PHOTO GALLERY

 

[1] Jana Shiha (EGY) 3-2 [11] Rana Ismail (EGY)  8-11, 5-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-5 (40m)
[8] Kenzy Ayman 3-2 [wc] Fayrouz Aboelkheir     4-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-9, 12-10 (46m)
[3] Hana Moataz 3-1 [5] Salma Eltayeb                        11-8, 8-11, 13-11, 11-4 (37m)
[2] Sana Ibrahim 3-1 [6] Nour Aboulmakarim                9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (45m)

[1] Moustafa El Sirty  3-0 [5] Khaled Labib                        11-9, 12-10, 12-10 (36m)
[8] Aly Hussein 3-0 [10] Mohamed Nasser                             11-7, 11-6, 11-4 (42m)
[13] Yasser Elshafei 3-0 Mohamed Ferman Hassan (Irq)        11-8, 11-6, 11-7 (30m)
[2] Yahya Elnawasany 3-0 [9] Abdallah Elmasry                   11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (37m)

🙍‍♀️ Top three seeds joined by No.8 seed Kenzy Ayman in the last four

🙍‍♂️ Top two through, along with No.8 seed Aly Hussein and No.13 seed Yassin Elshafei
🙍‍♀️ a Second successive men’s Challenger Tour semi against expectations for Cairo teenager Yassin Elshafei

[1] Jana Shiha (EGY) 3-2 [11] Rana Ismail (EGY)  8-11, 5-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-5 (40m)
[8] Kenzy Ayman 3-2 [wc] Fayrouz Aboelkheir     4-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-9, 12-10 (46m)

We started the day ‘avec clairon et fanfare’, a start of Come Backs for sure, plenty of action/emotions.

First, Jana Shiha, top seed, taking her time to get into gear against feline Rana Ismail. Jana at times seemed out of the match, mentally, as if she didn’t want to be on the court today.

But well advised by coach Karim Ali Fathi, she seemed to find the mental motivation to display her skills and prevent Rana from imposing her sharp game. Down 2/0, she fought hard in the 4th to force a decider, 12/10, to harvest the dividend in the 5th, 11/5.

On the next court, another drama was unfolding. Wild Card and giant killer Fayrouz Aboelkheir, newly crowned U17 National champion two days ago, looked extremely comfortable out there, with Kenzy Ayman completely outplayed.

A few match balls in the third were saved – one that looked like a stroke from where I stood, but the ref was in a different position and might have seen it differently – and Kenzy, full of raging passion, was to take the next three games, 12/10, 11/9, 12/10, stroke on match ball.

Two things about that match. One, I wish Kenzy would be a bit more careful about her swing, that look excessive at times. And two, chapeau to the young Fayrouz, who never lost focus, never showed any frustration even when the calls weren’t going her way at crucial times. She showed extreme maturity today, and made her country proud. It’s all a learning curve as somebody told me today…. 🙂