I Dig Sports
World under-20 heptathlon champion receives messages of support as she targets a 2020 return following a knee operation
Niamh Emerson is to miss the rest of the summer season after undergoing surgery on her knee.
The world under-20 heptathlon champion has suffered with knee problems in the past but had to have an operation at the beginning of this month after partially tearing her patella tendon while competing at the Hypomeeting in Götzis.
“So it turns out I partially tore my patella tendon,” Emerson wrote in a post on Instagram.
“Sad that my 2019 season isn’t a thing any more but some things just don’t work out because something greater is waiting.
“See you on the track in 2020.”
After claiming Commonwealth bronze in Australia last year, Emerson went on to win her under-20 title in Finland in the summer and then secured European indoor pentathlon silver behind her fellow Briton Katarina Johnson-Thompson in Glasgow at the beginning of March.
She went to Götzis with a goal of achieving the heptathlon qualification mark for the IAAF World Championships in Doha but was forced to withdraw during the high jump and has now refocused on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
After posting details of her knee surgery, which she underwent on June 1, on Instagram, Emerson received a number of messages of support from fellow athletes and fans.
“2020 will be waiting for you with open arms! Back stronger and even better,” wrote 2000 Olympic heptathlon champion Denise Lewis.
Double Olympic heptathlon medallist Kelly Sotherton posted an emoji of a sad face and added: “There’s always something better waiting to happen.”
The British sprinter’s improved start technique gives him greater confidence than ever before
Reece Prescod believes a new and improved start technique will help him enjoy his best season yet.
“Not many people know this but I used about five different starts in 2018,” says the 23-year-old Londoner, who received a lot of help from British Athletics’ biomechanics team.
“I was racing seriously but also experimenting with my start, with different angles, to see what worked best.
“Then I practised it again in the indoor season and ran 6.53 which was good and showed things were going well.”
Prescod opened his season in Shanghai last month with a swift 9.97 clocking to place fourth in a race that saw Noah Lyles beat fellow American Christian Coleman narrowly – both men running 9.86.
The European silver medallist was pleased with his first race and believes he will improve during the season. Who knows, this might even be the season when Linford Christie’s British 100m record of 9.87 – set in Stuttgart in 1993 – will fall.
“Why not?” says Prescod. “The guys ran 9.86 the other day in Shanghai and I was in there with them and not far behind. So I think it can be done for sure.”
If Prescod is the man to break it, then it could happen at a Diamond League. “My season is pretty much going to revolve around the Diamond League events,” he says. “Of course I’ll also run the British Champs. Then the Diamond League final and World Champs.
“I’m lucky I had a good 2018 so I am able to get into the Diamond League events far easier this year than before. It’s a long season so I don’t want to be going too hard too early.”
Prescod was speaking to AW at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park during a launch event for the Müller Anniversary Games on July 20-21.
The day saw young athletes being put through their paces on a tumbleator – similar to the one Mo Farah famously fell on during London Marathon week – but Prescod had no similar plans to put his own body at risk and was happy to support others as they
had a go. A similarly cautious mindset means we will probably not see him running 200m much this year. He says he will definitely race it seriously at some point in the future but, for now, he prefers to stick to 100m.
“I have to be careful running around bends,” he says. “I got a lot of injuries in the past due to my size and build and running hard on the bend, so I don’t want to risk that again. But I will run one seriously at some stage.”
Until then, Prescod will focus on 100m. His new and improved start gives him greater confidence than ever before, but what is his advice for young sprinters when it comes to starting?
“Just keep it simple,” he says. “Don’t overcomplicate things. When I was young I just used to pop up, look at the sky and just run. It’s only really when you get down to maybe sub-10.3 or 10.4 level that you need to start focusing on it a lot more.”
When he looks back on his technique from his teenage years, what does he think now? “I just laugh when I look back at it!” he says.
British number three Heather Watson lost to Greece's Maria Sakkari in the first round of the Nature Valley Open in a rainy Nottingham.
The 27-year-old, who made the quarter-finals at Surbiton last week, was beaten 6-4 6-3 by Sakkari, who is ranked 82 places higher in the world.
Fellow Briton Harriet Dart beat Vera Lapko in three sets to book a last-16 match with Australian Ajla Tomljanovic.
