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 Alexandria
Sporting Club Open
2005
Alexandria, Egypt ,
27-30 Sep,
$10k |
Final:
[4] Engy Kheirallah (Egy)
bt [3] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra)
6/9, 9/4, 9/10, 9/1, 9/2 (85m) |
"Tough match. I started well, controlling the game with my volleys,
but in the second lost my length, she dominated the t and kept
moving me.
"In the third I changed my tactics, playing lobs and taking
more volleys. I couldn't play the way I wanted but won it with
difficultly 10/9.
"At the start of the fourth I lost my length again and she kept
pressuring, I was left with no energy. I tried to play the fifth as
I had the third, but she got
few points ahead, she got 6/2 and it was hard to come back with the
crowd supporting her.
"I wasn't playing bad but she played few good shots. I was
just tired last two games. I did my best, but Engy was better today.
"I have been away from the tour for a few months after a bad patch,
but reaching the final here will give me the push to come back on
the right track. I'm looking to work on my weak points as soon as I
return home.
"It really has been a nice tournament and I enjoyed playing here."
Isabelle Stoehr |
|
 A Heroic
victory
for Engy
Tameem El Weleily reports ...
The spectators today were double the usual, all gathered to support their
beloved Engy. The match kicked off with the French lady playing very well
and taking the lead 5/0 spreading the silence over the courts, until she
hit two tins, waking Engy up and returning to the game. Engy tried, but
Isabelle stayed in control and won the game 9/6.
In the second game Engy started attacking and pressuring Isabelle,
managing to take the game 9/4.
The third game was the best of the tournament, both looking very
concentrated, attacking and playing many good shots, they were moving on
point by point to reach 6/6. With a stroke and a wasted shot from Engy
Isabelle reached 8/6 game ball, but Engy recovered, took the lead 9/8,
couldn't hold on and lost the game 10/9.
Engy played super in the fourth, avoiding the tin and playing magnificent
shots, while Isabelle started looking tired ... we all thought that she
was just relaxing for the final game.
The crowd was really cheering Engy on now, and she was looking fresh, very
pleased with her performance which gave her more spirit to carry on. And
she did, with great drops and tight drives to win the final game and the
tournament 9/2.
Prizes were given out in the presence of the club board members and the
president of the E.S.F, Galal Allam.
 "Strong
match, I think I played really well, I was so nervous at first and
again I was 5/0 down, I slowly got in the game but it was a little bit
late.
In the second I changed my game started going for shots and moving her
around. Third game was tough and tight as we reached 6/6, she made me
work harder as her drops and boasts were coming out perfectly.
"In the fourth she got tired and I went for more shots and her
unforced errors helped me, and I was more confidant and I knew I had
to start strongly in the fifth winning few points to put her under
pressure. "With the support of the crowd I just had to give it all I
had.
"I'm so glad I won as I worked hard for it. I just love playing and
definitely winning in my own club."
Engy Kheirallah |
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Well
Done Engy
I just want to congratulate Engy, for her great performance in these
recent months and specially this tournament. Really she deserves it...
because as I'm her teammate I have
been training with her and saw hao hard she has been working for the last
few months. This is Engy's third title in her squash career - she
recently won her second in July in Salt Lake City, Usa, not forgetting the
first place in a local tournament too, two weeks ago. Also I have to admit
that Isabelle is a really skillful player and very dangerous on the left
side of the court and a good example for the professional player.
Tameem El
Weleily |
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Semi-Finals:
[4] Engy Kheirallah (Egy) bt [1] Omneya Abdel Kawy
9/5, 9/4, 9/1
[3] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) bt [2] Annelize Naude (Ned)
10/9, 9/1, 9/4 |
More details on
SportingSquash.com
Hi Fram
"I won against Annelize 10/9, 9/1, 9/4, and now play Engy in the
final.
"As the score says, the first game was pretty close, I think we both
had game balls, she had several from 8/6 I think to 9/8, and then I
was able to relax and play my shots, to control the rallies. But it
was hot …
"Then I told myself that even if I was to lose the first game, it
would be OK physically as I was well in control, but still, I knew
it was important to win it from the psychological point of view. And
I sneaked it 10/9…
"The second was interrupted by a few lets, and was a quite a hard
pace, as I wanted to put her under pressure physically, and
therefore, she did made a few unforced errors at the beginning of
the second…
"Anyway, I'm delighted about the result, I’ll try and send you more
details later.."
Isabelle Stoehr |
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Engy & Isabelle burst
into the finals
Tameem El Weleily reports ...
