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Qualifying
finals at Cairo Stadium
Amnah El Trabolsy (Egy) bt
Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy (Egy)
9/4, 9/4, 9/1 (29m)
Nouran El Torky (Egy) bt Salma
Hany (Egy)
8/10, 4/9, 9/5, 9/6, 10/8 (76m)
Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt Heba El
Torky (Egy)
9/6, 4/9, 9/1, 9/4 (54m)
Eman El Amir (Egy) bt Adel Weir
(Rsa)
10/8, 9/2, 9/5 (28m)
Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) bt John
Rooney (Irl)
11/9, 11/4, 11/5 (45m)
Amr Swelim (Egy) bt Ali Anwar Reda
(Egy)
11/9, 7/11, 12/10, 11/4 (62m)
Amr Mansi (Egy) bt Tarek Momen (Egy)
11/6, 11/9, 11/7 (41m)
Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa) bt
Yasser El Halaby (Egy) 11/6, 5/11,
7/11, 11/9, 14/12 (56m) |
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Amnah El Trabolsy (Egy) bt
Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy (Egy)
9/4,
9/4, 9/1 (29m) plays Wee
Amnah in control
Marwan
reports
Amnah and Kanzy were in the same club two months ago and Amnah
was her coach, so she knows Kanzy - the best squash player under
15 in Egypt.
So in the first game Amnah was a bit nervous and she started
with some mistakes, and Kanzy took the lead 3/0/ After that
Amnah was in control all the match and she didn't give the
chance to Kanzy to play her squash.
The second game the referee started with some strange decisions
and Kanzy was talking a lot to the referee so she lost
completely her concentration, and Amnah took advantage from
that.
 "It
was a good experience for me to play against her - she was my
coach and she knows me very well. It is my first Wispa
tournament and I had a good result and I am happy with that ...
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"I played very well today. I knew that I was going to win
because I was her coach and I know her very well.
"Anyway, I am looking forward to my match tomorrow and I hope to
go through to Hurghada."
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 "I
played very well, I haven't beat her before. I was very
concentrating today to win and I would like to thank Saaid Saad,
Ahmed Mataani and And Mohamed El Dafrawy ..."
 "I
wasn't concentrating at all, all my mind was with Nouran's match
as she was playing at the same time and I expected that even if
was down I would come back.
"But you have to know that squash is never like that and I hope
I learn to concentrate ... please Heba, from the beginning until
the end, please, once in your life!!!!
"Thank god I am not sad to lose as losing teaches more than
winning, although I always won against her and even it was never
even 3/2, but its ok ..."
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Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt Heba El
Torky (Egy)
9/6, 4/9, 9/1, 9/4 (54m)
plays Chuah
Unexpected Tussle !!
Marwan
reports
Heba is the Egyptian number one under 19 and Nour is number one
under 17, so everyone thought Nour is just going to play good
squash and Heba has to win because she is older ...
 In
the first game Heba was lacking concentration, maybe because her
sister was playing in the same time. She was down 7/0 with good
squash from Nour, then Heba started to concentrate and came back
to 6/7. Nour made two nice shots and a gift from Heba helped
Nour to take the first game.
The second Nour started to hit the tin and Heba was in control
all that game. The third was unexpected from Heba, she wasn't
concentrating in the game as Nour was taking lots of volley and
Heba was too slow.
The fourth was really so close, but at 4/4 Heba got injured so
she had to stop for a minute, and after that Heba was completely
out of concentrating and she didn't take another point.
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Nouran El Torky (Egy) bt Salma
Hany (Egy)
8/10, 4/9, 9/5, 9/6, 10/8 (76m) plays El Weilily
 WHAT
A MATCH…
Boy I’m lucky, as the first ladies matches I’ve seen this
tournament was a stunning one, between two girls in the same age
group, who both had over 70 minutes matches yesterday, both
advised by their coach/parents, in an excellent spirit, with
both coaches supporting the ref’s decisions and ordering their
kids to do the same…
Nouran is small, places well, and runs very fast, whereas Salma
is taller, stronger, and puts heavy weight in nearly all her
shots that on top of that, are of a perfect length…
Those two battled away, although Salma went on court totally
paralysed with fear, to gradually find her game (she was down
8/2 in the first) and take the first two games.
But Nouran is a fighter, I tell you. She clawed back, taking the
third rather comfortably. The fourth was more of a battle, 5/5,
6/6, but yet again, Nour was able to apply more pressure on her
opponent by placing nicely the ball in the four corners.
 The
fifth was anybody’s really, and if Nouran took an excellent
start, her opponent didn’t let her go anywhere. 5/5. 6/6. Match
ball for Nouran, but 8/8. Second match ball. And game for
Nouran.
This match was an example for all to see, both fair play,
respect of the rules, respect of the opponent, respect of
squash. Clever game, disputed, exquisite squash. I loved every
second of it. |
 "The
last two times we played, I won rather easily, so when I found
myself at 8/2 in the first game, I thought this was going to be
easy. But she played very well today, and she surprised me.
"She hits very hard, in particular from the forehand. My coach
told me to send the ball in the back corners, anything in the
middle to drop it, and at the front, drop it, or lob it. It
worked…
"This is the first time I've got into a WISPA main draw.
Actually, it’s the first time I've played a WISPA tournament!"
