• Tecnifibre British Junior Open 2009 • 02-06 January, Sheffield  •  

TODAYDay FOUR Day THREEDay TWODay ONE


Sun 4th Jan, Day THREE...
 
It's beginning to make sense now ... but it was still a verrry busy day.

Quarter-finals day for the U19 and U17 events, and two rounds of action - last 16 and quarter-finals - for the U15 competitors.

The schedule had 15 quarter-finals on Abbeydale's court 7 (the glass court) and 12 over at Hallamshire on court 5).

Apologies to the U17s but today we've concentrated on the events at Abbeydale ...
  

Schedules
& Draws


Day 3 GALLERY

Boys 13  Boys 15  Boys 17  Boys 19       Girls 19  Girls 17  Girls 15  Girls 13
Abbeydale:

U19 Girls Q/F:
Low Wee Wern (Mas) bt Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn)
      14/12, 11/2, 11/8 (35m)
Laura Gemmell (Can) bt Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng)
      8/11, 11/5, 14/12, 11/5 (54m)
Dipika Pallikal (Ind) bt Kimberley Hay (Eng)
      11/5, 5/11, 11/9, 11/4 (24m)
Heba El Torky (Egy) bt Tsz Ling Liu (Hkg)
      11/7, 12/10, 11/9 (25m)


U19 Boys Q/F:
Mohammed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Kamran Khan (Mas)
      11/5, 11/3, 10/12, 11/9 (38m)
Karim Gamal Awad (Egy) bt Waqar Mehboob (Pak)
      11/2, 8/11, 11/6, 11/5 (42m)
Ivan Yuen (Mas) bt Chris Fuller (Eng)
      8/11, 11/2, 11/6, 8/11, 11/9 (70m)
Alfredo Avila (Mex) bt Shoahib Hassan (Pak)
      9/11, 11/6, 11/5, 11/6 (50m)
   
Hallamshire:

U17 Girls Q/F:
Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt Tsz Wing Tong (Mas)
     11/4, 11/6, 11/7 (25m)
Salma Hany (Egy) bt Wee Nee Low (Mas)
      11/9, 9/11, 14/12, 11/4 (45m)
Nouran El Torky (Egy) bt Yan Xin Tan (Mas)
      11/5, 11/6, 11/6 (21m)
Olivia Blatchford (Usa) bt Millie Tomlinson (Eng)
      11/7, 11/3, 6/11, 16/14 (43m) 

U17 Boys Q/F:
Amr Khalid Khalifa (Egy) bt Nasir Iqbal (Pak)
   11/4, 11/8, 13/11 (41m)
Lucas Serme (Fra) bt Karim Ali Fathy (Egy)
    11/5, 11/13, 12/10, 11/9 (54m)
Charles Sharpes (Eng) bt Nick Hopcroft (Eng)
     8/11, 11/3, 11/9, 11/4 (49m)
Danish Atlas (Pak) bt Mohd El Sherbiny (Egy)
     9/11, 11/8, 11/9, 5/11, 11/4 (87m)

U13 Girls, last 16:

Yathreb Adel bt Maria Rivera                11/1 11/2 11/2  25m
Kristina Alexova bt Eleanor Epke           11/5 11/9 11/6 18m
Mahriam Metwaly bt Sabrina Sobhy        11/0 11/3 11/3 13m
Nele Gilis bt Marie Stephan            11/8 9/11 11/9 11/6 27m

Lucy Beecroft bt Katie Wilson               11/9 11/7 15/13 21m
Radwa Adel bt Malhorta Pankhuri   7/11 11/7 11/7 14/12 31m
Leila Omar bt Alyssa Mehta                   11/3 11/5 11/3 14m
Salma Hany bt Kip Quiney                    11/5 11/2 11/7  12m

Quarters and Semis on Monday ...

U15 Boys, Quarters:

Mazen Gamal bt Bilal Zakir             
        6/11, 11/7, 11/9, 11/9 (45m)
Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Osama Khalid Khalifa
        11/1, 12/10, 11/9 (32m)
Fares El Desoky bt Syed Ali Bokhari
         11/7, 10/12, 11/9, 12/10 (48m)
Oliver Holland bt Ahmad Alsaraj
          11/6, 11/2, 11/9 (24m)

Top seed beaten ...

A major shock in the Boys U15 event as top seed Darren Subramanain of Malaysia went out at the last sixteen stage, losing 11/5, 15/13, 11/6 to 9/16 seeded Pakistani Bilal Zakir ...

