Kiev title for Millie
By SEAN REUTHE
English World No.37 Millie Tomlinson captured her fourth successive PSA World Tour title after beating Egyptian teenager Zeina Farid Mickawy in the final of the Harrow Ukrainian Squash Cup 2, PSA W5 tournament held in Kiev.
Tomlinson’s superb form in 2016 has seen her win five of eight PSA World Tour events, with four of those coming since April, including victory on the first stage of the Ukrainian Cup, and her fine displays continued in Kiev as she rattled off three comfortable victories to reach the final.
Mickawy was appearing in just her fourth PSA World Tour main draw, but produced a number of sublime performances as she surged to her maiden Tour final, upsetting top seed Misaki Kobayashi and home favourite Nadiia Usenko along the way.
Despite there being 178 places between the pair in the World Rankings, the lengthy gap seemed to mean little as Mickawy pushed Tomlinson all the way to a tie-break in game one, only to lose narrowly. However, the 17-year-old Egyptian refused to give in and some fine shot-making enabled her to draw level after taking the second, ending Tomlinson’s incredible run of 15 straight 3-0 wins.
Mickawy’s resurgence was short-lived though in the third as a brutal response from Tomlinson saw her go back ahead after surrendering just a single point, before a nail-biting fourth game went in the Englishwoman’s favour on the tie-break once more to allow Tomlinson to capture the title and extend her unbeaten run to 16 matches.
Harrow Ukrainian Squash Cup 2, 2016.
Final:
[2] Millie Tomlinson (ENG) bt [6] Zeina Farid Mickawy (EGY) 14-12, 9-11, 11-1, 12-10
Semi-finals:
[6] Zeina Farid Mickawy (EGY) bt [3] Nadiia Usenko (UKR) 11-5, 11-3, 11-8
[2] Millie Tomlinson (ENG) bt [8] Hana Moataz (EGY) 11-9, 11-9, 11-8
Quarter-finals:
[6] Zeina Farid Mickawy (EGY) bt [1] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) 11-5, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6
[3] Nadiia Usenko (UKR) bt [7] Nadia Pfister (SUI) 11-6, 11-9, 16-14
[8] Hana Moataz (EGY) bt [4] Marie Stephan (FRA) 11-9, 11-7, 11-7
[2] Millie Tomlinson (ENG) bt [Q] Ailee Nayeri (IRI) 11-0, 11-2, 11-2
1st round:
[1] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt [Q] Sharon Sinclair (GER) 11-6, 11-3, 11-4
[6] Zeina Farid Mickawy (EGY) bt Yulia Pugach (UKR) 11-9, 11-4, 11-2
[7] Nadia Pfister (SUI) bt [Q] Arezoosadat Mousavizadeh (IRI) 5-11, 5-11, 11-9, 15-13, 11-8
[3] Nadiia Usenko (UKR) bt [WC] Viktoriia Sebova (UKR) 11-3, 11-2, 11-5
[4] Marie Stephan (FRA) bt [Q] Salma Alameldin (EGY) 8-11, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 11-4
[8] Hana Moataz (EGY) bt Liana Sardak (UKR) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5
[Q] Ailee Nayeri (IRI) bt [5] Eliza Kargioti (GRE) 11-4, 12-10, 11-8
[2] Millie Tomlinson (ENG) bt Ekaterina Marusan (RUS) 11-4, 11-7, 11-7
Qualifying finals:
Sharon Sinclair (GER) bt Jenny Haley (WAL) 8-11, 11-8, 11-1, 11-9
Arezoosadat Mousavizadeh (IRI) bt Iana Kovalska (UKR) 11-3, 11-2, 11-7
Salma Alameldin (EGY) bt Taba Taghavi Rafsanjani (IRI) 11-2, 11-9, 11-9
Ailee Nayeri (IRI) bt Anastasia Bondarenko (UKR) 11-1, 11-4, 11-7
1st qualifying round:
Jenny Haley (WAL) bye
Sharon Sinclair (GER) bye
Iana Kovalska (UKR) bt Anna Shumska (UKR) 11-3, 11-1, 10-12, 11-4
Arezoosadat Mousavizadeh (IRI) bye
Taba Taghavi Rafsanjani (IRI) bye
Salma Alameldin (EGY) bye
Anastasia Bondarenko (UKR) bt Julia Zhukovets (UKR) 11-6, 11-7, 11-9
Ailee Nayeri (IRI) bye