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Finals Day 2005 |
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Each of the four boys finals was between
Egypt and Pakistan, with Egypt also
having players in three Girls finals. |
Boys U19:
[2] Basit Ashfaq (Pak) bt
[9/16] Tarek Momen (Egy)
10-8, 7-9, 9-2, 9-1 (62m)
Basit
claims Drysdale Cup
Steve Cubbins at Abbeydale
Basit Ashfaq completed a
great afternoon for Pakistan, taking
the Drysdale Cup with with a
hard-fought victory over Tarek
Momen, giving Pakistan three of
the four boys' titles.
 Punishing
rallies were the order of the day in
the early part of the match, with
Basit's power and reach countered by
Momen's speed and retrieving
abilities. Momen reached 8-7, but
couldn't take it as Basit claimed
the game 10-8.
A similar story in the second, but
this time the Egyptian held on to
level the match. From then on
though, it was a different story.
There was a series of lets at the
start of the third, Momen doing most
of the asking, and at 3-1 down the
referee declared "play on" when the
Egyptian wanted to clean his glasses
for the umpteenth time. Two rallies
later he cleaned them anyway, and
received a conduct warning for his
trouble.
 It
seemed the Egyptian was tiring,
taking his time between rallies and
asking at every opportunity. Basit
took full advantage, raced to 4-1,
6-1, 8-2 and took the lead.
Late back on court for the fourth,
Momen started 1-0 down to a conduct
stroke, and looked dispirited during
the game. Basit kept up the pressure
with short kills and driven lengths,
quickly reaching 6-1. A final long,
disputed rally, then the Pakistani
raced away again, finishing the
match off to the delight of his
team-mates and coaches.
 The
headline was going to be "Basit
lifts the cup ...", but in his
excitement the new champion managed
to drop the famous trophy not once,
but twice!
An assured champions' speech
finished off a great week in
Sheffield, and another chapter was
written into BJO history.
Girls U19 :
[2] Joshna Chinappa (Ind)
bt Tenille Swartz (Rsa)
3-9, 9-3, 9-6, 9-3 (44m)
This was
Joshna's Year
Winner of the U17 title two
years ago, runner-up in the U19 last
year, Joshna Chinappa took
the next logical step when she
became the British Open U19
Champion, finally ending the run of
unseeded South African sensation
Tenille Swartz.
 Swartz
started strongly, chasing down
everything that Chinappa could throw
at her and putting in great drops
and testing boasts when she was
given the opportunity. A 6/2
lead became 8/3, although it took
three game balls before the South
African clinched the first 9/3.
Chinappa started the second
driving Swartz to the back, but
anything loose was still being
punished. The pressure was beginning
to tell though, and although Tenille
was still chasing everything, errors
were beginning to creep in. 3/1,
6/3, an error and a stroke and it
was game ball to the Indian, taken
at the first attempt. One-all.
 Another
quick start by Joshna in the third,
5/2 then two strokes - one harsh,
the crowd thought - took it to 7/2.
Tenille was still full of running,
but there was less to chase now as
Joshna's game tightened up. A
horrible error on Joshna's first
game ball let Tenille back in, and
she clawed her way back to 8/6,
saving four more game balls before
the serve was tinned on the sixth.
2/1 and Tenille looked to be tiring.
The fourth was all Joshna. The
Indian's smooth, graceful style had
finally subdued the South African's
all-action game. Two long drops,
three dying lengths, a cross-court
deception and a stroke made it 7/0.
Tenille was still fighting, and
pulled two points back before
a winner off the serve and a trickle
boast brought 8/3, match ball.
That was saved, but this was
Joshna's year, and on the second
attempt the Indian team had a title
to take back home for the third year
running.
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VIDEO: The
Last Point
Joshna with coach Cyrus Poncha
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Girls U13 :
[3/4] Nour Mohamed El Tayeb
(Egy)
bt
[3/4]
Abdel Megid (Egy) 9-3, 9-5, 7-9,
9-2 (36m)
Boys U13:
[5/8] Farhan Zaman (Pak)
bt [3/4] Fouad Khalifa (Egy)
9-2, 9-0, 9-0 (17m)
Honours
shared in U13
Honours were shared in the U13
finals, with Pakistan and Egypt
claiming a title each. In the girls
match El Tayeb went 2-0 up, but
after Megid pulled back a tight
third game it seemed that a long
match was on the cards.
But El Tayeb refocused, took the
fourth quickly, and with it the
title.
In the boys final Khalifa simply
found Zaman too much to handle. The
Pakistani kept the Egyptian on the
back foot for the whole match,
winning point after point with
deceptive winners.
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Boys U15:
[3/4] Shohaib Hassan
(Pak) bt [3/4] Ahmed Osama Hawas
(Egy) 10-8, 10-8, 9-1
Girls U15:
[3/4] Heba Alaa Ahmed
(Egy) bt [2] Alia Magdy Balbaa (Egy)
9-3, 9-2, 9-6 (24m)
Great Timing
For Heba's First Win
Steve Cubbins at Abbeydale
An Egyptian winner was guaranteed in
the first final to be played on
Abbeydale's glass court, but which
of the two friends would it be?
 It
was even at the start, with the
taller second seeded Balbaa leading
2-0 and 3-2, but after those first
few points the game quickly turned.
Ahmed, shorter and quicker around
the court, started to find her range
with long drop shots and delicate
boasts, which Balbaa struggled to
retrieve. From 2-3 down the first
game quickly became 9/3 to Heba.
The pattern continued in the second.
Both were going short at every
opportunity, but Ahmed was faster to
the ball and her drops were that bit
tighter. It was quickly 7/0, and
although Balbaa rallied briefly
Ahmed took the game 9/2.
In the third Balbaa changed tactics,
keeping the ball to the back, and it
paid dividends as errors started to
flow from Ahmed's racket. 6/1, and
it looked like a comeback was on the
cards.
But it was snuffed out on a series
of quick points - no let, stroke,
stroke, error, another stroke and
suddenly it was 6-all and the tide
had turned again.
An exquisite long drop, another no
let and a final tight drop and Ahmed
let out a delighted "Yes!" as she
clinched the title.
"We play each other all the time in
Egypt," she told me afterwards, "but
that's the first time I've ever
beaten her!"
Exquisite drop shots, and exquisite
timing ... well done Heba.
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Girls U17:
[1] Raneem El Weleily
(Egy) bt [5/8] Annie Au (Hkg)
9-6, 10-8, 9-2 (32m)
Second title
for Raneem
 Raneem
El Weleily retained her U17
title with a straight game victory
over Hong Kong's Annie Au, last
year's U15 champion.
The Egyptian's strength an placement
were a notch above Au's, who held
her own during many contested
rallies, but it was El Weleily who
was in control for most of them,
taking the first two games 9-6 10-8.
The pressure began to tell in the
third, with Au being pushed to all
corners of the court before the
inevitable winner or too-tight shot
came from the Egyptian's racket.
So two U17 titles for El Weleily to
go with her two at U15 and one at
U13, and she will be a force in the
U19 next year. Au still has another
shot at this title and few would bet
against her adding to her tally in
2006.
Boys U17:
[2] Omar Abou Zeid (Egy)
bt [3/4] Bilal Zaman (Pak)
9-5, 9-3, 9-0 (27m)
Another Title
Retained
 The
Boys U17 title also went to Egypt,
with Omar Abou Zeid also
retained the title won in 2004.
The tall, powerfully-built Egyptian
proved too strong for Zaman,
dominating the match from the start
and finishing in style.
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Raneem with
her mother and brother -
NICE FEEDBACK
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