Egypt vs Egypt
Egyptians Get Clean Sweep into the Semi Finals
By Yasser El Halaby © 2003; all rights of reproduction reserved.
August 20, 2003 

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Nehia Yehia scores thrilling win over Lauren Siddall

HISTORIC DAY
Today marked a historic moment for Egyptian Women’s squash. In a completely unprecedented achievement, Egypt claimed all four spots in the tournament’s semi-final round. England’s Lauren Siddall was the only player that had a realistic chance to prevent Egypt from having all four players in the semi’s — as two matches were an all Egyptian quarter final, and Abdel Kawy being an almost definite winner in the fourth match of the day against India’s Chinappa.

Apart from Abdel Kawy’s match, the quarter finals were extremely close, two of them having two points separating the winner from the loser, showing how close the level of squash was between those girls.

FAST FRIENDS
The first match of the day saw two childhood friends against one another. Badr and El Waleily grew up playing squash together in Alexandria’s Sporting club and are very familiar with each other’s game.

Badr had the advantage of being a little older, stronger and more experienced, but El Waleily’s racket skills and speed were to be a definite match for Badr, one year El Waleily’s senior. The match started with an exceptional level of squash, both players making one another work for every point. El Waleily’s shots were accurate; Badr’s drives were strong and deep. El Waleily managed to edge out the first game 9-6, but this came at a price.

El Waleily was clearly exhausted by the end of the first game. Badr had lost the first game, but she had made El Waleily work so hard, basically tiring her out in the first game. The plan worked for Badr. She took complete complete from then on, a tactic used by many top players. El Waleily offered almost no resistance in the second and lost the game 9-0. El Waleily tried to get back into the third game but her shots were getting loose and Badr was playing strongly and attacking with volleys to increase the pressure on the young fifteen year old. Badr won the third and fourth to win in fifty minutes.

THE BATTLE OF EQUALS
Next came the match that offered a strong threat to the Egyptians’ dream of having all four semi-final spots. 9/16 seeds,Yehia and England’s Siddall went up head to head. The match buzzed with excitement mainly due to the unpredictability of the outcome of each game.

Yehia won the first six points with ease and it looked like it was going to be a one sided match. Perhaps overwhelmed by the atmosphere and crowd, and being a little nervous, Siddall had a slow start that fooled most people, including myself, into thinking that it was going to be a one-sided match for the Egyptian. Trailing 6-0 down Siddall got her act together and started playing some fine squash. Helped by Yehia’s unforced errors, Siddall fought back to win the game 9-7 to astonish the Egyptian crowd. I realized that we were in for a treat as the match was going to go to five games for sure. And it did.

The two players exchanged the next three games to tie the match at two all. Siddall’s volleying skills and her ability to play those deep drives under pressure from the front of the court definitely stood out. Yehia’s game was a little on and off but her shot making skills were here best asset.

The fifth and final game of the match was probably the most exciting game of the tournament yet. After several hand outs at 0-0 Siddall won the first point and played safe squash to develop a huge lead at 7-1. The Egyptian kept her calm and slowly fought her way back into the game. Too eager to finish the match Siddall hit a few tins and Yehia was hitting winners. Amazingly, after trailing 7-1 down, the young Egyptian won a point at a time to take the game to match point at 8-7. Siddall regained focus and tied the game at 8-8. After a few handouts Yehia managed to win a point and take the game to match point again. Yehia finished the match off with a backhand drop shot that Siddall rushed towards and asked for a let.

“No Let,” said the refree. The match was over.

The second all Egyptian quarter final had Osama and 3/4 seed El Trabolsy go head to head. Both players looked very nervous. Osama used El Trabolsy’s streak of unforced errors to win the first game 9-4. The hard hitting El Trabolsy regained focus and took the lead 8-3 in the second. But after Osama was awarded three strokes in a row and El Trabolsy’s increased frustration the game was tied at 8-8. El Trabolsy refocused to win 10-8. The next to games went point by point with El Trabolsy winning the third, and Osama winning the fourth. After El Trabolsy led 6-2 in the fifth the game was tied at 7-7. With nerves of steel El Trabolsy slammed a backhand crosscourt nick for match point then another forehand killer that landed in the nick and earned El Trabolsy a well deserved position in the semi-finals.

The final match of the day came from Egyptian sensation Abdel Kawy against U 17 British Open champion India’s Chinapaa. The gap between Abdel Kawy and the other players is remarkable and the number one seed demonstrated that in her match with India’s number one. The match was quickly over in 25 minutes. The Indian tried to put on a brave fight but just couldn’t keep up with Abdel Kawy’s pace. Abdel Kawy, already ranked number 12 in the WISPA rankings, put the Indian under immense pressure and Chinappa was just no match for Abdel Kawy. Still, it should be said that the Indian is an all rounded player and poses some good skills that could turn her into a future star.

Abdel Kawy will now face with Badr, whereas El Trabolsy will play fellow hometown girl Yehia.

Quarter Final results from Cairo:
[1] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [5/8] Joshna Chinappa (IND) 9-3 9-2 9-4
[5/8] Sara Badr (EGY) bt [9/16] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) 6-9 9-0 9-4 9-5
[3/4] Amnah El Trabolsy (EGY) bt Hend Osama (EGY) 4-9 10-8 10-8 7-9 9-7
9/16] Nehal Yehia (EGY) bt [9/16] Lauren Siddall (ENG) 7-9 9-4 9-3 5-9 10-8

USA Player Results, Wednesday:
Plate Quarterfinals:
Georgina Davis (AUS) def Audrey Duboc (USA) 10-8 9-5 9-0

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