|
|
|
Mon 14th April, Day THREE |
LAST DAY IN CAIRO ...
The final day of play in Cairo saw two qualifiers book their
trip to Hurghada as the tournament moves on to the Red Sea
resort.
Omar Abdel Aziz, having said "I don't want to play Ramy"
after his qualifying finals win, found himself up against an
under the weather elder brother of the young superstar. He won
in straight games, and now faces ... Ramy himself.
A second all-Egyptian quarter-final will be played on Wednedsay
between Wael El Hindi, who eased past compatriot Amr
Swelim, and Omar Mosaad, who beat Alister Walker in a
match with a controversial ending.
Only one of the women's first round matches went over the
half-hour mark, but the one that did produced a stunning upset
as 15-year-old qualifier Nour El Tayeb knocked out
Malaysia's Tricia Chuah to set up a quarter-final with Egyptian
number one Omneya Abdel Kawy.
|
En Bref #2 |
|
Men's First
Round (bottom half):
[8] Omar Mosaad (Egy) bt
Alister Walker (Eng)
11/6, 11/8, 9/6 disq (33m)
[4] Wael El Hindi (Egy) bt [Q]
Amr Swelim (Egy)
11/5, 11/8, 11/5 (37m)
[Q] Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) bt
[7] Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/2, 11/7, 11/3 (33m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [Q] Jesse
Engelbrecht (Rsa)
11/5, 11/4, 11/8 (20m)
Women's First Round:
[1] Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt
Lauren Siddall (Eng)
9/6, 9/7, 9/4 (29m)
[7] Manuela Manetta (Ita) bt
Camille Serme (Fra)
9/1, 9/5, 9/3 (27m)
[3] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy)
bt [Q] Eman El Amir (Egy)
9/6, 9/0, 9/1 (27m)
[Q] Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt [8]
Tricia Chuah (Mas)
9/6, 9/7, 9/1 (33m)
[6] Raneem El Weleily (Egy)
bt Nouran El Torky (Egy)
9/6, 9/0, 9/3 (20m)
[4] Engy Kheirallah (Egy) bt
Georgina Stoker (Eng)
10/9, 9/3, 9/5 (30m)
[5] Sharon Wee (Mas) bt [Q] Amnah
El Trabolsy (Egy)
9/5, 9/1, 9/0 (14m)
[2] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt
Christina Mak (Hkg)
9/4, 9/2, 9/0 (23m) |
|
[6]
Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt
Nouran El Torky (Egy)
9/6, 9/0, 9/3 (20m)
Raneem Rockets ahead
Adel reports
Raneem, at 19 years old, twice world junior champion and Nouran
only 15 and having come through two 76-minute matches to qualify
... on paper there was only one winner.
Raneem took a while to warm up as usual, she went 6- 2 down in
the first, but once she got her engine warmed up she rocketed
ahead and won in straight games.
 ''I
played alright, and she played well too ...
I hope it will be a good tournament!''
|
 |
 |
[1]
Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt
Lauren Siddall (Eng)
9/6, 9/7, 9/4 (29m)
Safe Start for Rachael
Marwan reports
This was the first match for the women's Main Draw. Lauren had a
good start, leading 5/1 in the first but then Rachael started to
play her game, slowing the pace and playing a lot with her wrist
as she came back to win that first game.
In the second Rachael was playing really very good squash, some
drops and she started to hit the ball and she took the lead 7/4
but after that Lauren back very well. Some errors from Rachael
some loose shots into the middle of the court and she was
running as Lauren came back to 7/7. Lauren may have had a chance
to win that game but she made a mistake, then a good shot from
Rachael and it was 2/0.
The third was quite quick, Rachael was in control, taking lots
of volleys and played a quick game, Lauren was trying very hard
to do something.
Now the World champion is through to the next round where she
will face Manuela or the British junior champion Camille ... I
think that will be very hard match..
 "I
didn't play well, I was playing at the front of the court too
much, so I have to be careful, I was having to do a lot of
running because of that. I had to start to play some length and
some more length.
"I'm looking forward to my match tomorrow ..."
|
|
[8]
Omar Mosaad (Egy) bt Alister
Walker (Eng)
11/6, 11/8, 9/6 rtd
 NOT
IMPRESSED…
A match to forget. Which started extremely well for Omar, who
was on fire, purely and simply, against an Ali not having a good
day.
 But
the situation became rather difficult for the English player as
the referee's decisions became more and more inconsistent, and
I’m sorry to say, a bit too one-sided for the fairness of the
match.
Frustration grew for Ali, Omar playing as well as he did,
although he could have made more effort to get round the
Englishman, but hey, the Egyptian is tall and large, bless him!
