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TODAY at the BJO: Day TWO, Tue 3rd
Steve Cubbins reports
from Sheffield |
The Longest Day
...
Day two saw a hectic schedule of play at Abbeydale and Hallamshire, with two
rounds for most of the draws as the fields were whittled down to the
quarter-finals or last sixteen.
No surprises in the U19 events, with all the top men and women through to
the quarter-finals, but the Boys U17 event saw the demise of the top seed.
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RESULTS LISTING
EN Bref Issue #2 |
THE LAST MATCHES
Action concluded at Abbeydale with the round of last 16 in the boys U19, two
matches initially, followed by a full set of six on at the same time. I did
my best to follow them, but it was tricky, to say the least.
Suffice it to say that the top eight seeds will contest the quarter-finals
tomorrow, and here's a few snippets.
First up was top seed Ramy Ashour, meeting his second Salazar of the
day. In a repeat of this morning's match against Arturo, the world junior
champion went 5/0 down before showing his true form.
But that was as much as Cesar was to get, as Ramy upped the pace, and went
on to win without dropping another point.
"It's strange to play two brothers in the same day," said Ramy. "And no, I
didn't know it was their birthday, I'm sorry for that!"
Pakistan's Aamir Atlas Khan looked in good form as he beat Tom
Hoevenaars in three, his speed about court is just amazing.
 As
the matches were in progress I wandered over to court six where Chris
Simpson looked on the brink of putting out the last Canadian in the
men's draws. Simpson took the first two games against Andrew McDougall 9/1,
9/0, so staying to watch the end of this, then then end of some other
matches, looked like a good plan.
And a good plan it was, but for different reasons. The Canadian came out
firing in the third, and the game developed into a real battle. The massed
ranks of Canadian supporters urging Andrew on, he reached 8/5, and was to
earn two more game balls as the pair exchanged rally after lengthy rally.
But Simpson was to deny all three opportunities, and clinched the game 10/8
on his first opportunity.
"The first two were good, but he played really well in the third, and I
probably relaxed a bit. He stepped it up well, and I really had to work hard
to take that game and I'm pleased to win in three."
And of course, by then all the other matches had finished!
Hot Shots at Hallamshire
Hot news from Hallamshire was the amazing 98 minute victory by David
Wardle in the U13s. Yes, that's an hour and a half for two twelve year
olds! David was 2-0 down, won the fourth 10-9 and the last 9-7 at well past
his bedtime!
The Under 17 Boys saw a major upset as South Africa's Rudi Willemse
toppled top seed Ahmed Osama Hawas 9/6, 9/4, 10/9.
The top half of that draw now reads South Africa, Germany, Denmark and
England, meaning that a repeat of last year's all Egypt v Pakistan finals
are now out of the question.
So tomorrow it's down to the last eight in the U19 and U17 events and the
last 16 in the U15 and U13. Don't miss it ...
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Sorry, Salazars !
Aamir topples Tom
Rosner & Tasker-Grindley
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Danes delighted ... |
Parental support ... |
Cyrus encourages ... |
The Salazar's Birthdays ...
Boys U19 Round Two:
Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt Arturo Salazar (Mex)
9/5, 9/3, 9/2 (44m) |
What better way to start your birthday than
a 9am meeting with the world junior champion and world number 38 Ramy
Ashour.
 That
was the task facing Arturo Salazar, and the Mexican acquitted himself
well. Whereas Ramy won his opening match in just 14 minutes, after 14
minutes of this match he was 5/0 down ...
After yesterday's 27/0 Ramy lost his first point of the tournament failing
to return Arturo's tight opening serve.
At the start of the match the Mexican was more than holding his own,
engaging in long rallies and generally getting the better of them. You had
the feeling that it wouldn't last, and sure enough it didn't.
 Ramy
started to peg back the lead, his striking of the ball just that bit
crisper, and once he levelled the Egyptian's greater array of shots quickly
brought the first game.
The next two games were much more predictable, with Ramy controlling the
court, forcing Arturo into errors and placing some exquisite winners.
At 8/0 in the third Arturo delayed the inevitable by pulling a couple of
points back, but on the third time of asking - literally, as Ramy was twice
granted lets on match ball for which he wanted strokes - Arturo's birthday
outing was over.
Boys U19 Round Two:
Cesar Salazar (Mex) bt Chris Hall (Eng)
9/5, 9/7, 8/10, 9/5 (67m) |
 At
the same time, on the adjacent court, Arturo's twin brother Cesar was
battling to a win against England's Chris Hall.
These two fought for every point, ran and ran and ran, but despite
squandering a match ball for a straight games win, Cesar went straight
through from 3/5 down in the fourth to claim a place in the last sixteen.
Chris now gets a shot at Arturo in the plate, while Cesar's birthday
continues with a meeting with ... Ramy Ashour.
