India’s Anahat Singh stayed on course for a British Junior Open (BJO) hat-trick by reaching the quarter-finals on day two of the flagship platinum event in Birmingham.
The girls’ U17 top seed was back at the University of Birmingham Sport where she has played four previous BJO finals and made her senior debut at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. It was little surprise she looked at home seeing off [9/16] Reghan McLoughlin of the USA in three games in round four.
“I’m quite happy with how I played and pleased to reach the quarters, but it’s only going to get harder from now on,” said the 16-year-old. “I’ve been playing very well over the last few weeks. I have a few tournament wins, but the BJO is different. Hopefully I can go on to take this one. I’ve had two wins and two losses in finals, so I’m hoping to add a third!”
The other three GU17 top seeds all progressed but USA’s [9/16] Riva Bhagwati and Egypt’s [9/16] Nadia Tamer defied the seedings by defeating Malaysia’s Harleein Tan and USA’s Whitney Wilson (both 5/8 seeds) respectively.
Malaysia’s BU19 top seed Harith Danial Jefri overcame England’s Thomas Scott and [33/64] Fabian Seitz of Switzerland en route to the quarter-finals. There, he will face USA’s Christian Capella, who defeated England’s [9/16] Bailey Malik in straight games. England’s 3/4 seed Abdallah Eissa made the last eight as did Egyptian second seed Youssef Salem, who next plays last week’s Scottish Open champion [17/32] Oliver Dunbar of New Zealand.
Lauren Baltayan is seeking to win a first girls’ title for France at the BJO since Camille Serme in 2008 and the GU19 3/4 seed remained on course by defeating [17/32] Sofiia Zrazhevska of Poland in four games.
“Sofiia is a close friend and that always makes it more difficult and mentally hard,” said Cairo-born Baltayan. “I can’t wait for the quarter-final tomorrow. I really want to win this tournament. It was always one of my goals as the most prestigious junior event. I’m going to give it my all and then I can rest!”
GU19 top seed Janna Galal of Egypt conquered Spain’s [9/16] Ona Blasco in three and [2] Nadien ElHammamy cruised past USA’s [9/16] Charlotte Pastel.
The BU17 draw is still going to seeding including wins for the top two seeds, Adam Hawal of Egypt and France’s Amir Khaled-Jousselin. Two 5/8 seeded Malaysians, Nickhileswar Moganasundharam and Altamis Aqhar Sallam A Sufian are also in the title mix.
England’s Ali Khalil, promoted to BU15 top seed after USA’s Carlton Capella’s withdrawal yesterday, maintained hopes of a home title winner by beating [9/16] Saharsh Shahra of India in four games. USA have a guaranteed semi-finalist as [5/8] Vivaan Mehta faces [3/4] John-Jayden Luo in Saturday’s quarters.
The GU15 quarter-finals are an all-Egyptian and American affair. Last year’s runner-up [1] Rama El Naggar of Egypt is safely through to face USA’s [5/8] Vivienne Sze, while at the opposite end of the draw [2] Habiba Rizk of Egypt takes on USA’s [5/8] Chelsea Chen on Saturday.
Egypt’s BU13 top seed Moez Tamer Elmoghazy was ruthless in dismissing England’s Leo Carpenter for the loss of just one point, setting up a quarter-final with [5/8] Yuan Xi Liu of China. [3/4] Muhammad Sohail Adnan will fly the flag for Pakistan against Egypt’s [5/8] Yahia Waleed Rayan.
Habiba Wael became the first top seed to fall this week as she crashed out in round two of the GU13 to fellow Egyptian [9/16] Salma Elbaz in four games. Meanwhile, [9/16] Nazli Orfi – younger sister of four-time BJO title winner and current world no.8 Amina – also caused a minor upset by defeating Pakistan’s recent Scottish Open champion and 5/8 seed Mahnoor Ali. Egypt’s [3/4] Serein Mohamed was also knocked out by unseeded compatriot Lilly Elsayed.
The eight BU11 quarter-finalists are as predicted, although top seed Anas Tawfik was given a thorough test by fellow Egyptian [9/16] Youssif Abd Elaziz in round three. Tawfik battled back from two games down to squeeze through 13-15 6-11 11-9 11-8 11-6. The seedings were also spot-on in the GU11, where the quarter-finals will see three Egypt v USA encounters and one Egypt v Singapore clash in which [2] Farida Hakim takes on [5/8] Kareena Sashikumar.
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