Sharm El-Sheikh Oct 13 (IANS) Indias young Selena Selvakumar came up with a sterling unbeaten run in the junior girls team event to win the title at the Egypt Junior and Cadet Open.
The 17-year-old Chennai paddler on Thursday paired up with local pair of Riman Hesham and Waad Ibrahim to upset the top seeded Egypt A team 3-2 in a gripping final.
She beat Sarah Abousetta 3-1 (11-8 13-11 11-13 11-7) in the opening encounter and Marwa Alhodaby 3-1 (12-10 4-11 11-8 11-9) in the fourth to set up the unexpected victory.
Her twin wins are particularly impressive as Egypt s Waad Ibrahim and Riman Hesham had lost to the highly rated Marwa Alhodaby and Mariam Alhodaby to hand over the initiative to their opponents.
Selena however didn t lose her cool. She soaked in the early pressure and won the first game 12-10 against Marwa. That was enough to shift the momentum and she rode on it for a comfortable win.
Waad Ibrahim later defeated Sarah Abousetta 3-1 (3-11 11-9 11-3 11-6) for a highly satisfying win.
--IANS
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