Sports Reporter/DohaSecond seed Mohamed Abouelghar of Egypt did a Houdini at the World Junior Squash Championships by sensationally beating India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar in a thrilling quarter-final at the Qatar International Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday.It appeared all over for world number 2 Abouelghar who was down two games and facing two match-balls in the third game when he produced a stirring comeback to post a 10-12, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 12-10 win in an energy-sapping match that lasted 90 minutes.With fortunes swinging every few seconds, it was the Egyptian who produced the big points when it mattered most to end India’s hopes in the tournamentMangaonkar had made the last 8 after his rival in the previous round, Qatar’s Abdulla al-Tamimi, fell to dubious rule that deems a court unplayable if drops of blood fall on it during the course of a match.On Monday, Abdulla had scraped his arm badly and spilled several drops onto the court following which he had to concede the match to Mangaonkar.However, the Indian failed to capitalise on the golden opportunity he had and failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals as he met his match in Abouelghar.Abouelghar will now play compatriot Mazen Hesham in today’s semi-finals.Meanwhile the defending champion, Egypt’s Marwan El Shorbagy made the last four with a tough 11-5, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9 win over Pakistan’s Nasir Iqbal.Both players displayed tremendous fighting qualities in the match before the Egyptian edged it in four games, letting out a victory shriek after winning the last point.The match had its attritional moments with both players occasionally contesting several decisions by the umpire.El Shorbagy has lined up what could be a thrilling semi-final against another Pakistani, Danish Atlas Khan. Khan, on his part scored a comfortable 11-0, 11-8, 11-5 win over Jordanian Ahmad al-Sarraj in just 30 minutes.
“I’m happy with the way I played the first two games, but I lost a bit of concentration in the third, plus, he changed his game too…He is a very fair, very talented player, so dangerous at the front,” said El Shorbagy.“I have one more Pakistani to play tomorrow (Khan) and I can’t wait to get on the court. I trained so much for this event. I want to win this so badly,” added El Shorbagy who is aiming to win the event for the second time and emulate his brother, Mohamed.Khan is the only non-Egyptian in the men’s semi-finals.The women’s semi-finals, too, sport a similar look with England’s Emily Whitlock, the only non-Egyptian in contention for the title.First through to the semi-finals was 2009 champion and top seed Nour El Sherbini, with another quickfire win as she despatched surprise quarter-finalist Melissa Alves in just 16 minutes.There was an upset, but still an Egyptian winner as Mariam Metwally repeated her 2010 world junior win over the higher-seeded Kanzy El Dafrawy. Metwally got the better of two close first games but was well in control of the third against a by now dispirited opponent.Alves took a game to adapt, while Nour was her usual self, calm and confident. The second game was the more disputed, with the French girl making a few nice shots of her own, wrong footing her opponent a few times. “All of my matches seem to end up very quickly, but I would need to stay on that a bit longer! I need to test that court a bit,” said El Sherbini.“Melissa has got some great racquet skills. I never played her, but I was expecting her shots, so I was ready!“I’m happy with my performance, even I made a few errors. Well, I have to make sure I play and try all my shots, to the risk of making a few errors. And we Egyptian players seem to do a lot of errors anyway!” “I was not able to find a space on the glass court to train, so this first game to be honest, I had to adjust very quickly! I just couldn’t see the ball, the depth, nothing,” said Alves.
ResultsQuarter-Finals Men: Marwan El Shorbagy (Egy) bt [5/8] Nasir Iqbal (Pak) 11/5, 11/6, 6/11, 11/9 (53m)Danish Atlas Khan (Pak) bt [9/16] Ahmad Al-Sarraj (Jor) 11/6, 11/8, 11/5 (30m)Mazen Hesham (Egy) bt [5/8] Fares Dessouki (Egy) 11/7, 11/6, 9/11, 11/7 (63m)Mohamed Abouelghar (Egy) bt [5/8] Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) 10/12, 8/11, 11/9, 12/10, 12/10 (90m)Women: Nour El Sherbini (Egy) bt Melissa Alves (Fra) 11/3, 11/5, 11/4 (16m)Mariam Metwally (Egy) bt [3/4] Kanzy El Dafrawy (Egy) 11/6, 12/10, 11/5 (40m)Yathreb Adel (Egy) bt [5/8] Anaka Alankamony (Ind) 11/4, 11/8, 5/11, 11/9Emily Whitlock (Eng) bt [5/8] Salma Hany Ibrahim (Egy) 11/7, 11/8, 4/11, 11/5 (36m)