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Thu 6th, FINALS Day 2011
Steve Cubbins in Sheffield |
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Six for
Egypt as Emily does it
at last for England ...
G13: [1] Habiba Mohamed (Egy)
bt Andrea Lee Jia Qi (Mas)
11/3, 11/8, 12/10 (22m)
B13: Eain Yow Ng (Mas) bt [1]
Saad El Din Ihab (Egy)
11/7, 8/11, 10/12, 11/5, 11/4 (48m)
G15: [2] Salma Hany (Egy) bt Laila
Omar (Egy)
11/6, 11/4, 9/11, 6/11, 11/5 (43m)
B15: Mohamed El Gawarhy (Egy) bt
Yousseff Makarim (Egy)
11/4, 11/8, 11/5 (24m)
G17: [2] Emily Whitlock (Eng) bt
Yathreb Adel (Egy)
8/11, 11/1, 4/11, 11/8, 11/6 (50m)
B17: Mazen Gamal (Egy) bt Moustafa
Bayoumy (Egy)
11/8 , 11/9 , 11/7 (33m)
G19: [2] Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt
[1] Amanda Sobhy (Usa)
11/6, 12/10, 11/7 (28m)
B19: [2] Ali Farag (Egy) bt [1]
Amr Khalid Khalifa (Egy)
11/7, 11/4, 11/6 (34m) |
Draws & Results
the Galleries |
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G13: [1]
Habiba Mohamed (Egy) bt
Andrea Lee Jia Qi (Mas)
11/3, 11/8, 12/10 (22m)
Habiba
too strong
 Just
as in yesterday's semi-final, Habiba
Mohamed's fate lay in her own hands in
today's first final. The Egyptian top seed
can hammer the ball with ferocity, but is
prone to errors too.
In the first game Malaysia's Andrea Lee Jia
Qi was simply overpowered, but she held her
own for the next two games, her more
accurate game starting to pay dividends as
she pushed Habiba deeper into the court,
forcing more errors.
Point
for point in the second, it was Habiba who
found the extra from 8-all to double her
lead.
 Andrea
led 3/0 and 5/2 in the third, Habiba
recovered to lead 7/5 and 9/7, but it was
the Malaysian who reached games ball with a
pair of strokes as Habiba hit hard but
loosely.
She couldn't convert it though, and it only
took Habiba one chance to power away a
winner to set the ball rolling for Egypt. |
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B13:
Eain Yow Ng (Mas) bt [1] Saad El Din
Ihab (Egy)
11/7, 8/11, 10/12, 11/5, 11/4 (48m)
Ng notches one up
for Malaysia
The Boys U13 final was between the two
outstanding players of the event, and they
dished up a wonderful final for the packed
crowd at Abbeydale. Excellent squash,
compelling rallies, little in the way of
involvement from the referee, and as much
emotion and tension as you'd like.
Ng, who plays a very mature, controlled
game, took the first but the top seeded
Egyptian managed to keep the pace higher in
the second and third games, taking the
Malaysian just enough out of his comfort
zone. Ihab pulled away from the middle of
the second, then took four points in a row
from 8/10 down in the third to take the
lead.
 Ng
controlled the next two games though,
pushing the ball to the corners, denying his
opponent the attacking space he thrives on,
although it certainly wasn't for lack of
effort that Ihab couldn't regain a grip on
the match.
In the end Ng ran out a deserving winner,
and boy were he and the Malaysian contingent
delighted about it! |
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G15: [2]
Salma Hany (Egy) bt Laila Omar (Egy)
11/6, 11/4, 9/11, 6/11, 11/5 (43m)
Salma
salvages the title
 It
was all looking so easy for Salma
Hani in the Girls U17 final. Leading two
games to nil, the second seed was in total
control and a three-nil win was surely
coming up.
Controlling the rallies, forcing Laila
Omar into the sort of desperate
defending she was doing yesterday, and
picking off winners apparently when she felt
like it, Salma's win looked assured.
But, just as she did yesterday, Laila found
something extra, stopped defending and
started to make Salma work for the first
time. She got off to a good start in the
third, and by the end of it she was looking
confident, Salma shaking her head wondering
where it had gone wrong.
 At
8/5 in the fourth Laila needed to stop the
blood from a grazed knee, but the
interruption didn't stop her momentum as she
quickly took the game on the resumption to
set up a decider.
A tight opening to the fifth, and slowly the
momentum changed again. From 2-all Salma
edged ahead, as much on determination as on
skill this time. 4/2, 7/4, 9/5.
Match ball came to a rather generous stroke
at the front of the court, the title came at
the end of a rally where Salma had her
opponent scurrying from corner to corner,
finally getting her out of position and
putting away an unchallenged dropshot with
an emphatic YES!
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B15: [1]
Mohamed El Gawarhy (Egy) bt
Yousseff Aboul Makarim (Egy)
11/4, 11/8, 11/5 (24m)
Gawarhy
makes it three for Egypt
Top seed Mohamed El Gawarhy claimed
his first BJO title with an impressive and
assured display over compatriot Yoesseff
Aboul Makarim.