Well I don't know where to
start from, as today was a day full of excitement and many activities.
Early in the morning before the matches we took the players, not the
semi-finalists, of course, to the beach to enjoy the warm weather, water
lunch and to play Racket (an Egyptian game).
The first match was at 6:00 pm between Omneya and Engy. Omneya had a
strong start with her typical attacking shots taking her to a 5/0 lead,
giving the impression that she would easily dispatch Engy today and
disappoint the home crowd, who gathered around to support their favourite
player.
Engy had another opinion as she magnificently recovered taking the game
9/5, just playing tight lengths and drops. Engy kept focused in the second
and controlled the game's rhythm taking Omneya out of it and winning 9/4.
Engy finished off by playing a great third game, hitting only three tins
to win it 9/1 in no time to reach the finals. Engy was high and it just
wasn't Omney's day.
"I'm
so happy with my performance today, I was so focused and consistent.
Onny was leading 5/0 in the first game where I started getting so
tense and I thought to myself this can't be right, as I was feeling so
positive and confident, and thankfully I managed to finish the game
9/5.In the second game I stayed steady and her errors helped me to win
it 9/4.
"In the final game, I had a feeling of what I was going to do.
Tomorrow I'll be playing Isabelle, I haven't played her in a wispa
tour before, but its going to be be tough as Isabelle is a really
skilful player. I hope to win."
Engy Kheirallah |
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The French Lady in the Final
The second match between the French lady and Annelize kicked off at 7:15,
where Isabelle started tough ,hitting the ball to her favourite left side
of the court and easing into a 4/1 lead. Annelize started to move Isabelle
around the court's corners and turned the game upside down to lead 8/6.
The French lady calmly recovered and levelled it again for a tie breaker.
Annalize had another game ball at 9/8, but Isabelle clinically clinched it
10/9. In the second game Isabelle kept on pressuring Annelize with her
great volley shots and won it. Annelize tried to fight back in the third
but couldn't do it as Isabelle continued magnificently and won it 9/4 to
move into the final.
 "I
think I played good squash today, although Annelize slowed down the
game's tempo a bit, she seemed tired from yesterday's match .So I knew
that winning the first game was important for me as a psychological
relief.
In the second game Annalize gave me no hard time with her unforced
errors. As for the third game it was tough as I was leading 6/3 and
8/4 which made me tense and more focused to finish. This is my first
tour for few months. Ill be playing a tough match tomorrow as Engy is
playing in her home club. I'm really enjoying my stay, the people are
friendly, weather is fine and I prefer Alexandria to Cairo as it's
less crowded.
Isabelle Stoehr |
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Alexandria
Sporting Club Open
2005
Alexandria, Egypt ,
27-30 Sep,
$10k |
Round One
Sep 28 |
Quarters
Sep 28 |
Semis
Sep 29 |
Final
Sep 30 |
[1] Omneya
Abdel Kawy (Egy)
10/8, 9/0, 9/3 (32m)
[Q] Georgina Stoker (Eng) |
Omneya
Abdel Kawy
10/9, 9/4, 9/0 (32m)
Aisling Blake |
Omneya
Abdel Kawy
9/5, 9/4, 9/1
Engy
Kheirallah |
Engy
Kheirallah
6/9, 9/4, 9/10, 9/1, 9/2 (85m)
Isabelle Stoehr |
[8]
Aisling Blake (Irl)
9/4, 2/9, 9/5, 9/2 (44m)
Margriet Huisman (Ned) |
[4] Engy
Kheirallah (Egy)
9/1, 9/1, 9/3 (20m)
Jana Smeralova (Cze) |
Engy
Kheirallah
9/5, 9/0, 9/4 (24m)
Lauren Briggs |
[5] Lauren
Briggs (Eng)
9/1, 10/8, 9/7 (35m)
[Q] Hend Osama (Egy) |
Charlie de
Rycke (Bel)
10/8, 10/9, 9/0 (24m)
[7] Raneem El Weleily (Egy) |
Raneem El Weleily
9/3, 9/5, 9/5 (34m)
Isabelle Stoehr |
Isabelle Stoehr
10/9, 9/1, 9/4
Annelize Naude |
[Q] Nehal
Yehia (Egy)
9/1, 9/0, 9/0 (17m)
[3] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) |