Girls U15 Quarters

Kanzy El Defrawy (Egy) bt Saumya Karki (Ind)     
              11/5, 13/11, 11/7 (21m)
Ka Pa Ho (Hkg) bt Farah Khalifa (Egy)                   
             11/7, 12/10, 11/7 (29m)

Michelle Gemmell (Can) bt Emily Whitlock (Eng)
             11/9, 11/2, 9/11, 3/11, 12/10 (36m)
Nour El Sherbeny (Egy) bt Anaka Alankamony (Ind)
             11/3 , 11/6 , 11/6 (17m)
  

Top Egyptians on course as
Gemmell wins a thriller


While the top-seeded Egyptian pair of Kanzy El Defrawyy and Nour El Sherbeny - U13 champion for the last two years - both won their quarter-finals against Indian opposition in straight games, Canada's Michelle Gemmell needed all five to oust English 3/4 seed Emily Whitlock.

After Whitlock had taken an early 6/1 she seemed to be struggling with her movement and Gemmell took full advantage, coming back to take the first and racing through the second.

Whitlock steadied, held a lead throughout the third and looked increasingly confident as she took the fourth with some ease, where it was the Canadian's turn to look out of sorts.

The decider was a nailbiter, never more than a point between them up to 6-all, but it was Michelle who earned the first match balls at 10/8. Emiuly saved those but couldn't reach the ball on the third as Michelle joined her big sister in the semis.

Gemmell faces Sherbeny for a place in the final while Defrawy meets Ka Pa Ho, the 3/4 seeded HK player who won in straight games.
  

Boys U13 Quarters:

Omar El Atmas bt Bradley Smith
             11/4, 11/4, 11/5 (19m)
Kush Kumar bt Daniel Polichuck    
             8/11, 8/11, 11/5, 11/9, 11/9 (40m)
Amr Aboul Souad bt Mohamed El Gowahry
             8/11, 11/1, 11/7, 12/10 (40m)
Man Ho Tse bt Abdel Zaher
            12/10, 8/11, 13/11, 13/11 (38m)

Kush comeback foils Policheck

Two games down ands trailing 5/0 in the third, the game looked up for Kush Kumar, the Indian who won the Scottish Junior Open last week. But a remarkable comeback saw Kush claw back Daniel Polichuck's lead, then overtake the Israeli in the decider.

"That capped a great overall performance from the Indian squad," said National coach Cyrus Poncha. "It's our best overall performance with half a dozen players in the quarters and now three in the semis, so it's a very good show and we're very pleased.

"Hopefully they can make it to the finals, but they're all underdogs tomorrow so we'll have to wait and see ..."
 

Girls U19 Quarters

Low Wee Wern (Mas) bt Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn)
      14/12, 11/2, 11/8 (35m)

Wee Wern first into semis

Top seed Wee Wern Low was the first player into the semi-finals, with a straight-games win over Misaki Kobayashi.

The Japanese started well, taking a 4/0 lead in the first, but Wee Wern quickly levelled, then pulled away from 6-all to earn four game balls. It wasn't until her seventh game ball that she finally won the game though, as Kobayashi hung on determinedly.

The second was over quickly, but it wasn't as if Kobayashi was playing badly or Wee Wern playing especially well, the points just seemed to go the Malaysian's way.

It was back to level pegging in the third, but ultimately Kobayashi paid the penalty for some untimely unforced errors at the end of the game as Wee Wern moved a step closer to her first BJO title ...
 

Laura Gemmell (Can) bt Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng)
         8/11, 11/5, 14/12, 11/5 (54m)

Laura battles through

With both players determined to keep the ball deep as much as possible, this match was played out largely at the back of the court, with a commensurate number of bumps around the 'T' and a lot of decisions required by the referee, mainly ending in lets.



Sarah took a close first game, but Laura came back strongly to level. It was the English girl's turn at the start of the third, but she couldn't hold on to a 7/0 lead as the Canadian drew level at 7-all. Sarah earned two game balls at 10/8, lost the first with a risky dropshot attempt from deep, and lost the second after they had to warm up a replacement for a broken ball.

It was the Canadian 3/4 seed who emerged the extra-points winner to take the lead, and that proved crucial as she held the momentum, and the lead, throughout the fourth.

It would have taken some doing for Sarah to come back from 10/4 down, and when she served out to end the match on something of an anti-climax ...
 

Dipika Pallikal (Ind) bt Kimberley Hay (Eng)
      11/5, 5/11, 11/9, 11/4 (24m)

Pallikal powers into semis

The reigning U17 champion continues to advance in the U19 event, beating England's last hope of success Kimberley Hay in four games which featured a high error and winner count from both players.