Compatriot Katie Swan lost to American Bernarda Pera 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.
For a second successive day, no play was possible on the grass courts at the Nottingham Tennis Centre with action moving indoors and on to a hard surface.
The all-British match-up between former top-50 player Dan Evans and Jack Draper in the men's tournament has been postponed until Thursday.
Elsewhere Canada's 2016 Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic overcame France's Jo Wilfried-Tsonga 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-1) in a match that stretched to two hours and 29 minutes in the ATP event in Stuttgart.
Troubled times for India, no place in main draw
Raegan Albuquerque and Manush Utpalbhai Shah, the no.2 seeds, suffered a 3-1 defeat the hands of Korea Republic’s Park Gyeongtae and Hwang Jinha; Deepit Patil and Payas Jain, the no.5 seeds, experienced a 3-0 reverse when facing Japan’s Hiroto Shinosuke and Yuma Tanigoki.
Notably Park Gyeongtae and Hwang Jina alongside Hiroto Shinosuke and Yuma Tanigoki remained unbeaten to secure first places in the respective groups and thus advanced to the main draw.
Meanwhile, in the remaining groups, it was first position as status advised. China, the no.3 seeds, represented by Quan Kaiyuan, Zeng Beixun and Gao Yang secured first position in their group, as did the no.4 seeds, the Japanese combination of Takeru Kashiwa and Hayate Suzuki.
Success against the odds for Korea Republic in the junior boys’ team event, it was the same in the cadet boys’ team competition. Likewise an event where only first place in the group sealed progress to the main draw, the combination of Kim Junhyeok, Kim Minwoo and Park Junseo recorded a 3-1 win against Sweden’s Alve Sjoevold and David Bjorkryd, the no.7 seeds to secure top spot.
Otherwise, it was group first place as status predicted. Most significantly Hong Kong’s Yiu Kwan To and Yu Nok, the top seeds, secured first place in their group as did the no.2 seeds, China’s Chen Yuanyu, Chen Yaxuan and Shen Feng.
Play in both the junior boys’ team and cadet boys’ team events concludes on Thursday 13th June.
Slovakia combines with Montenegro to reach final, Egypt awaits
Player of the day was undoubtedly Ema Labosova; she remained unbeaten throughout.
In the first engagement of proceedings, in a 3-1 overall success, she beat both Lebanon’s Jennifer Khayat (11-8, 11-6, 11-3) and Claire Picard of France (4-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-5), whilst teaming with Ivona Petric to seal the doubles (11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8).
Similarly, in the ensuing contest, a 3-1 victory margin was recorded in the same fashion. Ema Labosova accounted for the Czech Republic’s Martina Novakova (11-6, 11-9, 11-7) and India’s Maushree Patil (11-3, 13-11, 11-7), as in the earlier contest partnering Ivona Petric to doubles success (11-3, 13-11, 11-7).
Impressive from Ema Labosova, it was the same from Hend Fathy against Martina Novakova and Manushree Patil. She beat Martina Novakova (9-11, 15-13, 12-10, 8-11, 11-3) and Maushree Patil (15-13, 11-3, 11-8), whilst sandwiched in between joining forces with Arwa Hassan to secure what proved to be the crucial doubles (11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 12-14, 14-12).
A 3-1 success to start the day; to conclude, life was much more intense for the Egyptian duo when facing Jennifer Khayat and Claire Picard; a 3-2 margin of victory was the outcome, the player to cause the Egyptians problems being Claire Picard. She beat both Arwa Hasan (11-7, 11-8, 11-7) and Hend Fathy (9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 16-14); the Egyptian saviour of the day was Hend Fathy, in the vital concluding match of the fixture, she accounted for Jennifer Khayat (11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7).
Meanwhile, in the cadet girls’ team event, also played on a group basis, Slovakia’s Eliska Stullerova and Laura Vinczeova ended the day the only unbeaten outfit.
Play in the junior girls’ team and cadet girls’ team events concludes on Thursday 13th June.
After recording a 3-0 win in opposition to the pairing of Nigeria’s Taiwo Mati and Algeria’s Sala Foudia, a 3-1 success was recorded against Egypt’s Ammar Attia and Ziad Elshawa to secure first place.
