HomeArticlesHarvard's Sobhy Wins 2014 Women’s Individual Championship

Harvard’s Sobhy Wins 2014 Women’s Individual Championship

Philadelphia, PA — Amanda Sobhy of Harvard successfully defended her individual national title today, defeating Kanzy El Defrawy of Trinity in three games to win the 2014 Individual Championships, played at Drexel University.

Sohby has been flawless in intercollegiate play this season, going 12-0 during the regular season and sweeping her matches two weeks ago at the 2014 Women’s National Team Championships. A few players came within a few points of taking a game off of the Harvard junior, but no one succeeded.

Sobhy has amassed an impressive collection of honors during her three years with the Crimson. She is a two-time First Team All American, and a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year. She was Ivy League Rookie of the Year during her first season.

Sobhy was the top seed coming into this tournament, and she looked every bit the favorite as she powered her way through the draw. She defeated Princeton’s Alex Sawin in the first round, which she followed with a victory over George Washington’s Anna Porras in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, she sent Harvard teammate Haley Mendez to the consolations, and in the semifinals, she knocked off Penn’s Anaka Alankamony. She won all her matches in three games.

In the final, Sobhy faced the player she defeated for the Ramsay Cup last season: El Defrawy. The Trinity sophomore was just a week removed from winning the 2014 Women’s National Team Championship with the Bantams. El Defrawy, a 2013 First Team All-American and the 2013 New England Small College Athletic Conference Player and Rookie of the Year, had compiled a 7-3 regular season record playing number 1 for Trinity.

El Defrawy was seeded second to Sobhy in the Ramsay Cup draw. She advanced easily through the first two rounds, defeating Penn’s Carey Celata and Princeton’s Nicole Bunyanin three games. In the quarterfinals, however, she had to face teammate Catalina Pelaez, a senior and the winner of the 2014 Richey Award. El Defrawy won the first two games, but Pelaez fought back to force a fifth, which El Defrawy won 11-4.

El Defrawy also had a demanding match in the semifinals, where she played 2011 individual champion Millie Tomlinson of Yale. El Defrawy won the first game 13-11, and Tomlinson won the second by the same score. El Defrawy stormed back in the last two games to earn another shot at Sobhy and the national individual title.

Sobhy and El Defrawy had already played each other twice this season, and both times Sobhy won in three games.

El Defrawy took an early 2-1 lead in the first game of the Ramsay Cup final, but Sobhy soon overtook her. The Harvard junior won the first game 11-6.

In the second game, El Defrawy again went out to an early lead, and Sobhy again caught up and pulled away. The second game went 11-5 to Sobhy.

In the third game Sobhy gave El Defrawy few opportunities to jump ahead. The defending national champion held her opponent to just three points, and with that, Sobhy won the Ramsay Cup.

This is Sobhy’s third consecutive national individual title. She joins Alicia McConnell of Penn and Julia Beaver of Princeton as the only players to win three titles. Princeton coach Gail Ramsay, who played for Penn State, is the only woman to win four individual titles; the individual trophy is named the Ramsay Cup in her honor.

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