Amnah El Trabolsy (Egy)
4/9, 9/1, 9/7, 9/6 (60m)
[6] Eman El Amir (Egy) |
Amnah El Trabolsy
5/9, 9/4, 4/9, 9/4, 9/6 (55m)
Annelize Naude |
[Q] Sara
Badr (Egy)
9/1, 9/6, 9/2 (36m)
[2] Annelize Naude (Ned) |
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Qualifying, 27-Sep:
Finals:
Georgina Stoker (Eng) bt Milja Dorenbos (Ned)
4/9, 10/8, 9/2, 10/8 (48m)
Nehal Yehia (Egy) bt
Alia Balbaa (Egy)
9/6, 9/4, 4/9, 9/6 (23m)
Sara Badr (Egy) bt
Lucie Fialova (Cze)
9/7, 9/0, 9/5 (37m)
Hend Osama (Egy) bt Heba El Tork (Egy)
9/1, 9/7, 10/8 (25m)
Round One:
Georgina Stoker (Eng) bt Nour El Tayeb (Egy)
9/3, 9/1, 9/6 (22m)
Milja Dorenbos (Ned) bt Toyin Emmanuel (Nig)
9/6, 9/1, 9/3 (23m)
Alia Balbaa (Egy) bt Laurence Bois (Fra)
9/1, 7/9, 9/6, 9/5 (42m)
Nehal Yehia (Egy) bt Jenny Wright (Wal)
9/6, 9/7, 2/9, 9/4 (50m)
Lucie Fialova (Cze) bt Farida El Dahab (Egy)
9/1, 9/3, 9/7 (25m)
Sara Badr (Egy) bt Nouran El Tork (Egy)
9/2, 9/3, 9/2 (23m)
Heba El Tork (Egy) bt Carlene Rossel-Reed (Rsa) 9/4,
9/7, 9/6 (32m)
Hend Osama (Egy) bt Lina El Tannir (Egy)
10/8, 7/9, 7/9, 6/9 (55m)
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Quarter-Finals:
[1] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) bt Aisling Blake (Irl)
10/9, 9/4, 9/0 (32m)
[4] Engy Kheirallah (Egy) bt Lauren Briggs (Eng)
9/5, 9/0, 9/4 (24m)
[3] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) bt Raneem El Weleily (Egy)
9/3, 9/5, 9/5 (34m)
[2] Annelize Naude (Ned) bt Amnah El Trabolsy (Egy)
5/9, 9/4, 4/9, 9/4, 9/6 (55m) |
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Home Finalist Guaranteed
Egypt is guaranteed a finalist
in the Alexandria Sporting Club Open, after top seed Omneya Abdel Kawy and
Engy Kheirallah came through the first two rounds today. Kawy scored two
straight-games victories (although the world nuber eight needed tie-breaks
in the first games against both Georgina Stoker and Aisling Blake), a feat
equalled by Kheirralah.
In the bottom half of the draw second and third seeds Annelize Naude and
Isabelle Stoehr will meet for a place in the final.
Stoehr and Naude beat two Egyptian opponents each today - Stoehr wasting
no time in her wins over Nehal Yehia and world junior champion Raneem El
Weleily, while Naude was pushed to five games by surprise quarter-finalist
Amnah El Trabolsy. |
Annelize survives Amnah :
Tameem El Weleily reports ...
The afternoon matches went smoothly for Omneya, Engy and Isabelle, while
Annelize had to struggle for almost an hour to assure that the top 4 seeds
qualified for the semi-finals.
First up was Omneya, the no1 seed, and Aisling Blake from Ireland.
Another accomplished performance from Omneya, completing a 3/0 win in 30
minutes.
 The
second match was between fourth seed Engy and the consistent Lauren Briggs
from England. Engy controlled the tempo of the match and didn't allow
Briggs to play her game, securing a 3/0 victory.
Third match saw the French lady Isabelle and the new world junior champion
Raneem. Isabelle is short but strongly built and has great ball control,
she kept Raneem moving to the court's four corners with her lobs and
volleys, not giving Raneem the chance to perform her magical shots.
The final, and longest match of the day was between Annelize Naude and the
fighter Amnah El Trabolsy who played the match of her life today. Amnah
was poised to make her second surprise of the day as she was leading 2/1
and 4/1, but Annelize recovered to win the fourth and clinched the fifth
9/6. It was a match full of on-court incident, with many clashes as the
players collided frequently, but no doubt Amnah played super today.
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Round One:
Top Seeds Ease Into Quarters
Tameem El Weleily reports ...
The main draw kicked off today where 8 matches were played in the morning,
each four on a time. The top 4 seeded players had no trouble today as they
all won in straight games qualifying to the quarters, while the
other matches were on fire.