The top two teams in each group advancing to the semi-finals, second position finished in the hands of Ammar Attia and Ziad Elshawa. In the concluding group stage contest they secured a 3-2 win when facing Taiwo Mati and Algeria’s Sala Foudia; the player to cause the problems being Taiwo Mati, he accounted for both Ziad Elshawa (13-11, 11-6, 11-5) and Ammar Attia (12-10, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8).
Meanwhile, in the corresponding group Filip Delincak and Adam Klajber finished ahead of the Czech Republic’s Jan Mokrejs and Dan Janovsky, a 3-1 victory margin being the outcome in favour of the Slovak duo when the teams met. Algeria’s Abdelbasset Chaichi, Azzeddine Lazazi and Meziane Belabbas finished in third position ahead of Morocco’s Sami Fahim and Chaibi Taha.
Success for Slovakia in the junior boys’ team event, it was the same in the cadet boys’ team competition. Jakub Goldir and Kristian Uherik concluded matters in first place in their initial phase group as did the Czech Republic’s Matyas Lebeda in partnership with Morocco’s Kamil Leroy. In the one remaining group it was first place for the Saudi Arabian combination of Khalid Alshareif, Salem Alsuwailem and Mahdi Al Huleal.
Play in the junior boys’ team and cadet boys’ team events concludes on Thursday 13th June.
Cast your mind back to the London 2012 Olympic Games, the semi-final women’s team event when Kasumi Ishikawa, Ai Fukuhara and Sayaka Hirano beat Singapore 3-0 to reach the final; thus Japan was assured of its first ever medal in the table tennis events at an Olympic Games.
Tears of joy flowed so fast they almost had to raise the flood barriers on the nearby River Thames.
The win in England’s capital city set the marker, now Kasumi Ishikawa remains but she is joined by a new selection; nowadays she lines up alongside teenagers Mima Ito and Miu Hirano with Hina Hayata, Miyu Kato and Saki Shibata very much knocking at the door.
Now can that group supersede the efforts of the London class? Japan secured the silver medal at the Liebherr 2018 World Team Championships. It is a possibility.
However, could it be the third group, the next down the line, the most recent that achieves even greater success? Could it be that the likes of Miyu Nagasaki, Miyuu Kihara and Haruna Ojio that excels all that has gone before?
Miyu Nagasaki will celebrate her 17th birthday on Sunday 15th June, the day the tournament closes in Sapporo. Miyuu Kihara and Haruna Ojio will mark their birthdays later in the year, on Saturday 3rd August. Miyuu Kihara will be 15 years old, on the same day Haruna Ojio will be 14 years of age. They are to the day one year apart.
In Sapporo, on the first day of action, Miyu Nagasaki kept her hopes of qualification alive by beating Chinese Taipei’s Su Pei-Ling (11-7, 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3), Miyuu Kihara accounted for Puerto Rico’s Melanie Diaz (11-9, 11-3, 11-5, 11-1). However, the performance of the day was that achieved by Haruna Ojio, the youngest member of the group, she came within a hair’s breadth of beating China’s He Zhuojia, the runner up at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals. She was beaten by the narrowest of decisions (5-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9).
Impressive results, they support those already achieved this year. At the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Series tournaments, Haruna Ojio was a quarter-finalist in Croatia. In the same tournament Miyu Nagasaki reached the semi-finals as well as one week earlier in Slovenia progressing to the quarter-finals and winning the under 21 women’s singles title. Outstanding but arguably bettered by Miyuu Kihara, in Croatia she won the women’s singles event!
Also you can add the fact that in both Croatia and Slovenia Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki won the women’s doubles titles.
Now let’s add one more to the list, a young lady with a brother who delights in setting youngest ever records, on the first day of play at the 2019 China Junior and Cadet Open, Miwa Harimoto who marks her 11th birthday on Monday 16th June, finished in first places in her cadet girls’ team group in partnership with Rin Mende.
I wonder at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, could those names be members of a team that reaches the highest pinnacle; the team to surpass the trio of 2002, the outfit that set the benchmark.
Update qualification day two: Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Lion Japan Open
Yuki Hirano beats Tiago Apolonia
The host nation’s Yuki Hirano was very much the man in form in the third preliminary round of the men’s singles event. He beat Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia in five games (11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5, 12-10).
