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Mon 13th Dec, Day Two, Qualifying Finals:
Sara El Noamany (Egy) bt
Mayar Aly Ezzo (Egy)
11/8, 11/3,
11/1
plays El Tayeb
Yathreb Adel (Egy) bt Farah Momen (Egy)
11/2,
11/9, 11/3
plays El Weleily
Nouran El Torky (Egy) bt Merhan Amr Mahmoud (Egy)
5/11, 11/6, 11/6, 11/4
plays Massaro
Salma Hany (Egy) bt Laura Hill (Eng)
11/9,
13/11, 11/8
plays Sherbini
[LL] Merhan Amr Mahmoud to play Victoria Lust
[LL] Farah Momen to play Heba El Torky |
En Bref #2
Party Time,
Baby Face, Chickens ... |
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Sara El Noamany (Egy) bt Mayar Aly Ezzo (Egy)
11/8, 11/3,
11/1
A very onesided
match, after a nice first disputed first game, between two
excellent friends…
 "Maya
is my best friend on the squash community, she’s got a great
personality, and it was so hard to play against her. But I had
to switch off the friendship, squash is squash, and business is
business! Still, there was a lot of respect and love on the
court!
"I still have two semesters to go, so I can’t really train or
travel, as my Uni (in Marketing Tools Management, in short, plus
psychology) is very strict, you miss two classes you are out!
But once I finish, I want to go full time on the circuit. And
please, don’t judge my level by today’s performance! It was not
my best….!!!!"
 "I
didn’t train for a month, because I had surgery on my crossed
ligaments on the knee, and I’ve been struggling to get back in
shape since. Today, the court was a bit slippery as well, and I
was a bit afraid of injuring myself again… I just need to get my
fitness back…"
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Yathreb Adel (Egy) bt Farah Momen (Egy)
11/2,
11/9, 11/3
PUPPY YATHREB….
Funny, you know, when you see players for the first time, and
you get an idea of who they are by looking at them, and then,
you realise, talking with them, that there is more to it than
you initially thought?
Take Yathreb for example, looking at her, you think, good
player, probably 20 ish. And then “I’m 14” she says… Ah….
She reminds me a bit of Ramy, who like a puppy, grew a bit too
quickly, you know what I mean, too many arms and legs. And I
feel that the fact she is creating a bit too much interference
comes probably from there. I’m not sure she is aware of how much
space she takes now!
Farah was not mentally in the first game at all, but gradually
imposed herself in the second, and it came to really nothing at
the end of that crucial game that Yathreb takes in extremis,
11/9.
In the third, unforced errors crept in Farah’s game again, and
it was rather a simple affair for Yathreb to close the match,
11/3.
 "I’m
still having those lapses of concentration problems. I know I
can hit the ball well and hard, I can run fast, I retrieve a lot
of shots, but until I can sort out that focus problem, I won’t
be beating anyone."
 "Last
time we play in the National Tournament I beat her 3/1. In the
first and third game, I was happy with the way I played, I
volleyed well, I was able to get some nice shots in, I run for
every shot, even the ones that were really difficult.
"But in the second, I sort of changed my game plan and cross
courted far too much, which allowed her to volley and cut me
off. Still at 10/9, I remember thinking, right, let’s do things
right now, don’t play crosscourt, and I boasted the ball, and
got a wining shot. Happy with that.
"My ambition in Squash? I want to be World Champion, I hope I
can get it. And tomorrow, I wish I can win and get to the
quarters. I’ll do my best to get there.
"And squash is my life, my whole life…"
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 "Since
I started playing, around 10 years old, I always finished
between the first and the third in all the tournaments I played.
I even was runner up in the British Junior Open U13. But between
the age of 15 to 17, I was riddled with injuries, the foot then
the knees, then the back.
"So I had to stop playing completely, and I put on so much
weight, that I had so much trouble losing since. It’s easy to
lose it when you are young, but now [19 she is], it’s so much
harder! And it’s very frustrating not to be able to play as well
as I did.
"The moment I stopped playing is the moment a girl, a junior,
becomes a young adult, and the body changes. When I came back,
after those years of absence, the girls I used to play against
and beat, well, they are not juniors anymore, they are WISPA.
And I’m still playing like a junior.
"But I think that I had my bad times now, I’m sure the good
times are on their way…"
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Nouran El Torky (Egy) bt Merhan Amr Mahmoud (Egy)
5/11, 11/6, 11/6, 11/4
 "Last
time I played in Sharm, I lost against somebody I normally win
against, so today, I was so afraid I wouldn’t qualify for the
main draw tomorrow, so I was very nervous, I really wanted to
win this match.
"We know each other very well with Merhan, we used to play so
many matches when we were young [because they are so old now, FG],
but she had so many injuries, and now, she is really struggling
to come back to her level.
"So, in the second game, I realised that I was making far too
many errors, and I told myself, no more easy shots at the front,
I just find my length first, and then play my shots. I just
didn’t want to lose points anymore.
I"’m doing my medicine Uni, I’ll finish in two years, but I’ll
never give up squash. In my mind, my squash is more important
than my studies. So, I’ll try and keep on training and playing
as much as I can.
"I really want to thank the tournament organiser for the great
work he has done on this event, and of course, my coach, my
sister, and my mum and dad for the support they are giving me."
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Salma Hany (Egy) bt Laura Hill (Eng)
11/9,
13/11, 11/8
HARD MATCH…
Don’t get fooled by the 3/0 score. This was a disputed match,
with English Laura Hill ill as possible – I had breakfast with
her, and breathing was a problem, which is normally not a good
sign before a squash match – and a stressed but extremely
determined young Salma, slightly overwhelmed by the support she
was getting from the local crowd.
I must say, and that didn’t change the result of the match, that
we had a few decisions that were well, slightly surprising. And
although I’m told that the decisions vary between men’s game and
ladies’ game, I’m pretty sure they don’t vary THAT much…
Lovely disputed rallies, but Laura had trouble finding the back
of the court, and offered far too many easy ball on the service
line, that allowed Salma to attack with her backhand boast
trademark, lethal on tired legs. And if Laura’s short game was
not accurate enough, the Egyptian would counter attack it with
devastating consequences.
As the English lady stated, “she wanted it more, and she got
it”. No better way to describe it really.
 "I
was so stressed again when I started, so many people, I’m not
used to so many people watching!
"Today I was trying to think positive before the match. And I
know that the English players are always very strong with the
all around game, so I made sure that my basic game was well in
place, and then, try and take all the opportunities I could.
"I was trying to take time between the rallies, to collect my
thoughts, to keep calm…
"Laura is such a tough player, her drives are really dangerous,
and she really runs a lot…"
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 "Because
of my cold, I just didn’t have any mental capacity to fight, and
that’s more frustrating than anything.
"She is tough, she wanted it more than me, and she got it…
"I came here several t6imes on holidays, I love it here, so I’m
going to stick around, enjoy a bit of sun – staying away from
the sharks – and watching some matches, as the draw is really
good…"
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