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29th July:
In
Islamabad last year Framboise met was impressed by some of the Pakistani
Juniors ... just weeks later she got to see them in action in the
British Junior Open where they made the finals of all four Boys
events, winning three ... |
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U19 Semi-Final:
[2] Basit Ashfaq (Pak) bt
[3/4] Chris Simpson (Eng)
4-9, 9-4, 9-2, 9-6 (66m)
FINAL:
[2] Basit Ashfaq (Pak) bt
[9/16] Tarek Momen (Egy)
10-8, 7-9, 9-2, 9-1 (62m)
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from January 2005
SIMPSON:
HE HITS SO HARD, MAN…
It’s with those words (well, not exactly, but something very close) that
Chris Simpson greeted his mate Tom Richards after his defeat
against Basit Ashfaq.
And it is true, Basit hits the ball hard, very hard indeed. To prove it,
when I take my notes, I give symbols to shots, ok? Well, I had to create
a symbol when John White hits the ball very low and very hard, a little
H surrounded with a circle. I used the same symbol for Basit…
 Like
his friend Tom, it was a first semi-final for Chris, but nervous, nope,
I don’t think so. Poor Basit couldn’t do much to counter attack the
fiery little young man, who very quickly led 7/1 and seized the first
9/4.
After speaking with his coach Rahmat, Basit was another player all
together. He started to hit hard, avoided the tins he gladly made in the
first, and didn’t let his opponent breathe. 5/0. But Chris was not
impressed. Delaying his shots, hitting precisely, he came back to 4/5,
but couldn’t score another point in the game, and Basit equalised by
taking the second 9/4.
The Pakistani controlled the third from start to finish, I counted seven
tins for Chris, too many… 9/2 for Basit.
The fourth was the most disputed game, as after being behind 0/4, the
English boy clawed back to 4/4. 6/6. But was he just a bit tired, Basit
ended the rallies rather quickly, by hitting the ball so hard, so tight,
that Simpson could only accept defeat, 9/6 in the fourth.
When I asked Rahmat if Basit could win tomorrow, he said “if he avoids
the tin, yes, he will…” We’ll see…
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GOOD PERFORMANCE FOR FARHAN
Framboise at
Hallamshire
 Well,
this morning, after rushing to the Abbeydale club to recover my camera and
note book, writing and sending last night's articles and photos to Steve,
rushing to Hallamshire to see the semi-final of the U13, rushing back to the
Novotel to pick up a lost Pakistani player (Ali) who didn’t realise he had a
match on at 11am, I finally got to see little Farhan Zaman, who is so
cute you want to eat him.
He is one of those boys who has a smile that makes you melt, and tears that
break your heart. Today, no tears for him, as he played extremely well,
causing a certain upset by beating a player seeded higher than him, the very
talented El Sherbeny.
When I arrived, Farhan was down 6/0 in the second , after having won the
first one comfortably, maybe too comfortably for his concentration.
Encouraged by his coach and international referee Ayaz Khan, he clawed back
to 6/6, and never looked back. He won a very disputed and close match,
despite a punishing score, 9/1, 9/6, 9/5, as it could have gone either way.
This boy has got a remarkable touch, but most of all, he already has the
sense to send the ball where the opponent is not, forcing him to play
windshield scrappers…
A talent to be closely watched…
Boys U13 Semi-Final:
[5/8] Farhan Zaman
(Pak) bt
[3/4] El Sherbeny (Egy)
9-1, 9-6, 9-5 (25m)
FINAL:
[5/8] Farhan Zaman (Pak) bt [3/4] Fouad Khalifa (Egy)
9-2, 9-0, 9-0 (17m)
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Boys U15 Final:
[3/4] Shohaib Hassan (Pak) bt [3/4] Ahmed Osama Hawas (Egy) 10-8, 10-8, 9-1
 
Full BJO Coverage |
Boys U17 Final:
[2] Omar Abou Zeid (Egy) bt
[3/4] Bilal Zaman (Pak)
9-5, 9-3, 9-0 (27m)
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from January 2005 |
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