Doha WSF World Junior Championships THREE Report
from Steve Cubbins
photos courtesy Steve Cubbins
July 9, 2012
Al-Saraj makes Jordanian history but Qatar is disappointed
Another busy day at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex, at the end of which the quarter-finalists were decided.
The girls' last eight looks pretty much as expected, with France's Melissa Alves creating the only upset as she ousted 5/8 seed Maria Ubina, and there is a single interloper in the boys' last eight too after Jordan's Ahmad Al-Sarraj created a bit of history for his country in beating English 5/8 seed Ollie Holland.
The day ended in confusion and ultimate disappointment for the home fans when local favourite Abdulla Al-Tamimi was forced to concede his match against India's Mahesh Mangaonkar. Poised at one game all and four-all, blood from a self-inflicted Tamimi injury was deemed, after extended discussions, to have made the court unplayable.
Boys Last 16: Al-Saraj gatecrashes the quarters
After cruising through his morning match top seed and defending champion Marwan El Shorbagy had his hands full in the first evening match as the Egyptian, aiming to emulate is elder brother Mohamed - who had arrived this afternoon to watch - in winning the title twice, found himself a game and 9-8 down to Pakistan’s Syed Bukhari.
Shorbagy averted that danger, took the lead but was pegged back again for a decider which, much to the relief of the large Egyptian contingent, he took with ease. He faces another Pakistani opponent in the quarter-finals after Nasir Iqbal continued his untroubled progress with two comfortable wins.
Iqbal’s compatriot Danish Atlas Khan, seeded 3/4, had a little trouble of his own as Columbia’s surprise quarter-finalist Juan Vargas took their first game to extra points.. Having taken that 12.10 Danish eased through the next two games to set up a meeting with another surprise package in Ahmad Al-Sarraj, who progressed further than any Jordanian thus far as he upset England’s Ollie Holland in straight games.
The bottom half of the draw was packed with Egyptians, and not surprisingly three of them will contest the quarter-finals. Second seed and last year’s finalist Mohamed Abouelghar and 3/4 seed Mazen Hisham confirmed their seedings in all-Egyptian affairs, and Fares Dessouki continued his largely untroubled progress to set up a last eight meeting with Hesham while Abouelghar faces Mangaonkar.
[1] Marwan El Shorbagy (Egy) bt [9/16] Syed Bukhari (Pak) 5/11, 12/10, 11/3, 8/11, 11/3 (74m)
[5/8] Nasir Iqbal (Pak) bt [9/16] Tom Ford (Eng) 11/7, 11/8, 11/2 (34m)
[9/16] Ahmad Al-Saraj (Jor) bt [5/8] Ollie Holland (Eng) 11/9, 11/5, 11/5 (43m)
[3/4] Danish Atlas Khan (Pak) bt Juan Vargas (Col) 12/10 , 11/2, 11/0 (20m)
[3/4] Mazen Hesham (Egy) bt Ahmed Abdel Khalek (Egy) 11/6, 11/8, 11/3 (31m)
[5/8] Fares Dessouki (Egy) bt [9/16] Jan van den Herrewegen (Bel) 11/2, 11/9, 11/8 (31m)
[5/8] Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) bt [9/16] Abdulla Al Tamimi (Qat) 10/12, 11/3, 4/4 default
[2] Mohamed Abouelghar (Egy) bt [9/16] Ahmed Abdel-Fattah (Egy) 11/7, 11/4, 11/7 (27m)
Girls Last 16: Melissa joins the elite
Not much stood in the way of the top seeds as the girls draw reached the last sixteen stage - or as it’s often referred to in these parts, the “pre quarter-finals”.
The top five Egyptians - Nour El Sherbini, Kanzy El Dafrawy, Yathreb Adel, Marian Metwally and Salma Hany - all came through in quick straight games, as did English second seed Emily Whitlock.
Asian junior champion Anaka Alankamony recovered from a game down to claim her quarter-final place, leaving it to France’s Melissa Alves, winner of last week’s Dutch Junior Open, to produce the only upset of the round as the French girl’s shotmaking proved just too much for the Usa’s Maria Ubina to handle.
