to keep the ball
deep, I'm really happy to get through that
in three games."
 In
a repeat of last year's B17 final
Saadeldin Abouaish got the better of
Eain Yow Ng for the first time in four
attempts. The Egyptian took a two-nil lead
and although Ng fought back to take the
third, the fourth was never in doubt.
"I'm really pleased to beat him for the
first time, especially after being two-nil
up in last year's U17 final," said Abouaish.
"Now I'm playing Youssef in a repeat of our
World semi-final, I hope we can play as good
a match as that one was."
The B15 final will be contested by the top
two seeds, both Egyptian. Mostafa Asal
was always in control of his match with Aly
Eltokhy, while Omar El Torkey
recovered from a game and 0-5 down to beat
Moustafa Elserty in four games.
"I'm happy to be in the final," said top
seed Asal. "I was fourth last year and
second in the US U17 last month, so I really
want to win this time!"
 El
Torkey was equally happy: "We play each
other a lot in Egypt, so I'm happy to win
this one," he said, "and very pleased to
make the final in my first BJO."
The G15 final will not feature an Egyptian,
as Maria Stefanoni and Aifa Azman
both beat Egyptian opponents in the semis.
USA's Stefanoni staged a remarkable comeback
from two-nil down against top seed Jana
Shiha. The Egyptian powered through the
first and then saved two game balls to take
the second 12-10. Stefanoni fought back to
take a close third and with Shiha unsettled
by time and coaching warnings took the
fourth at a canter.
 Battle
was rejoined in the fifth though with barely
a point between them. Shiha had match balls
at 10-9 and 12-11, Stefanoni at 11-10 and
13-12, finishing the match to the delight of
the large US contingent in the crowd.
"I should have won the second," said
Stefanoni," but I just decided I wasn't
going to lose, although it was very close in
the fifth!"
Her opponent in the final will be Malaysia's
Azman, the second-seeded U13 champion from
2014. She got the better of last year's U13
runner-up Nouran Yousef in three, racing
through the first before getting the better
of two close and hotly-contested games.
At Hallamshire, England’s Sam Todd
remains on course to become the first male
English winner of a BJO title since James
Willstrop. The top seed dispatched Egypt’s
Kareem El Torkey in straight games. He will
be joined in the BU13 final by Malaysia’s
Muhammad Amirul Azhar who saw off a
spirited fight from the giant killer,
India’s Neel Joshi, twice needing to go in
to extra points to secure a 3-0 win.
England’s hopes of two U13 finalists were
dashed as the second seed, Egypt’s Sana
Mahmoud, proved too strong for surprise
semi finalist, Katie Maliff. Maliff took a
1-0 lead, but struggled to convert her
chances as she fell 8/11, 12/10, 11/6, 11/8.
In the other semi final the Egyptian top
seed Nour Aboulmakarim faced a stern
challenge from Habiba Nader early on, before
easing through to the final 3-1.
The U17 semi finals were an all-Egyptian
affair and served up a pair of upsets.
The top seed Hania Elhammamy needed a
decider to prevent an upset against 5/8 seed
Hana Ayoub. In the other semi the 3/4 seed
Rowan Reda held her nerve at 2-1 to
down the second seed Amina Yousry 11/6,
11/9, 7/11, 11/7 in a tempestuous contest
between two closely matched rivals.
In the BU17s top seed Youssef Ibrahim
had to come from a game behind to secure his
final place, eventually prevailing against
Ziad Sakr 8/11, 11/6, 11/5, 11/7. The last
match of the day provided another upset as
the other semi final saw Mostafa Montaser
add the scalp of the number two seed, Marwan
Tarek, to his burgeoning collection, winning
14/12 in the fifth!
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