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Boys U19:
[9/16] Tarek Momen (Egy) bt
[5/8] Tom Richards (Eng) 9-4, 4-9, 10-8, 9-4
(58m)
[2] Basit Ashfaq (Pak) bt
[3/4] Chris Simpson (Eng)
4-9, 9-4, 9-2, 9-6 (66m)
Girls U19:
Tenille Swartz (Rsa) bt
[1] Charlie De Rycke (Bel)
9-1, 5-9, 9-7, 10-8 (32m)
[2] Joshna Chinappa (Ind) bt
[3/4] Sara Badr (Egy)
9-1, 9-2, 9-3 (24m) |
RICHARDS:
A MATCH TOO FAR…
 Tom
Richards was playing in his first semi-final of the BJO today. And
something tells me (well, the boy confirmed it to me afterwards) that
his victory yesterday over Yasir Butt took a lot out of him on the
mental front, and that today was just a bonus, a “I’m so happy I’ve
beaten the number one seed” kind of spirit…
 He
was playing marvel Tarek Momen, who was extremely nervous, and
started quite poorly. He was a bit rigid, didn’t move very well, and Tom
took full advantage of the situation, to lead 5/0 quite quickly. But
Tarek started to loosen up, placed a few devastating cross courts, a few
drop shots, putting the pressure on the English boy, who started to tin
the ball too many times. “Why do I play so badly?”, shouted Richards to
himself.
After losing the first 9/4, Tom,
advised by Mike Harris, came back in a devastating form, and this time
he was the one controlling the rallies, pushing his opponent to the back
of the court, dropping his beautiful unexpected drop shots all over the
court. 6/2, 8/4 for the Englishman, who needed two game balls to win the
second 9/4.
And with the same energy, he went 6/1 up the third game, and got game
ball 8/4 … only to lose it 10/8. Tarek was just too precise, and would
send back all the shots that yesterday, Yasir Butt wasn’t returning… So,
Tom was not doing anything wrong, but the pressure was so much greater…
His legs and his spirit gone, the fourth went very quickly, and Tarek
gets into his first under 19 final, although he is familiar with lifting
the trophy, as he won the U13 in 2001 and the U15 in 2003…
Tom, that’s what they call “experience”...
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A
good start for Tom
England Coaches look on
...
[9/16] Tarek Momen (Egy)
bt
[5/8] Tom Richards (Eng)
9-4, 4-9, 10-8, 9-4 (58m) |
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Chris relaxes before the match
[2] Basit Ashfaq (Pak) bt
[3/4] Chris Simpson (Eng)
4-9, 9-4, 9-2, 9-6 (66m)
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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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Tenille takes out top seed
South Africa's unseeded Tenille Swartz continued her impressive
run, beating top seed Charlie De Rycke at Abbeydale to reach the final,
where she meets second seed Joshna Chinappa, last year's runner-up.
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Badr can't stop Chinappa returning to the final
Raneem El Weleily
Hawas beats the top seed
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Boys U17:
[3/4] Bilal Zaman (Pak) bt
[1] Ali Anwar Reda (Egy)
9-5, 6-9, 9-6, 9-1 (55m)
[2] Omar Abou Zeid (Egy) v
[3/4] Omar Abdel Magid (Egy)
4-9, 9-7, 9-0, 4-9, 9-2
Girls U17:
[1] Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt [5/8] Shahenda Osama (Egy)
9-4, 9-1, 9-3 (22m)
[5/8] Annie Au (Hkg) bt
[9/16] Neha Kumar (Can)
9-4, 9-0, 9-3 (31m)
El Weleily & Zeid in title defences
Raneem El Weleily
is one match away from retaining her U17 title after a straight games win
over compatriot Shahenda Osama. Her opponent in the final is Hong Kong's
Annie Au, last year's U15 champion.
The Boys final will also see an Egyptian defend the title, after Omar
Abou Zeid's 3-2 victory over compatriot Omar Abdel Magid. Pakistan's
Bilal Zaman prevented an all-Egyptian final, beating the top-seeded
Ali Anwar Reda in just short of an hour.
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Boys U15:
[3/4] Ahmed Osama Hawas (Egy) bt
[1] Leo Au (Hkg)
5-9, 1-9, 9-4, 9-5, 9-1
[3/4] Shohaib Hassan (Pak) bt
[17/32] Ahmed El Mehelmy (Egy) 9-4, 9-4, 9-1
Girls U15 (17.30):
[3/4] Heba Alaa Ahmed (Egy) bt
[1] Wee Wern Low (Mas)
3-9, 5-9, 9-3, 9-5, 9-0 (48m)
[2] Alia Magdy Balbaa (Egy) bt [5/8] Victoria Bell (Eng)
9-0, 9-1, 9-0 (17m)
Top Seeds Tumble in U15 ...
Coming back from two games down, Egypt's Ahmed Osama Hawas beat
Hong Kong's top seed Leo Au to set up final clash with Pakistan's Shohaib
Hassan.
In the Girls event Malaysia's top seed Wee Wern Low and Victoria Bell,
England's last hope of a finalist, were beaten as Heba Alaa Ahmed
and Ali Magdy Balbaa set up an all-Egyptian final. |
Boys U13:
[5/8] Farhan Zaman (Pak) bt
[3/4] El Sherbeny (Egy)
9-1, 9-6, 9-5 (25m)
[3/4] Fouad Khalifa (Egy) bt
[9/16] Ali Ashraf El Karargy(Egy) 9-0,
9-0, 9-2 (15m)
Girls U13:
[3/4] Abdel Megid (Egy) bt [5/8] Nouran Alaa Ahmed (Egy)
9-1, 4-9, 2-9, 9-0, 9-6 (41m)
[3/4] Nour Mohamed El Tayeb (Egy) bt
[2] Salma Hany (Egy) 4-9, 9-5, 4-9, 9-6, 9-3 (75m)
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Farhan Zaman, U13 Finalist
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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…
[5/8] Farhan Zaman
(Pak) bt
[3/4] El Sherbeny (Egy)
9-1, 9-6, 9-5 (25m)
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