Pan-Egyptian Finals at the Junior World Squash Championship | More sports news

CHENNAI: For neutral observers, all hopes were firmly placed on England's Lucy Turmel to break the monotony of Egyptian rule in the Junior Squash World Championship and provide a different flavor that individual events reach. their climax Monday. For a short time, it seems that Turmel could even achieve an unlikely surprise against second-seeded Hania El Hammamy, taking the second match 11-8 to make 1-1. But it was in vain because Hania finally triumphed 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-4.

In the end, it may be a fair result since the first two seeded boys and girls took their rightful place in the Egyptian final on Monday. As Hania take on Rowan Reda Araby in the women's final, the men's final will see top seed and defending champion Marwan Tarek take on Mostafa Asal.

While Asal and Rowan faced off their clashes in the semifinal, Tarek suffered a stern test of Omar El Torkey in five games (11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 2 -11, 11-8). lasted a little over an hour and a half. The defensive rallying style of both players meant that there were no easy points to take, forcing the Egyptian duo to dig deep.

The first match was 11-9 in favor of Tarek, but the tie stopped swinging from there.

While El Torkey won the second game, the following two were shared between the opponents to lead the match to a fifth decisive match.

To add to the uncertainty in the last game, El Torkey took a medical break at 3-2 due to ankle problems. After recovering enough, he continued to lead 8-4 and seemed ready to send first place. But Tarek had not finished yet. He came back so strongly when the odds were apparently stacked against him, gaining the following seven points to seal the tie in his favor.

While Tarek plans on Monday, it will certainly not be easier against Asal.

The stakes are also high, because whoever presents himself as the best junior player on the circuit can legitimately claim to be the best. Asal, ranked 71st in the world, did not sweat in her 11-3, 11-7, 11-7 victory over Mostafa El Serty, third seed, in the semi-final.

Things went as planned for the first seed, Rowan, in three games 11-5, 13-11, 11-6 against Jana Shiha.

Having already won the World Junior Championship in New Zealand last year, Rowan's progress should not come as a surprise. The 17-year-old Egyptian, originally from Alexandria, has already won three PSA titles and is currently No. 31 in the women's rankings.

While her clash against Hania in the final should challenge her more, she is well placed to add yet another trophy to her growing collection of titles.

During a predictable day in terms of Sunday results, the only hiccup came early in the evening when the lights inside the glass courtyard went off at Express Avenue Mall. The first match between Marwan Tarek and Omar El Torkey was already underway, resulting in a 20-minute break.

As Tarek said later, such interruptions are not unprecedented, but it meant that both players had to warm up once again and refocus their energies.

"I was leading 4-2 in the first game when the match was stopped, we warmed up intensely before the match, and when the match was stopped for about 20 minutes, we had to sit down and it cooled the body .

"When I came back to the field, it was important to focus again and do some sprints, luckily I won the first game. That did not affect me too much" , did he declare.

RESULTS
Men: Marwan Tarek (EGY) and Omar El Torkey (EGY) 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 2-11, 11-8; Mostafa Asal (EGY) and Mostafa El Serty (EGY) 11-3, 11-7, 11-7

Women: Rowan Reda Araby (EGY) by Jana Shiha (EGY) 11-5, 13-11, 11-6; Hania El Hammamy (EGY) by Lucy Turmel (ENG) 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-4