Presently Yuki Hirano is listed at no.126 on the men’s world rankings, Tiago Apolonia at no.43.
Sun Wen causes major upset
Beaten in the second round in Portugal earlier in the year by Sweden’s Truls Moregard (11-5, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8), his one and only prior open international tournament appearance; most adept returning service over the table in the modern day backhand top spin manner, China’s Sun Wen caused a major third round qualification upset.
Listed at no.599 on the current men’s world rankings; he beat Egypt’s Omar Assar, named at no.65 in five games (13-15, 12-10, 11-3, 11-4, 11-8).
Compatriots but no love lost
Yang Heng-Wei caused a major third preliminary round upset. He beat Chinese national team colleague, Chen Chien-An by the very narrowest of margins (11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 3-11, 11-6, 12-10, 13-11) after having led 10-7 and 11-10 in the seventh.
Currently, Yang Heng-Wei is listed at no.228 on the men’s world rankings, Chen Chien-An at no.36.
Top name progresses
Japan’s Yuya Oshima, the leading name on qualification stage duty, reserved his main draw place.
He beat Korea Republic’s Choi Deokhwa (11-9, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7).
Commonwealth Games champion departs
China’s He Zhoujia, runner up at last year’s Grand Finals, beat India’s Manika Batra, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, to reserve her main draw place.
She won in six games (11-5, 11-6, 8-11, 14-12, 9-11, 11-8).
Wang Yidi departs
Winner of the women’s singles event four days earlier in Hong Kong, in Sapporo it was a third preliminary round exit for Wang Yidi.
She was beaten by colleague Wu Yang (11-7, 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9).
Success for Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s Minnie Soo Wai Yam and Lee Ho Ching both emerged successful in the third preliminary round of the women’s singles qualification event.
Lee Ho Ching saved match point after match point in thr sixth game before beating Korea Republic’s Kim Hayeong (11-9, 13-15, 11-6, 10-12, 6-11, 16-14, 11-7), the win coming after Minnie Soo Wai Yam had rather more comfortably beaten Norway’s Ma Wenting (6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4, 11-5).
Sun Yingsha succeeds but tested
Women’s Singles: Qualification
Winner in 2017, China’s Sun Yingsha duly booked her place in the main draw but she was tested.
She needed the full seven games to beat Portugal’s Shao Jieni (11-2, 11-1, 5-11, 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4).
Puerto Ricans in harmony
Success for Brian Afanador and Daniel Gonzalez against the Korea Republic’s Kim Daewoo and Kim Donghyun (11-9, 11-7, 11-9) was very much a performance that caught the eye; the Puerto Ricans were in harmony.
Defeat for Kim Daewoo and Kim Donghyun but not in the corresponding men’s doubles qualification round contest; Kim Byunghyeon and Kim Minhyeok accounted for the Greek partnership of Panagiotis Gionis and Ioannis Sgouropoulos in straight games (11-7, 11-6, 11-9).
Controlled defence
Classic defensive play, exquisite movement, the host nation’s Haruna Ojio and Yumeno Soma emerged successful in the one required women’s doubles qualification contest.
They beat Serbia’s Sabina Surjan and Izabela Lupulesku in five games (9-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8).
Mixed fortunes for Poland
It was mixed fortunes for Poland in the qualification round to determine mixed doubles places in the main draw.
Jakub Dyjas and Natalia Partyka lost to Korea Republic’s Cho Daeseong and Shin Yubin (11-9, 16-14, 14-12); conversely Marek Badowski and Natalia Bajor overcame Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia and Shao Jieni (8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6).
We meet again
They met in the qualification stage of the mixed doubles event one week earlier in Hong Kong, in Sapporo they met again; the verdict the same.
In the Queen Elizabeth Stadium Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata had beaten Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gonzalez and Melanie Diaz in four games (11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6); on home soil they prevailed in straight games (11-8, 11-7, 11-9).
Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Lion Japan Open: Qualification Schedule – Wednesday 12th & Thursday 13th June
Mike Harris (centre) and the victorious Devon team
Nottingham host 19 teams on tough weekend
By ALAN THATCHER and MARK FULLER
Much as the team at Squash Mad detest the ridiculous name thrust on racketball by a drunken think-tank committee, we salute the efforts being made to repair the damage. This culminated in the introduction of the first combined inter-county finals competition at Nottingham SRC, with 19 teams representing 12 counties.