To get to the third game, where the boys were so close scorewise,
5/5, 6/6, until in my opinion a ridiculous no let seemed to get
Ali out of his skin. A few rallies later the Englishman was
pushing his opponent around the neck, which is unacceptable in
any language, form and country, and Ali was quite rightly
penalised with the match. |
 |
|
[4]
Engy Kheirallah (Egy) bt
Georgina Stoker (Eng)
10/9, 9/3, 9/5 (30m)
Engy Awakes
Adel
reports
The first game was extremely tight, it could have gone either
way with a a few hand outs at 9-all before Engy just managed to
sneak the game to take the lead.
A few bad calls in the second had Georgina very frustrated and
she could not get back into the game again.
 ''I
didn't feel 100% awake, I was lucky she made so many mistakes. I
was lucky to win the first because I was not getting a proper
length, but I got away with it. I'm looking forward to playing
Raneem in Hurghada ..."
 |
 |
|
[7]
Manuela Manetta (Ita) bt
Camille Serme (Fra)
9/1, 9/5, 9/3 (27m)
Manuela looking good
Marwan reports
Manuela looks in a good form in this tournament, she was playing
very good squash, putting her opponent under pressure, moving
well and she didn't giver the British junior champion Camille
much chance to play and forced lots of errors.
The first game was very quick, Camille was completely out of
concentration, and Manuela was controlling the T taking lots of
volleys.
The second game Camille started well with some good shots but
after that Manuela came back very strongly to win that game,
playing very well and Camille continued the mistakes which
helped Manuela to win the game.
The third was the same story, Camille out of concentration many
many errors. So now Manuela is going to play Rachael in Hurghada
on the glass court ...
|
"I played well in all the match but I lost my concentration a
bit at the start of the second game. I was moving well and
played some good shots.
"Now I will play Rachael in Hurghada on the glass court on front
of good crowd so I am looking to play well - she is the world
champion and it will be a good experience for me as well."
"Manuela played
really very well, but I think Camille needs to play more Wispa
matches. She is not confident in senior but in the junior she
won the last British so of course she was confident n juniors. I
think that's not the way to play in senior and Manuela was
playing good length and moving very well, I think Camille needs
to play more and more length /..
 |
|
 "I
was trying desperately to speed up the pace, trying to volley
more, but he wouldn’t let me, and I just couldn’t do what I
wanted. I couldn’t take the ball early enough to attack…
"I think that I expected too much of myself, and when I couldn’t$
do what I planned, I lost my way…"
 "Amr
is one of our most talented players, I like him, and I like
watching him play. Today, I feel that he was a bit nervous, and
didn’t play at his best…"
 |
[4]
Wael El Hindi (Egy) bt [Q] Amr
Swelim (Egy)
11/5, 11/8, 11/5 (37m)
SWELIM LOST HIS WAY…
I’m
lucky enough to have seen that boy Amr Swelim play several
times, and I must say that we saw a shadow of his talent against
Egyptian star Wael El Hindi, who applied his normal tactic,
slowing down the pace, getting his opponent in a false rhythm of
comfort, but in the same token, preventing him from attacking,
or forcing him to do so from the wrong position, hence making a
lot of unforced errors.
And it worked to the T today, against an opponent who so wanted
to do well, in front of his crowd, against a player with whom he
trains a lot, but against whom he never played before…
|
|
 |
|
[5]
Sharon Wee (Mas) bt [Q] Amnah El
Trabolsy (Egy)
9/5, 9/1, 9/0 (14m)
[2] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt
Christina Mak (Hkg)
9/4, 9/2, 9/0 (23m)
No sweat for Sharon & Jenny
Adel reports
 Sharon
Wee and Jenny Duncalf wasted little time in reaching the
quarter-finals, where they will meet in Hurghada.
Amnah tried to hit the ball to hard while Sharon took the
opportunity to slow the ball down and frustrate her opponent.
It was short and sweet for Jenny too, although she struggled a
little to come to terms with the bouncy court. |
 "I
think she is a good player, I tried to keep it tight. She hit me
on my arm in the first game which woke me up, I think!
"It was a good day at work ...''
 "It
was a bit bouncy on there today, I just tried to get comfortable
and control the ball. It's good to get going, I'm happy win the
result and I'm also looking forward to getting to Hurghada."
 |
|
"I started very nervous and she was playing lots of good shots.
I haven't played her for long time because she is not playing
Wispa tournaments so I haven't watched her play for long time.
"But then she got tired and I started to slow the pace. I think
she can play Wispa tournaments if she trained.
"I am going now to Hurghada, and looking for a good result ..."