 "I
was so afraid to start with, I wanted to do well here in front
of this crowd. And as I lost the last time, I really tried and
did my best, although I was very tired from yesterday…"
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Eman El Amir (Egy) bt Adel Weir
(Rsa)
10/8, 9/2, 9/5 (28m) plays Kawy
"I played well
today - I started very nervous then I slowed the pace and in the
third game I changed my game.
"Then I got back to the match and slowed the pace again.
"Tomorrow I will play Omneya and I hope to play a good match
..."
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Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) bt John
Rooney (Irl)
11/9, 11/4, 11/5
(45m) plays Hisham Ashour
JOHN
NOT MOVING
If the first game was a bit of a struggle, as both players were
unhappy with the ref’s let decisions in the front left corner,
the second and the third saw a flat as a pancake Irishman,
unable to respond to Omar’s inventive and accurate game.
The Egyptian was just too precise, and John too absent
physically for this to become a real battle…
 "My
opinion is that in the first game we were both getting lets in
the front corner, and every time, it should have been a stroke.
And that’s when frustration started to build for both of us…
"In the second, I came back calm, having succeeded to get rid of
all my nerves, and I took a very good start, and in the last
one, I was perfectly in control.
"I’m looking forward NOT to play Ramy tomorrow…"
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"I just felt heavy today, a bit like yesterday, just no legs,
not sure what it is. I’m sure it’s not the trouble I had in the
past, when I was in the Worlds in Chennai, I played all the top
players, one after the other, and got really good results, I
felt strong, I felt fit…
"Maybe it’s because I’m training very hard at the moment, while
playing the circuit… Maybe you’ve got to go through phases where
you feel very tired…"
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 "I
lost to him the last two times so this time I was looking for
it, and I didn't play badly. The third game was really very
important to win."
"Anyway I am happy to get to the main draw and I hope to play
well tomorrow ..."
"I had the chance to win - I should have won the third, I was up
7/3 and 10/9 - but I am happy because it's my first psa
tournament after the injury...."
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Amr Swelim (Egy) bt Mohd Ali Anwar
Reda (Egy)
11/9, 7/11, 12/10, 11/4 (62m)
plays El Hndi
Revenge for Swelim
Marwan
reports
They played last year in the Rotary and it was a very tough and
close match, Mohamed Ali was down 2/0 and then he won but this
time was different.
 Mohamed
Ali is just back from an injury so maybe he is not at his best.
First game it was very close, it was very long rallies, but Ali
Anwar hit three tins in a row to give the advantage to Swelim to
win the game.
The second game was Mohamed Ali who was completely controlling
that game and he was playing a very good squash, he didn't give
the chance to Swelim to play.
The third was really very important, and so close. The game was
up and down, Mohamed Ali who was always up in this game 7/3 then
losing his concentration and Swelim got back to 9/7, then
Mohamed Ali made two nice dropshots and Swelim helped him with a
mistake to 10/9.
Then they started again with long rallies and long rallies and
it was Ali who always made the mistake or Swelim who would make
a nice shot. The Fourth was very quick, Swelim just played a
quick game to finish the match and go to the main draw.
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Amr Mansi (Egy) bt Tarek Momen (Egy)
11/6, 11/9, 11/7 (41m) plays
Shabana
A
NEW BEGINNING…
… for Amr Mansi…
“Let’s go”, says the winner to my address as he was walking back
from wherever he went after his victory. With a tone that made
me say “Sir YES SIR!”.
But he was so happy, the boy, sooooo happy to be back, to be
fit, and to be a winner at last, after a nasty knee injury that
kept him away from the courts for nearly 18 months.
I was wondering why, as he was leading rather comfortably,
thanks to a Tarek who kept offering him gifts with tins all over
the place, and still, he was pumping his fists, encouraging
himself as if he was down 8/2 in the fifth!
Well, he needed to win desperately….
Tarek didn’t have a great day, especially as Amr was reading his
game as an open book, pushing the youngster to go for more risky
shots. But Amr was just too strong, and had too many weapons
today against a Tarek who kept on trying to finish the point a
bit too soon…
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"I needed to win. I’m so happy to get a win, this is the first
time I've got a good win in a year and a half.
 "I
had a knee injury, it was around Chicago time last year. Only
four months ago, it started to get better, and for the past two
months, I’ve moved to Cairo to train with Shabana, Karim, all
the boys, and it helped my game so much…
"This is why I’m so happy about this win, and I just hope I get
to play in Hurghada…"
"So unlucky. I made so many unforced errors, I can’t believe
it…"
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 "What
a match, it was very strange - I won the first, he won the
second and the third then I won the fourth then the fifth was up
and down.
"Anyway I am very happy to go through to the main draw and I
hope to play well tomorrow - I am pretty happy to play
Ramy, I saw him before so I am going to fight in this match ..."
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Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa) bt
Yasser El Halaby (Egy)
11/6, 5/11, 7/11, 11/9, 14/12 (56m)
plays Ramy Ashour
Marwan reports
It was a strange match, and very quick at the start - the match
was five games in 56 minutes so it's not very long.
In the third game Yasser took a quick start, 6/0, then Jesse
came back to 5/6 but after that Yasser was in the control of the
game. The fourth was so close point by point until 9/9 then
Yasser made a mistake and Jesse made a drop shot to win that
game.
The Fifth was the same story, very close, really very close.
Jesse took the lead to 10/8 then Yasser came back to 10/10. Then
Jesse got a third match ball but lost it, Yasser lost his only
match ball and finally Jesse won his fourth to win the match and
go through the main draw in this big tournament ... and he is
going to play Ramy Ashour. |
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