The event was played over two days, with a total of 29 fixtures throughout the weekend, with the teams and spectators being treated to some top-class racketball with the likes of Tim Vail, Mike Harris, Fiona Moverley and Zoe Fennell all competing.
Fiona (pictured in action) deserves a special T-shirt for her efforts for Yorkshire. It was great to see her playing in the Open event as Yorkshire upset top seeds Sussex with a 3-2 win.
However, with Yorkshire unable to convert their earlier match against Oxfordshire, it saw them finish as the eventual losers of Group A.
A notable match in this tie was between Fiona and Ben Hedger which turned into a gruelling five-setter. Hedger was the eventual winner with two tins from Moverley at 10-10. Not sure what wording should go on that T-shirt…
Group B, the ‘group of death’, saw some great battles, in particular between Buckinghamshire and Dorset. However it was Warwickshire who proved too strong and too consistent for their opponents and they qualified with Dorset into the semi-finals. Group C again saw a very strong Devon side take their group by storm, followed by Essex and then Wiltshire.
The Women’s event was a simple round robin competition between Essex, Devon and Yorkshire and took place on the Saturday. Despite some quality play for Essex by Zoe Fennell, it was Yorkshire and Devn who contested the final, with the Yorkshire trio of Elspeth Edwards, Paula Arrowsmith and Rosie Connell triumphing 3-0 against Karen Bealey, Caroline Wright and Jo Perriam.
The triumphant Yorkshire women’s team
The Over 50s event saw six counties competing in a format that had three singles and one doubles match.
Group A top seeds Essex were too strong for Norfolk and Kent, and were able to bypass the quarter finals stage to go straight through to the semi-finals. A notebale result here was an upset caused by Rob Hanbrook of Norfolk, who performed out his skin to overcome Essex’s Fred Cooke in three games.
Group B was fiercely contested, with 3/4 seeds Buckingahmshire beating No.2 seeds Devon to automatically qualify for the semi-finals. Yorkshire and Devon battled it out and were the first fixture to draw their match and triggered the games countback rule, which thanks to Adrian Henley and Pete Doman taking the first game 11/6 in the doubles, they became eventual overall winners of the tie, 7-6 on games count back.
In the final, Fred Cooke continued his good run of form from Essex’s semi final victory over Devon defeating Simon Martin 2-1. Pascual Dibattista then extended Essex’s lead with a straight forward 2-0 over a tired looking Dave Evans who had yet to recover from his 11/9 in the 5th match in the semi final.
With Essex 2-0 up going into the final two it was still theoretically possible that Buckinghamshire could finish with a win. If the match score was 2-2 then it would go on countback.
The number ones and doubles were on at the same time. After Fernandez went 1-0 up at one and MacDonald and Townsend, after a tough start, fought back level in the doubles ,it looked like the big comeback might just be on the cards.
It was not to be, however. Marc Thornley played a tremendous second game winning it 11-1 and continued his form into the third taking the game 11-7 and deciding the match. With the doubles teams unaware of what had already transpired on the other court it remained tremendously competitive right to the end with Osborn and Fennell finally closing off the weekends Racketball with an 11-9 victory in the decider.
Essex celebrate their Over 50s title
In Sunday’s Open play-offs, Paul Norton’s Yorkshire side, having come into the competition with very few expectations, almost took fifth place but in the end narrowly lost out to Oxfordshire. Two matches went all the way to deciding tiebreaks with Fiona Moverley narrowly defeating Mike Edwards and Glynn Saunders beating Darren Rix 2-1, 13-11.
The Open final was kicked off with a battle between Luke Bishop and Marc James of Devon and Dorset. Despite some close rallies, Bishop came out on top with a 3-0 win to get the ball rolling for the favourites.
The No.1 seeds then followed on the show court, which saw current racketball National Champion, Mike Harris, take on Gus Bell. The underdog Bell played some accomplished rallies and his finishing was lethal as he surprised Harris to take the first game 11-6.
