Top seeds Marwan Tarek and Rowan Redy Araby in final

Top seeds Marwan Tarek and Rowan Redy Araby in final

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By Press Release, SportsCafe Editor

28

The men's junior semi-final saw Marwan Tarek getting the better of beating 5/8 seed Omar El Torkey in a hardfought five gamer as Rowan Redy Araby overcame 5/8 seed Jana Shina in straight games. Marwan will take on second seed Mostafa Asal as Rowan faces second seed Hania El Hammamy in final.

It was a virtual Egyptian festival at the Express Avenue Mall in the WSF-World junior squash championship. With such an overwhelming Egyptian presence there could not have been anything else. In essence, it was an exhibition of the rich standards Egypt players have and giving a glimpse in the opening phase were the top seeds Marwan Tarek and Rowan Redy Araby the reigning junior men's and women's champions in the semi-finals on Sunday.

Both in their own way scripted their journey to the title round again with Marwan beating 5/8 seed Omar El Torkey in a gruelling five gamer while Rowan showed a touch of her authority in wearing down 5/8 seed Jana Shina in three straight games. Marwan will play the second seed Mostafa Asal while the women's title will be decided by Rowan and second seed Hania El Hammamy for what will be a perfect finale in keeping with the seedings in both categories.

Familiar rivals can at times take the sting away from a contest but Marwan and Omar played with such ferocity and fixity of purpose that only a thin line of difference seemed to hold both apart. There were several moments in the match when it looked like Omar would upset his famed rival. But statistics had given Marwan the advantage, with the latter having won more times when they met around half a dozen occasions.

However, oncourt the story was different. Fast rallies interspersed with an occasional drop shot was the feature as the two went all out, gasping for breath at times but relentless in their pursuit of ascendancy. In keeping with the fight were the scores, which went level and in the deciding fifth game, Omar had a handy lead (8-4) before Marwan changed gears to catch up and what is more post the win for a dramatic finish.

In comparison, Rowan did not need to stretch much, though Jana, as she had done in the quarterfinal, showed an inclination to claw back. Jana did surprise Rowan in the second game which she led and almost grabbed the game. But the defending champion from Alexandria showed her capability with some smart pickups and drives to win on extra points. The third game was an easier affair and decisive for Rowan.

The two remaining semi-finals did not raise much of excitement, with Mostafa Asal making an easy entry beating his countrymate Mostafa El Serty rather comfortably. If there was any hope of seeing a non-Egyptian in the finals tomorrow then that was dashed by Hania who outplayed Lucy Turmel of England. When Lucy took the second game with clever variation of returns there looked a possible chance of an upset but Hania was quick to regain her composure to sweep the next two games and put all doubts to rest.

The final slated for Monday gets underway at the E A court at 5 p.m.

The results: semi-finals

Men: (1) Marwan Tarek (EGY) bt(3/4) Omar El Torkey (EGY) 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 2-11, 11-8; (2) Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt (Âľ) Mostafa El Serty(EGY)11-3, 11-7, 11-7

Women: (1) Rowan Redy Araby (EGY) bt (5/8) Jana Shiha (EGY) 11-5, 13-11, 11-6; (2) Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt (Âľ) Lucy Trummel 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-4

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