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07-Jan-08:
British Junior Open Hit For Six By Egypt
For the fourth
time since 2001, Egypt
clinched six of the eight titles in the
Tecnifibre British Junior
Open Squash Championships in a dramatic climax to
the world's most prestigious junior squash event in the
Yorkshire city of
Sheffield.
With a record 11
finalists on the fifth and final day of the event - which
attracted more than 450 competitors from all over the world
- Egypt were represented in all but one of the finals.
 Top-seeded
Egyptian Mohamed El
Shorbagy won the
Men's U19 title for the
Drysdale Cup, beating France's 5/8 seed
Gregoire Marche
9-6, 9-7, 9-1 in a 50-minute final. The UK-based
16-year-old from Alexandria ended domestic interest in the
event after beating British National junior champion Adrian Waller in
the previous round - and has now recorded his third
successive British
Junior Open triumph.
In the only final
without Egyptian interest, French favourite
Camille Serme
fought back from two games down to overcome Hong Kong's No2
seed Annie Au
7-9, 2-9, 9-3, 9-3, 9-7 in 69 minutes to win the Women's U19
crown for the first time after finishing as runner-up in
2007.
Karim Abdel Gawad
produced one of the three upsets of the day in an
all-Egyptian Men's Under
17 final. The 5/8 seed, in his first appearance
in a final, beat top seed
Amr Khalid Khalifa
- last year's U15 champion - 10-8, 9-7, 9-7 in 54 minutes.
 It
was 'fifth time lucky' and 'fifth time unlucky' in the
climax of the Women's
U17 event. On course for her fifth British Junior Open
title in a row, top-seeded Egyptian
Heba El Torky
crashed out 9-6, 5-9, 9-6, 1-9, 9-5 to India's
Dipika Pallikal,
a 5/8 seed.
"I've been coming for five years and
never got past the quarter-finals, so to win the title is
just unbelievable," the 16-year-old from Chennai told the
official website
www.bjosquash.com
Pakistan's
only finalist Nasir
Iqbal went down in the
Men's Under 15
final. The 3/4 seed, winner of the U13 trophy last year,
was beaten 9-2, 9-6, 9-1 by Egypt's top seed
Karim Ali Fathi,
the U13 champion two years ago.
The all-Egyptian
Women's Under 15
climax
also produced a win for a former
U13 champion when second seed
Nour El Tayeb
beat 3/4 seed Menat
Allah Naser 10-8, 9-0, 9-2.
The
Men's Under 13
final revealed the biggest upset of the day when
Osama Khalid Khalifa
defeated fellow Egyptian
Shehab Essam,
the top seed, 9-5, 9-0, 9-7. Khalifa, whose older brother
was runner-up in the U17 final, was only seeded to reach the
last 16 - but also despatched the event's No2 seed
Dylan Murray on
his way to the final.
The
Women's Under 13 final saw the swiftest win of
the day when Egypt's top seed
Nour El Sherbeny
despatched compatriot
Nouran Ibrahim, a 3/4 seed, 9-4, 9-1, 9-2 in just
20 minutes.
Men's Under 19 final:
[1] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) bt [5/8] Gregoire Marche (FRA)
9-6, 9-7, 9-1 (50m)
Men's Under 17 final:
[5/8] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [1] Amr Khalid Khalifa (EGY)
10-8, 9-7, 9-7 (54m)
Men's Under 15 final:
[1] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) bt [3/4] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 9-2,
9-6, 9-1 (29m)
Men's Under 13 final:
[9/16] Osama Khalid Khalifa (EGY) bt [1] Shehab Essam (EGY)
9-5, 9-0, 9-7 (27m)
Women's Under 19 final:
[1] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [2] Annie Au (HKG) 7-9, 2-9, 9-3,
9-3, 9-7 (69m)
Women's Under 17 final:
[5/8] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [1] Heba El Torky (EGY) 9-6,
5-9, 9-6, 1-9, 9-5 (48m)
Women's Under 15 final:
[2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [3/4] Menat Allah Naser (EGY)
10-8, 9-0, 9-2 (31m)
Women's Under 13 final:
[1] Nour El Sherbeny (EGY) bt [3/4] Nouran Ibrahim (EGY)
9-4, 9-1, 9-2 (20m)
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