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Nour El Sherbini stopped Olivia Blatchford in the deciding match as Egypt narrowly defeated the United States, 2-1, to win the 2011 Women’s World Junior Team Championship in Boston, MA. The second place finish represents the best result ever of any U.S. team in a World Championship.
Trailing in the match 1-0 after Egyptian Nouran El Torky beat 14 year old Sabrina Sobhy 11-9, 11-3, 11-3, the U.S. turned to Amanda Sobhy, who was faced with the enormous task of keeping their hopes alive against newly minted individual World Champion Nour El Tayeb. Sobhy, disappointed at her semifinal departure in the individuals, showed why she is one of the top players in the world, playing her best match of the tournament to defeat El Tayeb, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, to even the match for the U.S. Team.
Egypt clinched the title when El Sherbini, winner of the 2009 individual World Championship and runner-up in 2011, beat Blatchford in a hard fought three game match, 11-8, 11-3, 11-8.
Despite dropping the final, the U.S. team (pictured above) was able to celebrate their enourmous accomplishment and look back on a monumental ten days in Boston. Highlights included three squad members, Amanda Sobhy, Haley Mendez and Blatchford, reaching the round of 16 in the individual championship. The U.S. then went undefeated in team pool play, and in what was one of the most thrilling and historic matches in U.S. Team history, they defeated India before a packed home crowd at Harvard’s Murr Center to reach the finals.
Finals: [1] EGYPT bt [2] USA 2/1
Nouran El Torky beat Sabrina Sobhy 11-9, 11-3, 11-3 (20m)
Nour El Tayeb lost to Amanda Sobhy 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 9-11 (44m)
Nour El Sherbini beat Olivia Blatchford 11-8, 11-3, 11-8 (29m)
You can see all the results and photos from the 2011 Women’s World Junior Squash Championships by clicking here. |