Makarim had survived a five-game thriller
yesterday, but could never get a foothold in
today's match as Gawarhy controlled affairs
from the outset.
Makarim's only glimpse of an opening came as
he brought the score back to 9/8 in the
second, but Gawarhy soon snuffed that out
and a good start in the third presaged the
inevitable end.
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G17: [2]
Emily Whitlock (Eng) bt Yathreb Adel (Egy)
8/11, 11/1, 4/11, 11/8, 11/6 (50m)
Whitlock wins one
for England
It's been a long wait - since James
Willstrop in 2002 to be precise - but the
hosts finally have another BJO champion as
Emily Whitlock won a thrilling Girls U17
final against Yathreb Adel.
 The
Egyptian had ousted the top seed in a
marathon 81-minute semi-final yesterday, but
didn't appear to be feling any effects from
that as she took the first game, which went
point for point to 8-all before Adel pulled
clear.
It may have been Dad Phil's mid-game advice
of "up the pace a bit" which helped Emily in
the second, which she waltzed away with
11/1.
Had the tide turned? Not a bit of it, back
came Yathreb, matching Emily's second game
performance as she retook the lead.
It was a good match this. Any thoughts that
at 14 - she was still eligible to defend her
U15 title - Yathreb would be no match for
Emily had long since been dispelled, and the
final two games were compelling, at times
frantic, with the crowd and the referee
getting involved all along the way.
Yathreb took a 3/0 lead in the fourth, Emily
came back to level at 5-all, then took the
lead 7/5 and 9/6. Emily thought she had game
ball when Yathreb's pickup was called not
up, but the referee over-ruled. Drama,
tension ... oh yes.
 It
only took two more rallies for Emily to
level the match, and then we were into a
decider. Nothing to separate them now,
2-all, 5-3 Yathreb, 5-all, 6-all. Lots of
lets.
From there Emily surged ahead, rifling a low
crosscourt for 8/6, taking advantage of a
lucky mishit to fire away another one for
9/6. A no let that Yathreb couldn't believe
and it was match ball.
It's a good job Emily won it at the first
attempt, the crowd probably couldn't have
taken any more! Well done Emily, and well
done Yathreb too ... |
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B17: Mazen
Gamal (Egy) bt Moustafa Bayoumy (Egy)
11/8 , 11/9 , 11/7 (33m)
Mazen
makes it four
Sorry guys, only caught the very end of this
match after processing Emily's photos.
But from all accounts it was a high-class
encounter with Gamal, whose speed around the
court and improvised shotmaking is
reminiscent of Ramy Ashour, just had the
edge in each game.
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G19:
[2] Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt
[1] Amanda Sobhy (Usa)
11/6, 12/10, 11/7 (28m)
No need to be
nervous, Nour
Amanda Sobhy has looked on top form all this
week, while Nour El Tayeb has looked be;low
her best, vulnerable, and by her own
admission, nervous.
In this repeat of their World Junior Final
meeting in Germany, the tables were turned
from the start. It was the Egyptian looking
calm, confident, unflustered and untroubled
as she stroked the ball around, picked off
her opponent's shots and forced her into
errors.
 Sobhy
needed to change her game, and she did,
coming out for the second hitting the ball
harder and lower, and now she was calling
the tunes, going 6/1 and then 10/4 ahead.
But Tayeb responded. She upped her pace too,
and gradually worked her way back into it. A
couple of careless errors from Sobhy helped
her along the way, a tin took it to 10/8 and
now it was getting interesting again.
Two long, tough rallies both ended with
Sobhy hitting a tight ball out and we were
level. Another long rally, a drive glued to
the wall and it was game ball to Tayeb. A
final tin and an unlikely two game lead was
the Egyptian's.
Again Amanda started strongly in the third,
but only 4/1 this time. Nour levelled at
4-all, and she was looking confident again,
Amanda the nervous one.
It was tight, of course it was, but Nour
edged ahead, 7/5 9/7, 10/7 on a low
crosscourt that forced Amanda to tin, then a
marvellous long drop to finish, and the
double U17 champion had graduated to become
U19 champion and complete the full BJO set.
There was no great celebration at the end,
just quiet satisfaction. See, Nour, no need
to be nervous at all ...
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B19:
[2] Ali Farag (Egy) bt [1] Amr Khalid
Khalifa (Egy)
11/7, 11/4, 11/6 (34m)
Farag fells Khalifa
 The
final match of the 2011 BJO saw another top
seed, another World Junior Champion, beaten.
In another repeat of the last World Junior
Final, the tables were turned as Ali Farag,
beaten 3/1 in that Ecuador final, led from
start to finish with Amr Khalid Khalifa
struggling to get a foothold in the match.
Farag, as fast as ever, never allowed his
opponent that foothold and emerged a worthy
winner, claiming his first BJO title in his
last appearance in the event.
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