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Wed 5th, Day FOUR:
Steve Cubbins in Sheffield |
Schedules,
Draws & Results
Photo Gallery
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Egypt still on course
for another eight ?
Semi-finals day in Sheffield
and while Egypt are still in with a chance
of retaining all eight titles - they were
already guaranteed two - they faced serious
challenges in many of the events.
In the event the Egyptians are guaranteed
four titles, with USA, Malaysia and England
also bidding for prestigious BJO titles on
finals day ... read all about it ...
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Hallamshire Update: Olly
Holland loses 3/0 ... Emily Whitlock wins
3/0 for an English finalist ... Yathreb
beats Kanzy 81m 80 decisions |
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G13:
[5/8] Habiba Mohamed (Egy) bt
[3/4] Subramaniam (Mas)
8/11, 12/10, 9/11, 11/2, 11/5
(44m)
[5/8] Andrea Lee Jia Qi (Mas) bt
[5/8] Salma Tarek (Egy)
11/2, 10/12, 8/11, 11/9, 11/6 (47m)
One-all in two
thrillers
The first of the Egypt v Malaysia
semi-finals went Egypt's way as Habiba
Mohamed eventually overpowered
Subramaniam.
 The
Malaysia doesn't have the power that Habiba
possesses, but in the early stages the
Egyptian was finding the tin too regularly,
overhitting as she tried to thump the ball
as hard as she could more often than not.
Subramaniam's greater control paid dividends
as she took a 2/1 lead, but in the final two
games Habiba harnessed her power hitting
better and
pretty much dominated proceedings.
At 9/5 in the fifth a ferocious hit from the
back of the court hit Subramaniam on the
back of her hand causing considerable
distress and a nasty looking bruise. After a
handful of minutes delay play resumed but
the final two points went quickly, finishing
on a stroke against the distressed
Malaysian.
 The
second semi-final was an amazing match that
saw two spectacular changes of momentum.
Lacking the out and out power of her
compatriot, Salma Tarek looked a fish
out of water as Andrea Lee Jia Qi
stroked the ball around, finding winners
with ease. At 11/2 and 8/2 to the Malaysian
Salma looked beaten.
A couple of points back though, and Andrea's
game and confidence seemed to dissipate as
fast as Salma's was growing. Amazingly,
about 15 minutes later the Egyptian was
leading 2/1 and 8/4 and the Malaysian
support was along the lines of "don't give
up" with Andrea now looking forlorn and
lost.
Cue momentum shift two. A couple of points
won back, then Andrea barged past her
opponent looking for a let - not given - and
hurt her shoulder to make it two Malaysians
in a row in tears on the court.
After a couple of minutes' consolation
Andrea resumed looking more fired up than
ever as she levelled the match.
The fifth was a very noisy affair in the
cramped confines of court six's downstairs
viewing area, but it was the Malaysian who
dominated, the cheers growing louder and
louder until the match was won (video coming
later on).
So another Egypt v Malaysia match in
prospect, this time for the title ... I
can't wait!
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G15:
[3/4] Laila Omar (Egy) bt [1] Miriam
Metwaly (Egy)
9/11, 11/8,
3/11, 11/8, 12/10 (41m)
[2] Salma Hani (Egy) bt [9/16] Nouran
Gohar (Egy)
11/8, 11/8,
12/14, 13/11 (46m)
Omars upset top seed
... Hani just
 Coached
by Omar Elborolossy, Laila Omar came
out the winner in an entertaining
tight-as-can-be game against top seed Miriam
Metwaly.
The pair were evenly matched from the
outset, both big hitters with excellent
movement, the match was played out mainly at
the back of the court as the first two games
were shared.
 Metwaly
got on top in the third, pushing Omar into
some desperate defending, but the coach must
have uttered some wise words in the break as
Omar started to do less defending and
slowly, slowly, took the attack to her
opponent.
After levelling the match Omar always had
the edge in the fifth, with Metwaly doing
most of the defending and scrambling now.
The top seed managed to stay in touch, saved
a match ball to pull it back to 10-all, but
Omar had the momentum and she finished off
the match with a tight volley drop that
delighted her and her coach.
The second semi-final was again
all-Egyptian, but there was a physical
contrast between the two pairs of players.
If Metwali and Omar could easily be mistaken
for U17s, Salma Hani (in black) and
Nouran Gohar wouldn't look too out of
place in the U13 event.
 They
don't hit the ball like U13s though, and we
had another match between two well matched,
equally skilful, fit and determined players.
Second seed Hani took the first two,
overcoming mid-game deficits in both, then
came from 10/8 down to earn a match ball in
the third before Gohar deservedly pulled one
back.
Gohar led again in the fourth, had two game
balls to level the match at 10/9 and 11/10,
but Hani held firm, the match finishing,
disappointingly for Gohar and the crowd,
with a mishit on an attempted overhead as
Sani went through to the final.
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Girls 19:
[1] Amanda Sobhy (Usa) bt [9/16]
Tamika Saxby (Aus)
11/4, 11/1, 11/2 (15m)
[2] Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt [3/4]
Olivia Blatchford (Usa)
8/11, 11/6, 11/6, 11/9 (34m)
Sobhy
Supreme, Tayeb tested ...
"I wasn't nervous today," said a smiling
Amanda Sobhy after a comprehensive win over
Tamika Saxby in the first Girls' U19
semi-final, referring to her somewhat nerve
performance in the last round.
