Chennai girl Selena triumphs in Egypt

The 17-year-old Chennai girl paired up with local duo 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 performed the last rites, beating Sarah Abousetta 3-1 (3-11, 11-9, 11-3, 116) for a highly satisfying win. Selena was equally impressive in the semifinals against the Egypt-Tunisia team. 

She overcame Egypt’s Eman Taha 3-1 (11-8, 11-3, 6-11, 11-7) in the second match and Tunisia’s Abir Haj Salah 3-1 (11-5, 12-14, 11-9, 11-6) in what proved to be the decider.