by Simon Daish
Three out of the four pairs of Junior Mixed Doubles semi-finalists will represent Egypt after the country continued to display its dominance in Tunis.
Top seeds Youssef Abdel-Aziz and Marwa Alhodaby came through the last eight with a comfortable three games success against the host nation’s Aboubaker Bourass and Samar Hichri (11-2, 11-4, 11-6), while the pairing of Ziad Wael and Yomna Sorour prevailed in the other quarter-finals tie in the top half of the draw.
The lower half of the draw produced another victory for an Egyptian combination as Karim Elhakem and Mariam Alhodaby progressed to the semi-finals in straight games.
However, there is one pairing in the last four that doesn’t compete for Egypt as the host nation’s Nathael Hamdoun and Abir Haj Salah saw off Algeria’s Islem Tifoura and Hiba Feredj (8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9) to ensure Tunisia’s presence in the semi-finals.
Congo Democratic will be involved in Round of 16 action in the Junior Boys’ Doubles event after a successful day at the office one of the country’s pairings.
Christian Mbongia and his partner Exauce Ngefuassa overcame Cote D’Ivoire’s Sihon Kone and Franck Kouadio by a 3-0 scoreline (11-6, 11-9, 11-9).
Yet, arguably the standout tie of the last 32 resulted in South African celebrations as Prahlad Nair and Ezile Ndwabasini held off the challenge of Sierra Leone’s Emmanuel Koroma and Alieu Sesay (11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 13-11) to move through to the Round of 16.
