by Ian Marshall, Editor
On duty for Egypt ‘A’, Ziad Elshawa and Yehia Saad occupied the top seeded position; Omar Allam and Mohamed Sameh, representing Egypt ‘B’, were the second seeds.
Perhaps somewhat predictably, China represented by Hou Jinxiang and Li Chen presented Ziad Elshawa and Yehia Saad with the greatest test; a three-two win for the Egyptians was the outcome, Ziad Elshawa proving the backbone of the success.
In the opening contest of the fixture, he beat Hou Jinxiang by the very narrowest of margins (6-11, 11-7, 7-11, 14-12, 13-11), before in the fourth engagement overcoming Li Chen in an equally close contest (7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 3-11, 11-8). The wins meant he set the scene for Yehia Saad to secure victory; he duly obliged, he beat Hou Jinxiang in four games (12-10, 2-11, 11-7, 11-8).
Success for the Egyptian duo sealed first place in the group; for the Chinese pair it meant the end of the road. Earlier in their opening contest they had experienced a three-two defeat at the hands of Egypt ‘C’ represented by Youssef Abdelwahab and Marwan Gamal. Li Chen beat both Youssef Abdelwahab (11-6, 11-8, 11-6) and Marwan Gamal (11-8, 11-5, 11-8) but that was the sum total of his team’s success.
Youssef Abdelwahab and Marwan Gamal duly finished in second place in the group and thus advanced to the main draw.
Likewise, for Omar Allam and Mohamed Sameh, they endured testing times; they were extended the full five match distance by their colleagues Egypt ‘F’ represented by Omar Hafez, Yehia Ibrahim and Yassin Wael. Man of the moment, with the overall score in the fixture level at two matches apiece, was Mohamed Sameh; he beat Yehia Ibrahim to seal the victory (11-6, 11-9, 11-5). Egypt ‘F’ duly finished in second position.
First place for Egypt, in the remaining groups, Romania’s Horia Stefan Ursut and Dragos Alexandru Bujor concluded matters in pole position ahead of Sweden’s Linus Keraenen and Alve Sjoevold; the combination of India’s Rajveer Vishal Shah and Egypt’s Mostafa Zinhom topped their group with the Egypt ‘D’ partnership of Mohamed Gaber and Adham Hatem in second place.
The Cadet Boys’ Team event will be played to a conclusion on Thursday 25th October.