Harris was eventually able to take control with superior length and width as he clawed his way back into the match and showed us why he is the current champ. His victory gave Devon a 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile Christian Turner on the back courts took a tight 3-1 against David Lobo, to secure Devon their first Racketball/Squash57 National Title. Convincing wins from James Snell and Mike Gregory cemented Devon’s status as the National Champions by making the tie an emphatic 5-0 victory.
Harris, the Devon captain, told us: “We are very happy to be county champions and it’s been great to play everyone over the same weekend. The atmosphere has been good, the venue has been good, and this is a great start for what will hopefully be a long standing event that will continue to grow.”
UK Racketball-England Squash National Racketball and Squash 57 Inter-County Finals, Nottingham.
Open Final, Devon 5-0 Dorset:
Mike Harris 3-1 Gus Bell 6/11 11/8 11/2 11/7
James Snell 3-0 Neil Chambers 11/5 11/5 11/3
Luke Bishop 3-0 Marc James 11/6, 11/3, 11/4
Mike Gregory 3-0 Andy Metcalfe 11/7, 11/3, 11/6
Christian Turner 3-1 David Lobo 11/6 12/10 9/11 11/5
Over 50s Semi Finals:
Buckinghamshire 2-2 (9-6) Norfolk (Buckinghamshire win on games count back)
Simon Martin 1-3 John Cordeaux 13/11 7/11 10/12 9/11
Dave Evans 2-3 Rob Hanbrook 11/6 4/11 11/9 5/11 9/11
Andy MacDonald 3-1 Robin Chipperfield 12/10 11/9 8/11 11/8
Dan Fernandez & S Townsend 3-0 Mark Campbell & James Murphy 11/7 11/4 11/8
Essex 3-1 Devon:
Mark Thornley 3-0 Bruce MacDonald 11/3 11/6 11/6
Fred Cooke 3-0 Tim Gillingham 11/7 11/4 14/12
Pascual Dibattista 2-3 Martin Glover 11/8 11/8 5/11 8/11 10/12
Patrick Osborn & Paul Fennell 3-0 Andy Henley & Pete Doman 11/4 11/9 11/7
Final, Buckinghamshire 0-4 Essex:
Dan Fernandez 1-2 Mark Thornley 11/8 1/11 7/11
Simon Martin 1-2 Fred Cooke 9/11 11/5 7/11
Dave Evans 0-2 Pascual Dibattista 8/11, 7/11
Andy MacDonald & S Townsend 1-2 Patrick Osborn & Paul Fennell 5/11 11/6 9/11
Full results and report here
Next up is the HEAD National Championships at Edgbaston Priory. Preview here
Pictures courtesy of UK Racketball
World champions Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini crash out in Cairo
Tarek Momen dominates the middle of the court against Diego Elias of Peru
Abouelghar powers through with seven Egyptians in last eight
By SEAN REUTHE in Cairo
Men’s World No.1 Ali Farag and defending women’s champion Nour El Sherbini saw their title challenges at the 2018-2019 CIB PSA World Tour Finals come to an end as group stage action drew to a close on day four of the season-ending spectacular at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia.
The first four days of the tournament have been held using a round-robin, best-of-three games format in the qualifying group stages, and Farag bowed out despite a 2-1 victory over New Zealand’s Paul Coll. His compatriot, Mohamed Abouelghar, defeated World No.4 Karim Abdel Gawad 2-0 to ensure that both him and Gawad qualify for the semi-finals with eight points, one more than last year’s runner-up Farag.
Egypt provide all four of the men’s semi-finalists, with Camille Serme of France preventing a scene of total domination by the home nation by booking her place in the women’s semis.
Abouelghar controlled his match against an off-the-pace Gawad, who had already qualified before stepping foot on court, winning 11-9, 11-3 to finish top of Group A and mark his World Tour Finals debut with a semi-finals spot.
“I was watching Ali’s match with Paul Coll,” said Abouelghar. “We were both joking about it, but I didn’t know the calculations before. I had it in my mind, like the Liverpool (Football Club) scenario (when they came back from a 3-0 defeat in the first leg to beat Barcelona), that anything can happen in sport and if I have the right attitude, then I can pull anything through, and I’m happy I did.
