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TODAY in Sharm ...
daily reports
Steve in Soho Square |
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Final touches
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Mon 26th, Qualifying
Round One
Egyptians dominate ...
The only round not to be held on the Soho Square Glass Court, it
was off to Laguna Vista this afternoon for first round
qualifying.
Unsurprisingly hosts Egypt did rather well, claiming six of the
eight places available in the qualifying finals, but it was
easier for some than others ...
Heba El Torky (Egy) bt Farah
Abdel Meguid (Egy)
11/9, 8/11,
11/3, 10/12, 12/10 (52m)
Kanzy El Dafrawy (Egy) bt Merman Amr Mahmoud (Egy)
11/3, 11/9,
11/6 (25m)
Nouran El Torky (Egy) bt Lucie Fialova (Cze)
11/8,
11/7, 8/11, 11/4 (33m)
Sara El Noamany (Egy) bt Salma Hany (Egy)
11/8,
9/11, 11/8, 11/6 (50m)
Irina Assal (Rus) bt Eliza Kargioti (Gre)
11/2,
11/6, 11/3 (18m)
Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt Yathreb Adel (Egy)
11/2,
11/9,11/3 (26m)
Nour El Sherbini (Egy) bt Nicoleta Pozidi (Gre)
11/2, 11/1,
11/2 (14m)
Kylie Lindsay (Nzl) bt Haidi Lala (Egy) w/o |
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Egyptians dominate qualifying
at Laguna Vista
It will come as no surprise to hear that six of the seven
matches played today were won by Egyptians, especially since
four of the matches were exclusively Egyptian, but while some
had it fairly easy, others were made to work hard for their
places on the Soho Square Glass Court for tomorrow’s qualifying
finals.
It felt almost as though these were the finals, you usually have
to battle through at least four rounds to earn a match on the
showcourt, so that definitely lent a bit of an edge to some of
the matches.
Heba survives all-Egyptian tussle
 First
up were two of Egypt’s all-conquering Junior squad, Heba El
Torky and Kanzy El Dafrawy. Kanzy looked the part on
and off court having eschewed the handwritten identification on
the back of her shirt for proper printing, and won comfortably
enough, although Mehman Amr Mahmoud pushed her close in the
second.
Both struggled with the slippy floor on the hot, bouncy courts,
factors that came even more into play with Heba’s match against
Farah Abdul Meguid. The taller Farah seemed to be able to cope
with the conditions better, often controlling the T and picking
off anything loose with good volleys and accurate drops. Heba
was playing here usual all-action game, but found running shots
down harder to do than normal, and was overhitting, allowing
Farah the luxury of staying in the middle more than Heba would
have wanted.
The first two games were close, and shared, but when Heba opened
up a quick lead and then ran away with the third, it looked as
if the ‘expected’ result would soon arrive. Far from it. Farah
was obviously just taking a rest, and the next two games
continued in the same vein as the first two – nothing in it.
Farah sneaked the fourth to level, and led 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7 in
the decider. Heba was by now whacking the ball for all she was
worth, and as a tactic it seemed to be playing dividends. Heba
forced her way to match ball at 10-9, but needed one more chance
to secure her place on the showcourt, but what a struggle it
was.
Nouran upsets the seedings
 The
second pair of matches saw Heba’s younger sister Nouran El
Torky join her in tomorrow’s finals, while Sara El
Noamany finally subdued a spirited challenge from Salma Hany,
powering ahead early in the fourth after three close games to
set up a winning lead.
Nouran was having much less problem with her footing than her
elder sister did, and was racing around court, harrying Lucie
Fialova into mistakes. “I don’t know what’s wrong with my game
at the moment,” said Lucie afterwards, but in truth this time
she didn’t do much wrong, meeting a swift opponent who could
cope with the conditions better did for her.
A quick finish
 By
this stage we were running a little late, but the last three
matches soon brought the schedule back into line.
Nour El Tayeb had too much experience for Yathreb Adel on
the day – mind you, we’re only talking of 16 versus 13 here –
while the Greek pair of Eliza Kargioti and Nicoleta Pozidi found
that Irina Assal and Nour El Sherbini had too much
in the tank.
Sherbini goes on to meet New Zealand’s Kylie Lindsay, who
received a walkover.
Qualifying finals start at 17.30 on Tuiesday. |
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Heba El Torky
(Egy) bt Farah Abdel Meguid (Egy)
11/9, 8/11,
11/3, 10/12, 12/10 (52m)
 "I
just didn't know how to play on that court, I couldn't play the
game I wanted.
"She's a very good player, she's had a lot of bad luck, missing
the worlds and other things, but she played very well.
"In the end I just started hitting it hard and low, it was so
bouncy that the one who dropped first would lose the point so I
was trying to force her into doing it first.
"I'm really excited about playing on the glass court tomorrow,
it will be very different from today ..."
 "I've
had a bit of an injury, and just finished a tournaments so
haven't trained for a couple of weeks, so couldn't run as much
as I normally would.
"I'm satisfied with how I played, even though I'm disappointed
to lose, hopefully I'll beat her next time ..."
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Kanzy El
Dafrawy (Egy) bt
Merman Amr Mahmoud (Egy)
11/3, 11/9,
11/6 (25m)
 "The
court was very slippy and very bouncy, we couldn't play at all
really, we can both play a lot better than that.
"All the drops were so high, it was impossible to play a winner
from that sot, so we had to try everything else.
"I was trying to keep the ball below the service line and taking
the pace off a little to keep her from hitting the ball hard.
"I'm looking forward to playing in Soho Square and hope to play
well tomorrow!"
 "The
court wasn't too easy to play on, but I did the best I could in
the situation.
"Kanzy and I play a lot, and she usually wins, 3/1, but I'm
still disappointed to lose, I set my target for this event on
playing on the court in Soho Square."
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Sara El Noamany
(Egy) bt Salma Hany (Egy)
11/8,
9/11, 11/8, 11/6 (50m)
 "I
played awful today, but sometimes it's better to win ugly than
to lose!
"I didn't find my length or width, and I was worried about
running down shots, it was similar conditions to when I injured
myself in the British Junior Open, and I was out for two months
after that. I'm a very hyper person, can't bear sitting
still at all!
"This year, for once, I really wanted my birthday to be in
August - I just missed out on four big events, the Dutch,
Pioneer, ATCO, and of course the Worlds.
"So I'm really pleased to get through to play on the glass court
in Soho Square, it should be fantastic ..."
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Nour El Tayeb
(Egy) bt Yathreb Adel (Egy)
11/2,
11/9,11/3 (26m)
"This is such a
nice tournament, and having the glass court for the qualifying
finals makes it so good.
"Yathreb's a good player, and last week she won three titles in
one tournament, U15, U17 and the women's event, so I knew I
would have to put all me concentration into it.
"Maybe she didn't play her best, but I was focused all the way
through, and now I just feel relief that I've won ..."
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Nouran El Torky (Egy) bt Lucie Fialova (Cze)
11/8, 11/7, 8/11, 11/4 (33m)
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Another good
day for the El Sherbini family ... on to the glass court
tomorrow ...
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