Home hopes ended as top four seeds ensure Girls’ Under 19 title will be heading back to Egypt again
By MICHAEL CATLING – Squash Mad Reporter
Egypt will be guaranteed a fourth successive Girls’ Under 19 title at the British Junior Open, after their top four seeds produced another set of dominating displays to set-up all-Egyptian semi-final clashes in Sheffield.
Mariam Metwally, Salma Hany and Nouran Gohar advanced at the expense of the English trio led by Nada Elkalaawy, while two-time British Junior Open champion Yathreb Adel ended Nele Giles challenge to complete a clean sweep for her homeland.
Victory for the Egyptian quartet overshadowed 5/8 seed Mohamed Elgawarhy defeat to Peruvian Diego Elias in the Boys’ Under 19 quarter-final and also ended English hopes of celebrating a home champion for a second consecutive year.
World number 57 Mariam (pictured right) kick-started proceedings for the Egyptians and despite dropping the opening game to 9/16 seed Lily Taylor, she romped to a 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-1 success over the Leicester-based 17-year-old.
The top seed, who won the Swiss Open last year, will now meet Salma for a place in Monday’s final, after the world number 40 blunted Nada’s dream of ending her junior career on a high with a 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 victory in 26 minutes.
In the bottom half of the draw, 16-year-old Nouran defeated the last remaining Englishwoman Anna Kimberley 3-0 to stay on course for a second successive title after winning the Prague Open in December.
However, the 3/4 seed will have to overcome Yathreb in the semi-finals, after the world number 31 continued her imperious run in the event with a comprehensive 11-6, 11-1, 11-8 win over Nele.
The 17-year-old second seed has yet to drop a game all week and will retain a psychological advantage over Nouran heading into their last four encounter, after inflicting a semi-final defeat at the Hampton Squash Week in August.
Meanwhile in the Boys’ category, George Parker (pictured left) stunned 3/4 seed Richie Fallows in four tight games to win a gripping all-England clash at the Abbeydale Sports Club.
Richie, who had beaten three British players en route to the quarter-finals, was the overwhelming favourite heading into the match but his unseeded compatriot showed few signs of nerves as he raced into a 1-0 lead.
But while Richie responded and appeared to gain a foothold in the second game, George won a crucial tie-break to move one game away from the last four.
And although Richie threatened a comeback after winning a one-sided third game, George repeated his second game heroics to win the fourth game tie-break and secure the bragging rights 11-6, 12-10, 4-11, 12-10.
George will now meet world number 95 Ahmad Al-Saraj, after the Jordan teenager progressed past Indian Kush Kumar 3-1.
Kush had knocked out number two seed Shehab Essam just 24 hours earlier but failed to reach the same heights against Ahmed as he fell to a 7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 defeat in 42 minutes.
Earlier in the afternoon, top seed Karim El Hammamy (pictured right) secured his place in the last four with a hard-fought victory over the highly-fancied Israeli Daniel Poleshchuk.
Despite losing the opening game 13-11, Karim fought back valiantly before eventually prevailing 11-13, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 in 34 minutes.
The 18-year-old Egyptian will now meet the aforementioned Diego, who halved the Egyptian representation with a resounding 13-11, 11-6, 11-4 win.
The 17-year-old from Lima will now be looking to make it a hat-trick of victories against Egyptian opposition on Sunday, while Karim will now shoulder the responsibility of extending Egypt’s eight year title-winning run in the Boys’ Under 19 category.
Quarter-Final – Boys’ Results
[1] Karim El Hammamy (Egy) 3-1 [5/8] Daniel Poleshchuk (Isr) 11-13, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (34m)
[3/4] Diego Elias (Per) 3-0 [5/8] Mohamed Elgawarhy (Egy) 13-11, 11-6, 11-4 (44m)
George Parker (Eng) 3-1 [3/4] Richie Fallows (Eng) 11-6, 12-10, 4-11, 12-10 (81m)
[5/8] Ahmad Al-Saraj (Jor) 3-1 [9/16] Kush Kumar (Ind) 7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 (56m)
Quarter-Final – Girls’ Results
[1] Mariam Ibrahim Metwally (Egy) 3-1 [9/16] Lily Taylor (Eng) 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-1 (29m)
[3/4] Salma Hany Ibrahim (Egy) 3-0 [5/8] Nada Elkalaawy (Eng) 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 (26m)
[3/4] Nouran Ahmed Gohar (Egy) 3-0 [5/8] Anna Kimberley (Eng) 11-1, 11-5, 11-9 (29m)
[2] Yathreb Adel (Egy) 3-0 [5/8] Nele Gilis (Bel) 11-6, 11-1, 11-8 (22m)
Pictures by Steve Cubbins (SquashSite)