 Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 16 Jul 2012 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 16 Jul 2012 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 16 Jul 2012 | | | |
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| 16 Jul 2012 - London - Clare Richards | |
| Samir shines on North African touring team |
Egyptian Sandra Samir was the star of the ITF/GSDF 18 & Under Touring Team to North Africa, winning the 12th Carthago Cup girls singles title, scoring her first victory in four meetings against Ilze Hattingh (RSA). She also reached the Tunisia Junior ITF doubles final with teammate Theresa Van Zyl (RSA).
Having lost to Hattingh at the 16 & under African Junior Championships and warm up event in Egypt in April, Samir was looking for revenge in their quarterfinal meeting in the first tournament, the Tunisia Junior ITF. However the top seeded South African proved too strong for Samir, beating her 64 64. Van Zyl also reached the quarterfinals, but unseeded Simran Kaur Sethi of India put an end to her hopes 62 63.
Samir and Van Zyl reached the final of the doubles without dropping a set, where they faced top seeds Hattingh and her Russian partner Maria Marfutina. In a tightly contested match, the South African–Russian duo came out on top in a third set match tiebreak 63 46 10-6.
Samir went on to face Hattingh again in the final of the second tournament, the 12th Carthago Cup, following a hard fought 75 46 63 semifinal victory over Namibian Lesedi Jacobs. Having won the first set, the Egyptian dropped the second on a tiebreak before digging deep in the third to win 64 67(2) 61.
Van Zyl and the other two team members, Omar Gamal El Din (EGY) and Guy-Orly Iradukunda (BDI), all reached the quarterfinals in Carthage. Van Zyl lost to a fellow pupil of the ITF/SATA training centre in Pretoria, Lesedi Jacobs, 63 06 62; Gamal El Din had a tough match against local boy and top seed Skander Mansouri losing 60 63; and Iradukunda went down to American Jared Donaldson 61 62.
The team then flew to Casablanca, Morocco, where they trained for a few days before competing in the Grade 1 event, Mediterranee Avenir. Up against a tough field of players, Samir once again advanced furthest of all the team members in the tournament reaching the quarterfinal,s only to be knocked out by South African eighth seed Lynn Kiro 75 61. The other team members were knocked out in the second round.
To view the full results of each tournament please visit the ITF Juniors website: http://www.itftennis.com/juniors/tournaments/calendar.aspx
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