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"I've been playing PSA for a year now, and I didn't really expect a
tough match this early in a junior event.
"Arturo played well at the start, he was so relaxed and was just hitting
nicks and playing really well. Once I got it back to 5-all I felt quite
confident, and it wasn't too difficult after that.
"I'm feeling confident, I've been training hard and playing well for
three months. I've been working on my hard-hit shots, which is going
well, so I'm hoping to do well here.
"The most annoying thing is having to wear glasses again. I started
training with them two weeks ago, but it was hard in the beginning,
there's so much steam! I had to clean them lots of times today, but I'm
getting more used to them. I definitely won't be wearing them for PSA!
"I wanted to play here because this is my last chance to win the BJO,
and it's such a prestigious title to have. I'll play the worlds in New
Zealand and that will be my last two junior events, so I had to play
these two, really."
Ramy Ashour |
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Mexican support team |
Atruro's birthday loss |
Eric the Enforcer |
Pett so close
Boys U19 Round Two:
Jens Schoor (Ger) bt Oliver Pett (Eng)
9/3, 7/9, 9/5, 10/8 (87m) |
A bit of an upset looked on the cards when
Oliver Pett was leading the second game against Germany's Jans
Schoor.
In one one the longest matches of the tournament so far, Pett pushed Scheer
all the way. It was more an attritional match than anything else, but no
less tense and exciting for that. The packed gallery on Abbeydale's court
two was kept on tenterhooks until the end.
Scher recovered from that deficit in the second to take the lead, and
recovered again from 8/4 down in the fourth. Pett had several chances to
extend the match into a fifth game, but lost the initiative on a series of
strokes and no lets as the Englishman simply became too tired to get out of
the way ...
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No match today for
Sudoku expert Raneem ... |
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Another little gem from Rahmat
Boys U13 Round 2:
[2] Nasir Iqbal (Pak) bt Ahmed Shahhat (Egy)
9/2, 9/2, 9/1 (22m) |
After watching the under 19s at Abbeydale it
was over to Hallamshire to catch some U13 action.
What a difference in size and stature (although both were probably bigger
than 'little Joe'), but what expertise from ones so young.
Nasir has exceptional power on his straight, low drives and volleys, and
often left his opponent stranded as the ball flashed past him for a winner.
The racket speed he generates when playing his shots is simply tremendous
And when in trouble he had speed and fantastic recovery shots on his side
too, and hardly made any errors in the whole match.
Quite a little package, and I suspect he will take some stopping. Ahmed is a
great little player too, of course, it's just that today he came up against
a better one. Rahmat Khan seems to have unearthed another little gem. |
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Girls action |
A quick bite ... |
Girls action |
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One more step for Neha
Girls U19 Round One:
Neha Kumar (Can) bt Melanie Kunlzli (Swi)
9/3, 9/1, 9/0 (12m) |
 Canada's
Neha Kumar, who came to Sheffield having won the Canadian, US and
Scottish Junior Opens, recorded a quick win to progress to the last sixteen.
Keha's strengths, on this evidence, appear to be her serve - a good example
of the lob serve - and her precise flicks and kills at the front.
Time after time the serve forced a loose return from Kunzli, which was
despatched with a drop, volley or boast from mid-court.
In truth Kunlzli didn't have the shots or the movement to upset Kuma's
rhythm, and the victory was pretty much a formality.
"I've reached my seeded position," said Kuma, "and tomorrow I get to play my
room-mate Britt Hebden. I've always beaten Britt in the past, but we haven't
played for quite a while, so hopefully I can keep that record going and
reach the quarter-finals." |
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Two out of Two for Denmark
Boys U17:
Kristian Frost (Den) bt David Letourneau (Can)
4/9, 8/10, 9/1, 9/4, 9/1 (58m) |
Denmark's Kristian Frost (son of
badminton champion Morten Frost) upset the seedings to put both of Denmark's
competitors into the last 16, meeting their coach's targets.
 On
a hot and bouncy court, the Canadian made the early running, pulling away
from 3-all to take a hard-fought first game, but Frost cut out the errors
and started to dominate in the next.
But from 8/2 up the Dane's concentration lapsed as he allowed Letourneau to
work his way back to equality. At 9-8 to the Canadian, Frost hit the ball
wildly out, followed by an expletive that cost him a point, and the game.
But that seemed to do the trick, as he maintained his concentration in the
fourth and fifth, working his way to an increasingly-likely victory as
Letourneu started to struggle physically, feeling the effects of the bug
that has been afflicting the Canadian team since last week in Edinburgh.
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 "I
was a bit nervous, and didn't start well, but I'm pleased to win and
although it was a long match I feel fine physically.
"I'm playing the Pakistani 3/4 seed tonight, so we'll see how it goes."
Kristian Frost |
Letourneau feels the effects |
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