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Mon
5th Jan, Day FOUR...
It's semi-finals day, with eight at each venue, plus
play-off matches ...
G13 Quarters (Hallamshire):
Yathreb Adel bt Kristina Alexova
11/5, 11/3, 11/6 (14m)
Mariam Ibrahim bt Metwaly Nele Gills
11/5, 11/3, 11/3 (14m)
Radwa Adel bt Lucy Beecroft
3/11,11/7,9/11,11/9,11/9 (33m)
Salma Hani bt Laila Omar
11/9, 11/7, 11/3 (22m)
Semis:
Yathreb Adel bt Mariam Ibrahim
11/7, 11/6, 11/4 (20m)
Salma Hani bt Radwa Adel
11/4, 11/3, 11/2 (18m)
B13 Semis (Abbeydale):
Kush Kumar bt Omar El Atlas
11/7, 11/7, 11/7 (25m)
Amr Aboul Souad bt Abdel Zaher
12/10, 11/8, 11/6 (24m)
G15 Semis (Abbeydale):
Kanzy El Defrawy bt Ka Po Ho
11/3, 11/2, 11/8 (17m)
Nour El Sherbeny bt Michelle Gemmell
11/3, 11/6, 11/8 (16m)
B15 Semis (Hallamshire):
Mahesh Mangokar bt Mazen Gamal
7/11, 11/2, 11/9, 11/4 (36m)
Oliver Holland bt Fares El Desoky
11/6, 11/8, 4/1 rtd (22m)
G17 Semis (Hallamshire):
Nour El Tayeb bt Salma Hany
7/11, 11/9, 11/9, 11/5 (37m)
Nouran El Torky bt Olivia Blatchford
12/10,11/5,8/11,6/11,11/7 (46m)
B17 Semis (Hallamshire):
Amr Khalid Khalifa bt Lucas Serme
11/2, 11/4, 11/2 (26m)
Danish Atlas bt Charles Sharpes
11/5, 11/6, 7/11, 11/7 (46m)
G19 Semis (Abbeydale):
Low Wee Wern bt Laura Gemmell 9/11, 12/10, 13/15, 11/8,
11/7 (66m)
Dipika Pallikal bt Heba El Torky
11/9, 14/12, 9/11, 14/12 (47m)
B19 Semis (Abbeydale):
Mohamed El Shorbagy bt Karim Abdel Gawad
11/2, 11/8, 7/11, 11/13, 11/8 (69m)
Ivan Yuen bt Alfredo Avila
11/8, 11/3, 11/8 (32m)
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Schedules
&
Draws
GALLERY
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Egypt assured of title
An Egyptian winner was already guaranteed after this morning's
Girls U13 quarters. Top seeds Yathreb Adel and Salma Hani
both
won in straight games, as did 3/4 seed Mariam Metwaly.
England's Lucy Beecroft came close to upsetting the Egyptian
domination, leading 2/1 and 7/5 against Radwa Adel, but the 9/16
seed fought back, taking the last two games 11/9 to seal the
all-Egyptian lineup.
In the semis it was Yathreb and Salma, the top two seeds, who
prevailed, both in straight games. |
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[1]
Low Wee Wern (Mas) bt [3/4] Laura
Gemmell (Can)
9/11, 12/10, 13/15, 11/8,
11/7 (66m)
Wee Wern survives
 Down
2/1 in games and 5/1 in points it wasn't looking good for the
top seeded Malaysian aiming to take her first BJO title. Laura Gemmell had matched world number 42
Low Wee Wern for three games, and
after she took the lead in a tense spell of extra points in the
third, she came out full of confidence at the start of the
fourth.
But Low held her nerve and made her way back into the game with
some tight drops and volleys, levelling at 5-all and shortly
after levelling the match.
 She
held the lead throughout the decider, Laura just unable to close
the gap as Wee Wern became the first finalist of 2009.
"I beat her in four games a couple of years ago, we've always
been close so I knew it would be tough, said a relieved winner.
"I didn't play well, but I played well enough to win." |
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[3/4] Dipika
Pallikal (Ind) bt [2] Heba El Torky (Egy)
11/9, 14/12, 9/11, 14/12 (47m)
Dipika does it again
It was a repat of their U17 final from last year, but the victor
that time, Dipika Pallikal, was the underdog here with Heba El
Torky seeded two.
 We
knew from last year that this would be a match with plenty of
action, both players going for their shots, and never long
between a winner or an error. Dipika prefers a more controlled
style of play, but never turns down an opportunity to put the
ball away, while Heba is all-action and pours endless energy
into her play and loves nothing more than smashing away anything
loose.
Dipika stayed ahead in the first to take the lead, but was
always behind in the second, saving two game balls at 8/10
before taking it on her own third game ball. The Indian was
playing some lovely attacking boasts, and while the odd one went
down they were paying dividends - four points were earned that
way at the business end of the second.
The Egyptian held a slender lead for most of the third game too,
but this time finished it off to reduce the deficit. She carried
that momentum into the fourth, establishing a 5/1, then a 8/2
lead and beginning to dominate - but in this match three or four
points could come or go very quickly and a few quick winners
from Dipika and she was right back in it.