[1] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) bt Emelia Soini (Fin) 11/3, 11/7, 11/2 (16m)
Melissa Alves (Fra) bt [5/8] Maria Ubina (Usa) 15/13, 11/8, 9/11, 11/7 (31m)
[5/8] Mariam Metwally (Egy) bt Aparijitha Balamurukan (Ind) 11/4, 11/4, 11/2 (20m)
[3/4] Kanzy El Dafrawy (Egy) bt Victoria Temple-Murray (Eng) 11/4, 11/4, 11/5 (19m)
[3/4] Yathreb Adel (Egy) bt Choi Uen Shan (Hkg) 11/5, 11/4, 11/7 (22m)
[5/8] Anaka Alankamony (Ind) bt Ho Ka Po (Hkg) 8/11, 11/5, 11/6, 11/6 (44m)
[5/8] Salma Hany Ibrahim (Egy) bt Julia Lecoq (Fra) 11/6, 11/4, 11/7 (20m)
[2] Emily Whitlock (Eng) bt Sabrina Sobhy (Usa) 11/3, 11/6, 11/4 (22m)
Quarter-finals start at 13.00 on Tuesday, alternating between Girls and Boys matches on the glass court.
Boys Round Three:
The first of two round of play for the Boys today saw a mixture of quickfire wins for the top seeds intermingled with some real tussles between the lower-seeded players and a couple of upsets into the bargain.
The top four seeds of Marwan El Shorbagy, Mohamed Abouelghar, Mazeh Hesham and Danish Atlas Khan were relatively untroubled, after Abouelghar roused himself from a 0-8 deficit in the first game, that is.
England’s Oliver Holland overcame stiff resistance from talented Kuwaiti Yousef Nizar Saleh to join compatriot Tom Ford in tonight’s last sixteen, while Belgium’s Jan van den Herrewegen got there after a tense finish in the longest match of the round against Pakistan’s Tayyab Aslam.
The upsets came as Colombia’s Juan Vargas beat India’s Abhishek Pradhan in four fast-paced games and Ahmed Abdel Khalek made it five Egyptians in the last 16 as he overcame France’s Damien Volland in straight games.
Home hopes stayed alive as Qatar’s Abdulla Al Tamimi progressed in straight games, coincidentally ending French interest in the draw.
[1] Marwan El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Cameron Seth (Can) 11/3, 11/6, 11/4 (24m)
[9/16] Syed Bukhari (Pak) bt Richie Fallows (Eng) 14/12, 11/4, 11/9 (63m)
[9/16] Tom Ford (Eng) bt Taminder Gata-Aura (Eng) 11/4, 11/5, 12/10 (34m)
[5/8] Nasir Iqbal (Pak) bt Cheuk Yan Tang (Hkg) 11/3, 11/5, 11/1 (20m)
[5/8] Ollie Holland (Eng) bt Yousif Nizar Saleh (Kuw) 8/11, 11/9, 11/7, 11/4 (67m)
[9/16] Ahmad Al-Saraj (Jor) bt Ryosei Kobayashi (Jpn) 11/7, 9/11, 11/7, 11/7 (50m)
Juan Vargas (Col) bt [9/16] Abhishek Pradhan (Ind) 11/9, 11/9, 7/11, 11/6 (34m)
[3/4] Danish Atlas Khan (Pak) bt Josimar Silva (Bra) 11/4, 11/3, 11/7 (24m)
[3/4] Mazen Hesham (Egy) bt Rhys Dowling (Aus) 11/3, 11/4, 11/6 (26m)
Ahmed Abdel Khalek (Egy) bt [9/16] Damien Volland (Fra) 11/5, 11/2, 11/5 (32m)
[9/16] Jan van den Herrewegen (Bel) bt Tayyab Aslam (Pak) 11/7, 7/11, 11/9, 11/9 (71m)
[5/8] Fares Dessouki (Egy) bt Andres de Frutos (Col) 11/5, 11/6, 11/4 (18m)
[5/8] Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) bt Matt Sidaway (Eng) 12/10, 11/2, 11/7 (46m)
[9/16] Abdulla Al Tamimi (Qat) bt Alexandre Cogno (Fra) 11/7, 11/9, 11/9 (29m)
[9/16] Ahmed Abdel-Fattah (Egy) bt Yip Tsz Fung (Hkg) 11/8, 11/7, 11/7 (39m)
[2] Mohamed Abouelghar (Egy) bt Vishab Kotian (Ind) 11/8, 11/4, 11/4 (24m)
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