"I started quite well, but then I didn't play well in the
second. I tried in the third but I got tired and I made lots of
mistakes. Anyway I'm happy to get to the main draw of this
tournament ..."
 |
[3]
Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) bt
[Q] Eman El Amir (Egy)
9/6, 9/0, 9/1 (27m)
Omneya on form
Marwan reports
They are good friends and they know each other very well. Eman
started well in the first game, and Omneya was a bit nervous
because she hadn't played her for long time. But once Omneya got
going she controlled all the match, and Eman was so tired by the
end.
The first game was so close - Omneya took a quick lead to 4/1
then Eman started to come back to 5/5 with lots of mistake from
Omneya and some good shots from Eman ... then 6/6 and Omneya
started to be more nervous but after that she started to play
and won the game.
After that the second and the third were very quick, Eman got
tired and made lots of mistakes and she couldn't move as well.
Now Omneya is going to Hurghada looking for her second title. Of
course the crowd will be behind her, and also her coaches Hisham
El Attar and Dr. Talha Hussein.
 |
|
[Q]
Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) bt [7]
Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/2, 11/7, 11/3 (33m)
OMAR
SOLID,
HISHAM NOT THAT MUCH…
It was a very one-sided encounter today between the two mates,
with an Omar as regular as clockwork, dispensing his shots with
accuracy and intelligence, against a Hisham who seemed to make
too many unforced errors for it to be anodyne.
 Afterwards,
Hisham’s mum confirmed to me that the boy had been suffering
from a throat virus for around two weeks now, and was far from
being at his top.
But that doesn’t take anything away from a stunning performance
of the man of the moment, M. Omar Abdel Aziz, the only man on
the circuit who succeeds to make Davide Bianchetti look mild and
subtle… |
"Basics. That’s what I kept on repeating to myself. Basics,
basics, basics, play as solid in the back corners, and only when
the opportunity presents itself, go for a forehand winner.
"Hisham is like my big brother, we are training a lot together,
and you know when yesterday, I told you I didn’t want to play
Ramy? Well, I’m afraid I won’t have much choice now…"
 |
|
"I can't believe that I won, I am really so happy to play at
Hurghada and get into the quarters for the first time in my life
in a big tournament
"I am looking to play a good game against Omneya..."
 |
[Q]
Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt [8]
Tricia Chuah (Mas)
9/6, 9/7, 9/1 (33m)
Nour shocks Tricia
Nour is just 15 years old. She had a good result yesterday
against Heba and she is now going to play in Hurghada on the
glass Court, in her first quarter-final of a big
tournament.
Tricia was surprised by her, got back into it but after losing
the second she didn't have any confidence to play.
 The
first game Nour surprised her and she took the lead 4/1, then
Tricia tried to get into the match - 4/4, 5/5, 6/6 but some good
shots from Nour gave her the advantage to win the first game.
In the second Nour hit a lot of tins at the start and Tricia
started to play and control the game, taking the lead 7/1. We
thought that the game was finished but Nour came back very
strongly, fighting for every ball and diving over the court,
winning point by point to win the game with some nice shots
The third was quick, Nour was controlling and Tricia was
completely without confidence.
|
 |
 |
|
[2]
Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [Q] Jesse
Engelbrecht (Rsa)
11/5, 11/4, 11/8 (20m)
RAMY NO CONTEST…
 Although
Jesse was at the best I’ve seen him play for a long time,
keeping the errors to a minimum, and his short game was well in
place (now he is a “mature player”, it’s to be expected, ain’t
it??), he was no match for a “skinny” Ramy today.
Funny still, as they were at 4/4 in the first game, and it was
like the South African suddenly realised that “o, I’m happy
there, am I really neck to neck with Ramy???”, and started
thinking. And that’s never good…
But a good performance from the Egyptian, who was not exactly
stretched but was concentrated and focused, except at the start
of the third, where he left Jess surprise, and even at 4/5,
wrong footed, him. That doesn’t happen everyday....
The Egyptian then started to accelerate and put slightly more
weight in the ball, and away he went toward a match against Omar
Abdel Aziz…
|
"I was trying to stay as light as possible, and not to push too
hard, as the floor is a bit slippery, and I didn’t want to
injure myself for the rest of the event.
"Jesse had some good results recently, so I was a bit wary of
him, he played very well, he attacked a lot, and that’s good.
"Putting that under consideration, I needed to fight to win,
especially here in Cairo, as last time I played here, I lost
against Greg. Now, for the rest of the tournament, I’ve come up
with new ideas in my head, with a new plan, which would allow me
to keep me playing the right shot at the right time, even under
pressure."
 |
|