“I think the motivation for both of us was different. I came here to give myself one more chance and he was already qualified, so I think the motivation was different. I was happy I took advantage of that and I’m so happy to be in the semis. I’ve never had a good win in Egypt, so to have it now and on a big stage like this then I hope it doesn’t stop here and keeps going.”
Mohamed Abouelghar (left) tops his group after beating Karim Abdel Gawad
World No.3 Tarek Momen was the other man to earn his spot in the semi-finals after he dispatched Peru’s Diego Elias. Momen, the 31-year-old from Cairo, dominated his opponent in the opening game and recovered from a second game blip to win 11-2, 4-11, 11-8 in 46 minutes, booking a spot in the last four of this tournament for the first time.
He finishes second in Group B behind defending champion Mohamed ElShorbagy, who maintained his 100 per cent record with a comfortable win against Germany’s Simon Rösner yesterday (June 11).
Momen said: “I was really happy I remained calm, I kept talking positively to myself, I kept telling myself to forget about the lead and the physical advantage, forget about everything, it’s just two points so [I had to] fight for them and get the win.
“I’m happy with that and how I recovered after playing a perfect first game. Then I kind of played too much to the front and he capitalised on that. I saw the momentum shift, and I’m very happy I was able to get the win eventually.”
Nouran Gohar puts out world champion Nour El Sherbini
In the women’s event, British Open champion Nouran Gohar continued her superb form to send El Sherbini to a shock group stage exit, recovering from a game down to win 6-11, 11-5, 11-7 and secure top spot in Group B.
The pair come from different parts of Egypt – Gohar from Cairo and El Sherbini from Alexandria – and it was the former, playing in her home city, who established her hard-hitting style on the match to ensure she will face France’s Camille Serme in the semi-finals, which will be a repeat of the British Open final.
“I have so much respect for Nour, and the way she is playing recently is unbelievable,” said 21-year-old Gohar.
“I think there is [a slight rivalry between the different cities in Egypt], especially the club where Nour comes from as it is a big club and has had very good juniors in the past such as ElShorbagy and Nour and they have a really tough game to play against. There is always a rivalry between Cairo and Alexandria, and this competitive thing, I think it’s the main reason we are good at squash in Egypt.”
Camille Serme topples Tesni Evans to become the only non-Egyptian in the semi-finals
El Tayeb finished second in Group B after dismantling England’s Sarah-Jane Perry 11-0, 11-5, while Serme dispatched Wales’ Tesni Evans 11-5, 13-11 to ensure she finished second in Group A behind World No.1 Raneem El Welily, who had already qualified for the semis before today.
“From the beginning, I saw that Tesni was not moving as well as usual,” said 30-year-old Serme.
“But she is such a fighter and whatever happened I knew she was going to give it her all in the second. She tried to find some good solutions and it almost worked, it was a good tactic, but I’m happy that I found my solutions in the end. Every match is tough and everyone deserves to be in the semis, but I feel lucky that it’s me and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
The semi-finals will continue with the best-of-three games format, before the final reverts to the traditional best of five scoring. The semi-final fixtures begin at 19:00 (GMT+2) on June 13, with live action broadcast on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour.
Nour El Tayeb celebrates after beating Sarah-Jane Perry
CIB PSA World Tour Finals 2019, Mall of Arabia, 6th of October City, Cairo, Egypt.
DAY FOUR
Men’s Group A:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [5] Paul Coll (NZL) 2-1: 9-11, 12-10, 11-9 (69m)
[8] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt [4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 2-0: 11-9, 11-3 (24m)
Men’s Group B:
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [7] Diego Elias (PER) 2-1: 11-2, 4-11, 11-8 (46m)
Women’s Group A:
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [8] Tesni Evans (WAL) 2-0: 11-5, 13-11 (28m)
Women’s Group B:
[6] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 2-1: 6-11, 11-5, 11-7 (33m)
[3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [7] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 2-0: 11-0, 11-5 (15m)
Men’s Semi-Finals:
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v [4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
[8] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v [3] Tarek Momen (EGY)
Women’s Semi-Finals:
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
[6] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [4] Camille Serme (FRA)
Report by SEAN REUTHE (PSA PR and Media Manager). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.
Pictures and graphics courtesy of PSA
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