After the first two games were shared Pallikal won a tight third - helped by four or five backhand return of serves into the nick in the opposite front corner.

The Indian dominated the start of the fourth, hitting crisp winners as she raced to a 10/1 lead. Although Kim pulled a few points back, the match was decided, almost inevitably, with another of those unreturnable service returns.
  

Heba El Torky (Egy) bt Tsz Ling Liu (Hkg)
      11/7, 12/10, 11/9 (25m)

Heba races into semis

Two of the smallest of the U19 brigade, both willing runners and good hitters, this was a somewhat frantic match with little in the way of pattern to it, both scrambling after everything and attacking everything they could.



Heba, in particular, came up with some ferocious hitting, and while Liu was at times in danger of being overpowered, she always managed to stay in touch, either through her own determination or by Heba's mistakes.

Heba moved ahead from 6-all to take the first, came from 0/7 down in the second to take it on extra points, and won the endgame of a close third.

Boys U19 Quarters

Mohammed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Kamran Khan (Mas)
      11/5, 11/3, 10/12, 11/9 (38m)

Shorbagy Tested

Defending champion Mohamed El Shorbagy was given a stern test by Malaysia's Kamran Khan - son of Jansher - before progressing to the semi-finals.

After an even opening the World Junior Champion started to reap the dividends of his attacking game, catching Khan out many times with his tricky flicks and drops at the front of the court. Shorbagy pulled away from 6/4 in the first, carried on in the same vein to take the second, and at 7/3 in the third the match looked to be running away from Khan.

He seemed to come to terms with Shorbagy's tactics though, and fought back, levelling at 7-all before going on to pull a game back on extra points.

He stayed on terms for most of the fourth too, but when Shorbagy won a stunning rally which saw both of them running like lunatics and playing all manner of shots to level at 8-all, it heralded the end of the Malaysian's challenge.

Shorbagy quickly took the three points he needed to wrap up the match, but he'll be relieved to win this one, it could have been much tougher ...

Karim Gamal Awad (Egy) bt Waqar Mehboob (Pak)
      11/2, 8/11, 11/6, 11/5 (32m)

Awad takes control

U17 Champion last year, Karim Gamal Awad has made a smooth step up to U19 level. He assumed control of his match against Waqar Mehboob, semi-finalist in the world juniors earlier in the year, and although the Pakistani enjoyed a resurgence in the middle of the match, he ran out a comfortable winner.

Mehboob took the second and established a 6/4 lead in the third, but Awad took the next seven points to regain the lead, and a further two to open the fourth game.

The Egyptian assumed increasing control, moving his opponent from corner to corner before despatching the ball out of his reach, as he moved into an all-Egyptian semi-final with Shorbagy.

Ivan Yuen (Mas) bt Chris Fuller (Eng)
        8/11, 11/2, 11/6, 8/11, 11/9 (70m)

Yuen wins a thriller

Once Malaysia's 3/4 seed Ivan Yuen had taken a 2/1 lead over England's last hope, it looked ominous for Chris Fuller.

The surprise quarter-finalist had taken a close first game, but Yuen started to find some lovely winners as he came back into contention, and started to control matters. I tried to describe the shot which won the second game and came up with "nonchalant backhand overhead volley flick into the nick."



But Fuller was determined, very determined, he came out firing in the fourth and stemmed the flow of winners from Yuen's racket, and took us into a decider.

The rallies were tough now, both players hitting hard and moving well. Yuen opened to 3/1, Fuller forced his way back to 7/4.

 Nothing in it now though, 7-7, 8-9, 9-9. A rare unforced error from the Englishman set up match ball, taken at the first attempt with a deceptive boast from a relieved Malaysian ...
 

Alfredo Avila (Mex) bt Shoahib Hassan (Pak)
      9/11, 11/6, 11/5, 11/6 (50m)

Avila advances

The speedy Mexican does it again, as his court coverage proved too much for the Pakistani 5/8 seed. There was nothing in it for two and a half games though, hardly a point to separate two willing runners and skilful hitters.



Alfredo's retrieving is something else though, it has to be a very good shot to beat him, and although Shoaib was working the ball to all corners, more often than not it was via boasts and angles, which the Mexican was generally able to run down. As one observer commented, 'it will be interesting to see how Alfredo copes with someone with a good straight drop'.

But today he coped well, and from the middle of the third he always had the upper hand, closing it out in four games to the delight of the Mexican contingent.
 

TODAYDay FOUR Day THREEDay TWODay ONE

blog counter

blog counter
bjosquash.com