 The
matches started at 11a.m with no:1 seed Omneya Abdel Kawy
dispatching Georgina Stoker from England in 30 mins. The first game
was close as it ended 10/8, but then Omneya showed no mercy as she
dominated the court with her boasts and drops ending the other two
games easily.
Second match was between Aisling Blake from Ireland and Margriet
Huisman from Netherlands. Aisling was moving fast making few good rallies
and took the first game 9/4 ,then Margriet slowed down the tempo of the
game taking the second 9/2. In the third game both were struggling and
going on point by point till 5/5 then suddenly Margriet lost focus losing
it 9/5 and giving the final game as a gift to Aisling with her many
unforced errors.
 Third
match of the day saw the no:4seed Engy Kheirallah, who is playing
in her own club overcoming Jana Smeralova in just 20 mins. Engy didn't
give me the chance to even watch a game, as I thought that they are
warming up, till I asked and found out that she was leading 2/0 and it's
the final game. Although Engy's Grandmother is in hospital and causing
Engy a big depression, she seems in good form and focussed for her
matches.
Fourth match was between Lauren Briggs and Hend Ossama who really
played well in the qualifying rounds. Both players have the same style but
Lauren is a bit faster and more experienced when it comes to close games
and she succeeded in winning the match 9/1,10/8,9/7. Hend seemed confused
in the first game and wasted many shots, then struggled in the second and
the third as she couldn't hold on at the end of the games. Lauren will be
playing against Engy in the quarters today.
Second half of the draw saw 4 other matches starting with the world
champion 2005 Raneem El Welily and Charlie De Ryke from Belgium,
two talented juniors who have promising futures. First game both players
were trying to figure out each other and seemed lost in the court but
Raneem grabbed it 10/8, entered the second fully concentrated leading 8/4
and seemed to be unstoppable but Charlie had another opinion fought back
and took the lead and reached 9/8, till Raneem magnificently clinched the
game with two killing shots. Final game Raneem dominated easily and won it
9/0 dropping only 2 serves.
Third match and the only surprise of
the day saw the loss of Eman El Amir, the 6th seed & Egypt's no:3, to
unseeded Amna El Tarbolsy 3/1. Actually it wasn't a squash match it
was more of a fight lasting for one whole hour of quarrelling as they both
weren't satisfied with the refree. Eman was leading 1/0 but Amna fought
back and won the match 3/1.
Final match was between no:2 seed Annelize Naude and Sara Badr, a
semifinalist in Belguim 2005, where Annelize won in straight games but was
not satisfied with her performance and Sara's aggressive temper, as Sara
gave her a hard time blocking her and not giving her enough space to play.
Qualifying:
Three Egyptians
Qualify
in Alexandria
Tameem El Weleily reports ...
Four matches took place in the afternoon for final qualifying and the
courts were packed with spectators.
 The first match was between Nihal Yehia and Aliaa Aalba. Aliaa appeared in
good form leading by five points in the first game, but Nihal with more
fluency clinched the game and took the second also. Aliaa recovered to
take the third but failed to complete her run to be banned as Yehia won
3/1, and now meets Isabelle
Stoehr.
At the same time Georgina kicked out Milja Dorenbos 3/1 after losing the
first 9/4 but then coming back to win 10/8 9/2 10/8... It was a tough
match for both as they were fighting to reach main draws, but Georgina
showed English strong will and struggle and qualified to meet Omneya, the
top seed.
The next two matches saw two more Egyptian girls reach the main draw. Sara
Badr outlasted her Czech opponent Lucie Fialova 3/0 in 37 min . The
aggressive world juniors semi finalist is set to meet second seed Annelize
Naede, but I think that she won't be an easy ride for Annelize.
The final match was purely Egyptian, between Hend Ossama and Heba el Tork,
the 14 year old from Alexandria who reached the fourth round in the
worlds. But Hend didn't give the chance to Heba as she kept her spinning
as a bee in the whole court, dominating for an easy win to reserve a place
in the main draw where she will face Lauren Briggs from England .
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"I
played well today, in the first game I was leading 6/0 and was
surprised how Aisling kept struggling until I won 10/9, I didn't
expect her to be playing at that level. But I played very well in
the last two games. 
"I
was very worried as I lost to her last year, so in the first game I
was tense and nervous enough to stay very focused. Lauren is a
stable and a consistent player who plays the whole match at the same
level and speed, so I had to slow down the game tempo and it worked
well indeed, so I guess I played well today. 
"It
wasn't a squash game .... All players watching thought that what
was happening on the court was disgraceful, and the referee didn't
really control the match. She seemed to be looking for me not the
ball.