Gohar and Asal claim Egyptian National titles
Finals:
Nouran Gohar 3-1 Nada Abbas 11-4, 7-11, 11-4, 11-5
Mostafa Assal 3-1 Mazen Hesham 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 11-2
Nouran Gohar claimed a second Egyptian National title as she beat Nada Abbas in four games in the final in Cairo, having beaten Nadine Shahin and Zeina Mickawy in earlier rounds.
Mostafa Asal – appearing in his first senior Nationals – took the men’s title as he beat Mazen Hesham, who had beaten world #1 Ali Farag in the quarters – also in four games.
The U19 Junior and Masters championships were held at the same time, details below …
Egyptian Nationals at Cairo Stadium – Quarters to Finals …
Following the CIB Black Ball, the Nationals were played at the Stadium, with a minimum of spectators and all safety rules implemented during the event. We had the Masters, the U19 and the Seniors being played at the same time. And although the atmosphere was not as buzzing as usual, we still had some great battles…
The quarters saw some superb battles, in the right spirit, in particular in the U19 Boys: Karim EL-Barbary & Mohamed Hossam battled with a victory for Karim in five, and a same score with Rojer Alber cramping but still wining against Ibrahim Mohamed.
The quarters also had a few surprises in the main event – so close to the CIBBlackBall event led a lot of players not to play the championship unfortunately, while those who participated seemed not that “en jambes”. Youssef Soliman ousted Zahed Sheren, while Mazen Hesham despatched Ali Farag in 4.
We were in the semis and the main surprise was Nada Abbas WR19 beating WR12 Rowan El Araby 3/1, with Nada very confident and sharp, while Rowan seemed tense and never really was allowed to impose her game.
The other two big matches were the Men, with Mazen Hesham keeping the same momentum, ousting Omar Mosaad 3-0. The last match of the day/night was going to be a huge battle between Mostafa Asal and Youssef Soliman. It would have been a perfect match if Youssef hadn’t been unfairly (in my eyes) penalised with no lets in the 5th three times in a row in the middle of the game – with Youssef ending on the floor every time bless him. Still maybe a bit more energy coming from the Bull’s legs at the end…
And the finals…
I missed the first match completely – sorry girls, one you started earlier than planned and we had the President blocking Nasr City for 30m bless him… But I still got a few nice shots of the whole Ibrahim family…
Ahmed and Rojer in the boys U19 finals. What to say about a match that ends 13-11 in the 5th…
It was truly an inspiring game, to watch those two boys taking the lead each their turn and both coming back in the match, never blocking, calling their not up, respecting each other. I know a few seniors that could take lessons. Well done to both, with Rojer not able to concretise his two match balls…
Nouran and Nada. Not the most fluid of matches, especially for the first two games, with both players complaining about the other’s movement. At the start of the second, a strong contact led Nouran to fall heavily on her right wrist. She necessitated treatment and some bandage that seemed to impair her for the rest of the game, not hitting as accurately or hard as she normally does.
But things seems to settle for Nouran in the next two games, while Nada wasn’t able to put as much pressure on her opponent as she was able to for two games. 3/1 Nouran, match ending on a stroke.
Mostafa and Mazen… Not an obvious final at first sight. But as neither had ever won the title, it was not a casual match: it meant a lot for both of them.
First game, not much between them, 9/9 but it’s Mostafa that takes the opener. Same difference in the second up to 5/5, with Mostafa losing focus from that point on. The third, Mostafa took a big lead only to be caught up but it’s still Mostafa for that crucial third, 11/7. The last one is not as close as the others from the start, although some great rallies in there…
FINALS
[table]
| Over 35 | Over 45 |
| Sherif Rashdan 3-0 Ahmed Ragheb | Amr Abdel Moneim 3-0 Michel Gobran |
| 3/4 Tamer Mansour 3-0 Hussein Saed |
3/4 Mohamed Tabarek 3-2 Tarek Abdel Aziz |
Juniors U19
Sana Ibrahim 3-0 Salma El Tayeb 13-11, 12-10, 11-3 (45m)
3/4
Nour Khaled 3-1 Menna Walid 12-10, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5Ahmed Said 3-2 Rojer Alber 11-9, 6-11, 10-12, 11-4, 13-11
Seniors
Nouran Gohar 3-1 Nada Abbas 11-4, 7-11, 11-4, 11-5
Mostafa Assal 3-1 Mazen Hesham 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 11-2
SEMIS
Masters
[table]| Over 35 | Over 45 |
| Ahmed Ragheb 3-1 Tamer Mansour | Amr Abdel Moneim 3-1 Tarek Abdel Aziz |
| Sherif Rashdan 3-2 Hussein Saed | Michel Gobran 3-0 Mohamed Tabarek |
Juniors U19
Sana Ibrahim 3-0 Menna Walid 11-4, 11-8, 11-6
Salma El Tayeb 3-1 Nour Khaled 11-3, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5
Ahmed Said 3-0 Karim El-Barbary 11-7, 11-5, 11-5
Roger Alber 3-0 Abdelrahman Nassar 11-7, 11-4, 11-6
Seniors
Nouran Gohar 3-0 Nadine Shahin 11-1, 11-7, 11-2
Nada Abbas 3-1 Rowan ElAraby 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8
Mazen Hesham 3-0 Omar Mosaad 11-8, 117, 11-7
Mostafa Assal 3-2 Youssef Soliman 4-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-4
QUARTERS
Juniors U19
Sana Ibrahim 3-1 Nardine Garas 11-1, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8
Menna Walid 3-0 Shahd El-Refaey 11-7, 11-3, 11-8
Salma El Tayeb 3-1 Nour Heikal 11-6 5-11, 11-5, 11-8
Nour Khaled 3-1 Kenzy Ayman 4-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5
Karim EL-Barbary 3-2 Mohamed Hossam 9-11, 11-6, 11-1, 7-11, 11-5
Ahmed Said 3-2 Ahmed Waleed 11-7, 11-4, 5-11, 11-13, 11-8
Abdelrahman Nassar 3-1 Abdullah Shehab 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 14-12
Roger Alber 3-2 Ibrahim Mohamed 8-11, 11-1, 11-3, 7-11, 11-9
Seniors
Nouran Gohar 3-0 Zeina Mickawy 11-8, 11-6, 11-4
Nadine Shahin 3-2 Jana Shiha 11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4
Nada Abbas 3-0 Habiba Hossam 11-6, 11-2, 11-6
Rowan ElAraby 3-0 Farida Mohamed 11-4, 11-1, 11-2Mazen Hesham 3-1 Ali Farag 11-8, 1-11, 11-8, 11-9
Omar Mosaad 3-1 Abdallah Yasser 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7
Youssef Soliman 3-0 Zahed Sheren 11-4 11-5 11-9
Mostafa Assal 3-1 Ahmed Hosny 11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7
Masters
Over 35
Ahmed Ragheb 3-0 Mahmoud Refaey
Tamer Mansour 3-1 Osama Fekry
Sherif Rashdan 3-0 Mounir El Mash
Hussein Saed 3-0 Abdelrahman KaronOver 45
Tarek Abdel Aziz 3-0 Tarek Borham
Amr Abdel Moneim 3-1 Ahmd Mason
Mohamed Tabarek 3-1 Mohamed Atef
Michael Gobran 3-1 Mohamed Yousef
