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Fri 2nd Jan, Day ONE ...
The 2009 edition of the British Junior
Open got under way at Abbeydale and Hallamshire this morning, and
appropriately enough it was defending champion Mohamed El
Shorbagy who opened proceedings at 9am on Abbeydale's all-glass
court.
The latest Egyptian wunderkid, still only 17, is ranked 31 in the
world, is world junior champion, and has a chance to win the
Drysdale Cup (the U19 BJO championship) three times. Should he
succeed in retaining the title this week he will become the first
double champion since Ahmed Faizy won in 1995 and 1996 - although
Del Harris's record of four titles from 1985 to 1989 remains safe.
Day One Roundup
The Boys U19 saw seven of the eight seeds come safely through
the first two rounds, the exception being the stunning defeat of
second-seeded Frenchman Gregoire Marche at the hands of unseeded
Mexican Alfredo Avila.
Two 9/16 seeds fell - England's Alex Ingham lost out 12/10 in the
fifth to Denmark's Casper Grauballe, but Denmark's top-ranked
player Philip Tran went out in straight games to Argentinian
Leandro Romiglio.
In the Girls U19 all eight seeds are through to tomorrow's
last sixteen, Canada's Laura Gemmell recorded the quickest
win in 11 minutes, Chloe Mesic the longest as the French girl
beat Sarah Cardwell 12/10 in the fifth in 44 minutes.
The Girls U15 event saw eight first round matches, completing
the last 32 for tomorrow.
Over at Hallamshire it was a fuller schedule - 27 Boys
U15 matches yeilded the departure of four 17/32 seeds and one
9/16 seed as Albie Gibbs got the better of Peter Joyce.
There were 16 Girls U17 round one matches - five
17/32 seeds failed to make the last 32 - and two upsets in
round two as Amanda Sohby and Rawan Khedr gatecrashed
the last sixteen.
Last to finish were the U17 Boys. It's not on the scale of
Avila's upset, but Mexico's Miled Zarazua, who won the US and
Scottish Junior Opens last month, came through to the last sixteen
with two upset wins. |
Schedules
&
Draws
Day One GALLERY
ChitChat:
Luck of the draw
for
the coaches ...
Boys U19
Girls U19 |
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BOYS U19 |
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Egyptians off to
a quick start ...
So, after writing the preview, at 9.15 I wandered out to the glass
court to catch the first match. "9/2" called the referee as I
arrived at the back of the court. Two shots later, "10/2, match
ball."
Oops ... a quick dash to the front and I was just about able to
catch the handshake as Shorbagy beast Colombian Adreas Cruz 11/1,
11/3, 11/2 in just 11 minutes. Fortunately he's on again later
today.
The second match on saw another Egyptian victory as Ahmed El
Mehelmy beat Cornwall's Rory Bricknell 11/7, 11/5, 11/3, and a
little later Andrew Wagih, seeded 3/4, came through in just 9
minutes ...
And of course, I missed Shorbagy's second match too as he beat Chris
Rusling 11/6, 11/2, 11/6 in 20 minutes to advance to the last
sixteen.
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Greg falls to unseeded Mexican
Second seed Greg Marche, France's European Junior Champion
who finished runner-up here last year, crashed out in the second
round to unseeded Mexican Alfredo Avila, 11/9, 11/8, 10/12,
11/7 in 61 minutes.
"Alfredo was very very fast," commented French coach Fred Lecomte.
"Greg was hitting the ball deep too much, he needed to play it short
more. The third and fourth games went point for point but Greg made
a few errors at crucial times."
 Meet
Alfredo Avali, the 17-year-old Mexican U19 champion, playing his
first BJO ...
"It was a very hard game, but I went into it with confidence, I knew
if I played well I could win. I'm pleased with how I played and
delighted to be through to the next round." |
Casper Graubelle (Den) at the front, beats Jorge Luna (Mex) ... who
do I play next, coach ??? |
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Alex falls to Casper ...
 Alex
Ingham, seeded 9/16, is one of the home hopes, and he got off to
a safe enough start with a 11/7, 11/4, 11/8 win over Daniel McGinn,
with sisters Harriet and Georgie (they're playing later over at
Hallamshire) in support.
 Alex's
biggest problem (apparently) was that it wasn't until late in the
third that he managed to get a dropshot above the tin ...
In his second match Alex came up against Dane Casper
Graubelle (see above) who came from two games down, then from 10/7
down in the decider to score an upset win - 8/11, 6/11, 11/8,
11/3, 12/10 in 47 minutes.
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Ben Rodgers (in Blue) beats Stephen Wykes |
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Meanwhile ...
You know how it is, you spot a quiet spell, catch the bus to the
other venue and find that it's quiet over there too!.
The early play at Hallamshire featured the first rounds of the Boys
and Girls U17 events - no upsets, apart from one no-show by a 17/32
seed - with a range of match times from 11 minutes (3/4 seed Ziad
El Shorafy, 11/0, 11/0, 11/1) to 47 minutes (Alex Bowden
winning 3/1).
Never got a chance to get back in the evening ...
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Explain that
decision ... |
Robert Downer v Niall Engerer |
Hallamshire spectators |
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The
longest match of the day saw France's Chloe Mesic squeeze
past Sarah Cardwell 12/10 in the fifth. Sarah, daughter of
Australian legend Vicky, certainly puts every effort into her
squash, wears her heart on her sleeve, and some of her splits and
dives brought tears to the eyes of some spectators.
