|
|
|
Under way in Sheffield
...
It hardly seems like a year since we were
here last - let alone 15 years since the
event made its debut in Sheffield - but here
we are again for the world's most
prestigious junior event, 408 players from
around the world.
Changes this year are that we have full
monrad draws for all events (previously only
the top 16 got through to the positional
playoffs), and the addition of a new venue,
Fulwood, to cope with the amount of extra
matches required.
As ever the first two days are pure bedlam,
with many of the events playing two rounds a
day to get down to the quarter-finals. So,
as ever, we'll bring you snippets of the
action through the day with lots of photos,
and a roundup with full results at the end
of the day.
 |
Photo
Galleries
Draws
updated 22.15
BU13
BU15
BU17
BU19
GU13
GU15
GU17
GU19
On the BLOG
on Facebook |
|
 |
 Shorbagy
safe, Tandon toppled
Defending champion Mohamed El Shorbagy
got the boys' U19 under way at 9am on
Abbeydale's showcourt, coming through
comfortably enough against Alex Bowden, 11/6
11/4 11/3 in just 16 minutes.
The second match saw the first upset of the
day though, as New Zealand's Edward
Dromgool edged past 9/16 seed Ramit
Tandon 12/10 in the fifth.
 "I've
been away for a few weeks now, playing in
the US, Canada, Scottish and now here. I
haven't been doing too well in those, 6th in
Canada was my best.
"When I saw I was playing a seed I thought
I'd be up against a big guy, so I was
pleasantly surprised to see that he was
quite small.
"That's a good win to start, I'm happy with
that ..."
(Edward lost in round two)
Elsewhere,
wins for Ali Farag, Islam El Fiky, Zahed
Sherien, Lucas Serme, Ravi Dixit and for
England Robert Downer, Ross Brown, Philip
Waller and Nathan Lake.
The showcourt continued to be an unhappy
hunting ground for the Indians as Karan
Malik fell to unseeded Brazilian
Guilherme De Melo, another case of a big
'un betting the better of a little 'un (Guilherme
also lost out later in the day)
 "I
played the Scottish last week and finished
third. This is my first time in the Scottish
and British, and the last as I'll be out of
the juniors next year.
"I just finished my first semester at
Franklin Marshall College in the US where
John White is head coach, he's a really
great guy. He got in touch with Nick Matthew
so we're staying at Nick's mum's this week.
I hope I can pick up some good tips!"
In Round Two
fourteen of the top 16 seeds came through,
joined by Robert Downer and Ben Rodgers,
who both overcame the players who beat seeds
in the first round ...
|
The Little Ones ...
The youngest age category kicked off with a
few quickfire matches, none less so than top
seed Nouran Johar's 12-minute win.
There really are some petite young ladies
this year, who are having great fun, but
some are simply being overpowered by their
opponents. They'll be back next year though,
bigger and stronger .
A famous name made her debut, Jessica
Beachill (daughter of ...) got a callup
as a reserve just a couple of days ago, and
found Mari Taylor too strong.
|
 |
|
 |
|
Girls U19 |
|
 |
Sherbini
passes Cardwell test
as Gemmell falls in five
There were two matches that stood out in the
Girls' U19 draw, Nour El Sherbini v Sarah
Cardwell and Laura Gemmell v Farah
Abdel Meguid.
 World
Champion Sherbini is still eligible for the
U15s but was installed as top seed for the
U19 division, and the all-action Australian
was the first in a series of tough looking
matches if she is to fulfil that billing.
Sarah pretty much held her own with the
Egyptian at the start of each game, but
Sherbini found the extra to take all three,
winning 11/7, 11/6, 11/7.
Laura, seeded 5/8, started confidently
enough, took the first two games and held a
10/7 lead in the third. Those three match
balls were saved, along with another four as
Farah, who has been having some excellent
results lately, pulled a game back, 21/19.
 Abbeydale
court two has extremely limited viewing, but
around four times the number of people who
could actually see the play were jamming the
corridors trying to find out the score. Most
of the time it was a case of listening for
the accent of the cheers!
In the last two games it was the Egyptians
making most of the noise as Farah completed
a remarkable comeback, finally winning 5/11,
3/11, 21/19, 11/8, 11/5 in 71 minutes.
 "I
was so nervous in the first two games, and
when I was down in the third I just told
myself that I had nothing to lose, so I just
played my own game and it worked.
"On the match balls I thought that if I was
meant to lose I'd hit the tin, so I went for
my shots and they went in.
"I lost a close match to Laura a couple of
years ago, so I wanted to get revenge this
time and I'm thrilled to win, but it's a
pity we had to play in the first round, it
was such a tough draw."
Second seed
Dipika Pallikal enjoyed an easier
start to her final BJO adventure, beating
Julianne Chu - who was coached by Wael El
Hindi - in straight games, and 3/4 seeds
Heba and Nouran El Torky both progressed
easily enough.
 "That's
a good start. I feel confident about my game
at the moment, but the first round is always
the one you worry about so it's good to get
that one out of the way with no dramas.
"When I saw the draw I though that my half
looked the better half to be in, but you
have to be able to take the opportunity so I
hope to be able to take the chance, but I'm
taking nothing for granted."
|
|
 |
|
Boys U15 |
 |
Here come the U15s
After this morning's first round at Fulwood
the U15 winners came to Abbeydale for the
second round ... and I have to plead
ignorance, as most of the matches completely
passed me by ...
The only ones I managed to get a good look
at were Egyptian 5/8 seed Seif Ashraf,
who beat his Pakistan opponent in straight
games, utilising some lovely dropshots from
deep.|Seif looks tiny compared to some of
the boys in this draw, so I had to ask him
how old he was, and it turns out he's 14 and
a half - older than Sherbini and about half
as tall!
His potential quarter-final opponent is
Jordanian second seed Ahmad Al Saraj,
who won the Scottish last week and looked
good as he won in straight games.
Upset of the day was David Fumpson's
five-game win over 5/8 seed Daniel
Poleschuck.
 |
|
|
|
