Outsiders Alves & Al Tamimi Take Dutch Junior Open Titles
Qatari
Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi and France's Melissa Alves - both
only seeded to reach the semi-finals - came away with the U19 titles in
the Dutch Junior Open Squash Championships at Frans Otten
Stadion in Amsterdam.
Twice
a runner-up in the French Junior Open, Alves made her
breakthrough in the semi-finals of the European Squash Federation
Junior Circuit event in the Netherlands when she upset second-seeded
compatriot Enora Villard in five games.
The
18-year-old from Paris dropped the first game in the final against
Victoria Temple Murray - a 5/8 seed from England who earlier
produced the event's biggest shock by removing French favourite Julia
Lecoq in the quarter-finals.
The
next three games all went the full distance, with Alves finally emerging
triumphant after a 4-11, 14-12, 13-11, 17-15 scoreline to score her
maiden ESF circuit U19 title success.
Top
seed Damien Volland dropped just a single game en-route to the
men's final and looked set to pull off a French double.
But Al
Tamimi was determined to put Qatar on the ESF Junior Circuit map and,
after surviving a marathon opening game 18-16, went on to recover from
the loss of the third game to vanquish Volland 18-16, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9
to become the first Qatari winner of the established Amsterdam junior
title.
Men's
U19 quarter-finals:
[1] Damien Volland (FRA) bt [5/8] Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
11-3, 11-3, 11-6
[5/8] Alexandre Cogno (FRA) bt [9/16] Auguste Dussourd
(FRA) 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-4, 11-2
[3/4] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt [5/8] Faraz Khan
(USA) 11-5, 11-6, 11-8
Rishi Tandon (IND) bt [2] Taminder Gata-Aura (ENG) 11-9,
13-11, 11-3
Semi-finals:
[1] Damien Volland (FRA) bt [5/8] Alexandre Cogno (FRA)
11-9, 15-13, 11-7
[3/4] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt Rishi Tandon (IND)
16-14, 13-11, 12-10
Final:
[3/4] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt [1] Damien Volland
(FRA) 18-16, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9
Women's U19 quarter-finals:
[5/8] Victoria Temple Murray (ENG) bt [1] Julia Lecoq
(FRA) 11-2, 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6
[3/4] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) bt [9/16] Katie Smith (ENG)
12-14, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5
[3/4] Melissa Alves (FRA) bt [5/8] Camille Lanier (POR)
7-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-8
[2] Enora Villard (FRA) bt Isabelle Dowling (USA) 8-11,
11-3, 11-8, 11-7
Semi-finals:
[5/8] Victoria Temple Murray (ENG) bt [3/4] Tessa ter Sluis
(NED) 11-9, 11-8, 11-5
[3/4] Melissa Alves (FRA) bt [2] Enora Villard (FRA) 11-6,
13-11, 7-11, 9-11, 12-10
Final:
[3/4] Melissa Alves (FRA) bt [5/8] Victoria Temple Murray
(ENG) 4-11, 14-12, 13-11, 17-15
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