by Ian Marshall, Editor
On the opening day of play, top seeds, Egypt’s Sarah Abousetta, Mariam Alhodaby and Marwa Alhodaby had duly booked first place in their under 21 women’s team group and thus advanced directly to the semi-finals; for Tunisia, their penultimate round opponents, a quarter-final meeting was required.
Represented by Fadwa Garci, Samar Hichri and Maran Zoghlami, a 3-1 win was posted against the Mauritius trio formed by Nandeshwaree Jalim, Ruqayyah Kinoo and Oumehani Hosenally. Mainstay of the victory was Fadwa Garci, she accounted for both Ruqayyah Kinoo (11-5, 11-4, 22-20) and Maram Zoghlami (11-7, 11-6, 12-10).
A hard fought win; for South Africa’s Musfiquh Kalam, Simeen Mookrey and Jesse Nomdoo against Angola’s Isabel Albino, Celeste Ferreira and Ruth Tavares, life was even more testing at the quarter-final stage. They needed the full five matches to secure victory. Star of the show was Simeen Mookrey, she beat Ruth Tavares in the second match of the engagement (11-4, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8), before in the vital fifth and concluding contest accounting for Isabel Albino (11-6, 11-9, 11-9).
Algeria, represented by Loubna Djedjik, Hiba Feredj and Sannah Lagsir, like Egypt directly through to the semi-finals following top place in their group, now awaits South Africa.
Egypt versus Tunisia at the semi-final stage of the under 21 women’s team event, it is the same in the junior girls’ team competition. Egypt selects from Sarah Abousetta, Sara Elhakem, Hend Fathy, Hana Goda and Shahd Sameh; for Tunisia Ghofrane Beji, Fadwa Garci and Samar Hichri form the line-up.
In the opposite half of the draw, the Mauritius trio formed by Sandhana Desscann, Oumehani Hosenally and Nandeshwaree Jalim face Nigeria’s Sukurat Aiyelbegan, Rofiat Jimoh and Vivian Oku. Notably the Mauritius outfit topped their group, Nigeria finished in second place to Egypt.
Meanwhile, in the cadet girls’ team event, at the semi-final stage Tunisia’s Farah Mahjoub and Maram Zoghlami meet Nigeria’s Sukurat Aiyelbegan and Sadiat Alimat Akeem; Egypt who select from Farida Badawy, Rouaa Elnaghi, Hana Goda, Farah Mahjoub and Maram Zoghlami oppose the Algerian outfit formed by Melissa Belache, Hadil Merrouche and Julie Kayembe.
In the initial stage if proceedings, Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria, the respective top three seeds, finished in group first places; Nigeria concluded matters in second place behind Algeria.
The semi-finals of the under 21 women’s team, junior girls’ team and cadet girls’ team events will be conducted on Tuesday 9th April.
2019 African Youth, Junior and Cadet Championships: Newsletter No.3 (Monday 8th April)