 "Usually
when I'm nervous I just hit the ball hard,
but today I was lobbing, dropping, playing
some flicks, and when they start to come I
know I'm not nervous!"
It showed too as the World Junior Champion's
pace, power and deception proved just too
much for Saxby, who was overpowered in the
first, grateful to score a first point at
10/0 in the second, and resigned to her fate
in the third.
It's been a good run for the Australian
though, who only targeted the top eight
after all, while on this form Sobhy is going
to take some stopping ...
The final will be between the top two seeds
after Nour El Tayeb overcame a typically
feisty challenge from Olivia Blatchford to
deny an all-American final.
Tayeb and Blatchford seem to meet every year
in the BJO, and of late it's been the
Egyptian who's had the upper hand.
Blatchford, determined to reverse that
trend, got off to a fine start, battling
from the word go to take the lead.
Tayeb, still looking quite nervous,
regrouped to take the next two games to six,
but just when it looked as though
Blatchford's challenge was fading, the
American came out all guns blazing in the
fourth.
 She
quickly went 5/0 up, then 6/0 as she
finished off a fine rally punching the ball
deep and punching a determined fist. That
was as good as it got though as Tayeb
mounted a comeback, levelling at 7-all and
now doing her own fist-pumping.
Olivia took some finishing off though, and
Nour could only stay one point ahead. At
10/9 Nour stretched into the corner to play
a perfect boast that left Olivia on the
floor in a vain attempt to reach it, and
left Nour in the final.
 "I'm
so nervous in this tournament," admitted
Nour afterwards, "so nervous." When told she
had nothing to be nervous about, she's world
number 17 after all, her reply was "that's
why!
"I underestimated Tesni [Evans] yesterday,"
she added, "she played very well and I
really had to work to stop it going to five.
"Same today, Olivia and I always have good
matches but I really didn't want to play a
fifth, I'm so glad to get through."
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Boys 19:
[1] Amr Khaled Khalifa (Egy) bt
[3/4] Marwan El Shorbagy (Egy)
11/8, 11/13, 11/6, 14/12
[2] Ai Farag (Egy) bt [9/16] Karim
Ali Fathy (Egy)
10/12, 11/6, 11/7, 11/1
Farag too strong,
Khalifa stops Shorbagy
 The
first of two all-Egyptian Boys' U19 semis
saw second seed Ali Farag put an end
to the run of Karim Ali Fathy, who
has been through some marathon matches this
week.
He showed no signs of fatigue in the first
game though, taking a mid-game lead then
taking a hard-fought game on extra points.
The high pace continued in the second and
third games, both players lightning quick to
the front, and to the back to recover. Farag
had the marginal advantage though, as he
took the lead.
From the outset of the fourth it was obvious
that Fathy was spent, past efforts finally
catching up with him after three high
quality games.
The second semi-final was an hour or more of
some of the tensest squash I've seen for ...
well since Saudi. Marwan El Shorbagy,
under 17 champion last year, was intent on
continuing the three-year run his brother
Mohamed started, while Amr Khalid Khalifa,
the World Junior Champion who beat Marwan in
the semis in those Ecuador championships,
was intent on finishing his BJO experience
with a third title.
 It
all made for quite an experience for the
packed court seven crowd, with oohs and aahs
right from the outset, at the squash, the
retrieving, the decisions and the reactions.
Shorbagy started brightly, taking a 4/1 lead
in the opener, but Khalifa recovered to
4-all then pulled clear from 7-all to take
the lead. He led for most of the second too,
but Marwan, wound up like the tightest of
tight springs - at one point coach Jonah
Barrington told him loudly to "shut up and
get on with it" - forced his way back into
contention, saved two game balles and
levelled in extra points.
The third was Khalifa's, leading all the way
and consolidating this time, and at 4/0 in
the fourth Shorbagy's challenge looked to be
fading.
Undeterred, with Johan constantly telling
him to concentrate, Marwan fought back, led
5/4 and 7/5, and it was all very, very tense
with dramatic rallies, dramatic appeals and
dramatic reactions to appeals from both
sides.
Amr got to ten first, but one game ball
wasn't enough as Marwan levelled, then got a
game ball of his own at 11/10. On they went
until at 13/12 Amr put in a boast that was
just too tight, the referee called "not up"
to Marwan's attempted retrieval, and the top
two seeds were in the final. Phew ... |
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Boys 15:
[1] Mohamed El Gawarhy (Egy) bt
[5/8] Daniel Poleshchuk (Isr)
11/1, 11/5, 11/4 (18m)
[2] Youssef Aboul Makarim (Egy) bt
[5/8] Chris Lo (Hkg)
3/11, 8/11, 11/3, 14/12, 11/9 (54m)
Egypt set to retain
U15 title
Just as in the U19 event the top seeds, both
Egyptian, will contest the U15 final after
contrasting semi-final victories.
Daniel Poleshchuk, having played well to get
this far, never really got going against top
seed Mohamed El Gawarhy, who looked
impressive from the start and never let up.
Second sed Youseff Aboul Makram
looked in deep trouble against Hong Kong's
Chris Lo, who took the first two games with
some ease playing his usual high-paced game.
After the Egyptian got a lead in the third
Lo pretty much let the game go and ended up
paying the price. The last two games were
fast, furious, intense and close with plenty
of fist-pumping from both sides.
In the end though it was Makarim who edged
them both to take what looked an unlikely
victory after the opening games.
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