The Indian levelled at 9-all, but needed four match balls and a
tense tiebreak before finally repeating last year's win to move
into a second successive final.
 "I
thought I played well, especially to come back in the fourth,"
said a delighted Dipika. "I was thinking a lot about last year's
final, and I knew that my coaches have helped me improve on the
physical and mental sides of my game, so I knew I had a good
chance.
"It's great to be in a final again, I lost to Wee Wern six
months but I think I'm playing better now so it should be a good
match ..."
There was some consolation for Heba, who has two BJO titles to
her name, as her younger sister Nouran, playing at the same time
over at Hallamshire, beat Olivia Blatchford 3/2 to reach her
first BJO final ... |
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[1] Kanzy El
Defrawy (Egy) bt [3/4] Ka Po Ho (Hkg)
11/3, 11/2, 11/8 (17m)
No sweat for Kanzy
Top seed Kanzy El Defrawy looked on top form as she brushed
aside the challenge of Ka Po Ho. The Egyptian was on top from
the word go and it was the Hong Kong girl who was having to do
all the running, more often than not in vain.
The third was more of a contest, but Kanzy never looked in
serious danger of dropping her first game of the tournament.
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[2] Nour El
Sherbeny (Egy) bt
[9/16] Michelle Gemmell (Can) 11/3, 11/6, 11/8 (16m)
Three in a row for Sherbeny
 Two-time
U13 champion, Nour El Sherbeny reached a third successive final
with a comprehensive victory over Michelle Gemmell, the Canadian
who beat England's hope Emily Whitlock in a thriller yesterday.
The Egyptian just had too many shots for her willing opponent,
dropshots, volley drops and tight drives racking up the points.
It should be an interesting (all-Egyptian, of course) final as
Sherbeny takes on Kanzy El Defrawy, who has been making inroads
in WISPA qualifying events of late ... |
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Boys U19 |
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[1]
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt
[3/4] Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy)
11/2, 11/8, 7/11, 11/13, 11/8
(69m)
Shorbagy Survives
Karim Abdel Gawad succeeded Mohamed El Shorbagy as BJU U17
champion, but since then Shorbagy has gone on to win the world
junior title and make great strides on the senior scene,
reaching the World Open quarter-finals in October.
The difference showed in the early stages as Shorbagy dominated,
and Gawad seemed to lack the belief that he could win.
But at 6/1 down in the second he started to play well, keeping
the ball tight, retrieving everything thrown at him, and slowly
the belief began to grow. He reached 8-all and although Shorbagy
took the next three points to double his lead, the match had
changed.
In the third and fourth Gawad truly believed he could win, he
was more than holding his own and started to be the one to
initiate taking the ball short ... and it was working.
 He
led throughout the third, had two chances to finish the fourth
at 10/8 before winning it in tense extra points overtime, and
Shorbagy looked in real trouble.
The fifth didn't start well for Gawad, a couple of mishits, a
couple of errors, some determined play by Shorbagy and the
defending champion was quickly at 9/2. Surely now the belief,
and the chance of making the final, had gone ... not a bit of
it. Gawad regained the form of the third and fourth, came all
the way to 9/8.
A tense finish seemed assured, but two mishits low into the tin
ended Gawad's chances, and handed Shorbagy a lifeline which he
gratefully accepted ...
 "I
started well," said Shorbagy, "but at 7/3 in the second I lost a
bit of concentration. I managed to win that game to get to 2/0
which was good, then I changed my game, tried to play a fast
pace in the third but he was better at that game than me. I
changed back to a basic game it was too late, he was playing
very well and was very confident.
"I knew I needed to get a good lead in the fifth, then at 9/2 I
lost concentration again. I was lucky that he made a couple of
mistakes at the end, it was just experience that got me through
that.
"It's different from last year, everyone had the pressure, but
this year I'm trying to defend a big title for the first time in
my life, and the pressure is all on me." |
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[3/4] Ivan Yuen
(Mas) bt Alfredo Avila (Mex)
11/8, 11/3, 11/8 (32m)
Ivan ends Mexican run
It's been a great run for unseeded Mexican Alfredo Avila, but it
came to an end today in the semi-finals where he met his match
in Ivan Yuen, the 3/4 seed from Malaysia.
In previous matches Avila's speed and retrieving had worn down
or frustrated his opponents, but Yuen assumed control from the
start today. Apart from a spell in the middle of the third he
kept his opponent on a tight leash, made him cover the court and
do most of the work, nullifying his retrieving with precise
shots that sooner or later proved too tight.
Yuen wasn't averse to playing the odd flashing winner, but was
generally content to let the tough rallying do his work for him,
knowing the opportunity or the error would come. When the
Malaysian won a huge rally at 5-all in the third, the type Avila
had been winning all week, you could sense it wasn't going to be
his day.
 "I
just tried to put myself in control of the ball," admitted the
winner afterwards. "I'd heard that he was very fast and picked
everything up, so I tried to keep it tight and controlled and it
worked well.
"It's my first BJO final, I won the Milo U19 last year and I
still have until October as a junior, but this is my last chance
to win here."
So, Malaysia is represented in both U19 finals, it could be a
good start to the year for them ...
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