Semi-finals Day in Birmingham, with all main draw matches at the University on another long day with sixteen matches on the glass court and the U11 semis on the side courts.
English trio advance on another day of drama and Egyptian success
It was a good day for the hosts as Sam Todd (B17), Yusuf Sheikh (B15) and Mariam Eissa (G11) all advanced to the finals with comfortable wins. Katie Malliff couldn’t add to the tally as she retired injured halfway through her G15 semifinal.
Elsewhere there was plenty of drama, and more upsets as three more top seeds perished – in the G11, B13 and the G17, where Aira Azman was beaten in a thrilling finish by Egypt’s Nour Khaled Aboulmakarim .
Aira’s sister Aifa Azman made it through to her fourth BJO final in dramatic fashion as she held off a comeback from Egypt’s Farida Mohamed, winning when a no let on match ball to the Malaysian was overturned by the video ref into a stroke.
The other dramatic affair of the day saw last year’s G11 champion Anahat Singh defy the seedings to reach the G13 final, beating second seed Janna Galal 17-15 in the fifth in a match where every point ended with a scream, a ‘yalla’ or other celebration.
In the U19 events Egypt’s top seeds both won, Jana Shiha advancing to a second successive final where she’ll meet Aifa, and Moustafa El Sirty reached a first BJO final, where he’ll face compatriot Yahya Elnawasany, the second seed and last year’s B17 champion.
The B11, B13, G15 and G17 finals will also be all-Egyptian with the G11 the only one not to feature an Egyptian player.
TODAY DRAWS WATCH SOCIAL GALLERY
TODAY DRAWS WATCH SOCIAL GALLERY
