Stamford, CT — It has been a busy morning and early afternoon of play at the 2016 Individual Championships.
Ramsay Cup (Women’s A Division): The quarterfinals saw several upsets this morning. Kayley Leonard of Harvard came into the tournament ranked fifth, right behind Olivia Fiechter of Princeton. The two faced each other in the quarters, and Leonard won 12-10 in the fourth to advance to the semifinals. She’ll face top-seeded Kanzy El Defrawy of Trinity in the semifinals. El Defrawy, a three-time Ramsay Cup finalist, advanced in three games over Yan Xin Tan of Penn.
The bigger upset of the morning came courtesy of Wesleyan’s Laila Samy, who entered the tournament ranked tenth. Samy faced Harvard’s Sabrina Sobhy, the number two seed in the draw. Samy got off to a slow start, and Sobhy won the first game. The next three went to Samy, including a 12-10 win in game three. In the semifinals, Samy will play Reeham Sedky of Penn, who defeated her teammate Anaka Alankamony in three games; Sedky was ranked third coming into the tournament.
Women’s B Division: In the A draw, Haidi Lala of Penn upset top-seeded Madeleine Gill of Stanford in five games. Lala will play Stanford’s Tara Shannon in the semifinals; Shannon advanced with a three-game win over Sherilyn Yang of F&M. Cornell’s Rachel Scherman defeated teammate Emma Uible in three to advance. She’ll play Stanford’s Zandra Ho in the semifinals, who advanced with a three-game win over Sarah Nelson of Bowdoin.
In the B draw, Samantha Chai knocked off another top seed, her Princeton teammate Rachel Leizman. Chai won 11-9 in the fifth to advance to the finals, where she’ll face Jennifer Haley of Trinity, who won in four over Columbia’s Reyna Pacheco. The other semifinal will feature Madlen O’Connor (Columbia) versus Sarah Bell (Stanford). O’Connor defeated Dartmouth’s Rebecca Brownell in three, and Bell won in four over Williams’ Nicole Friedman.
In the C draw, top-seeded Tanvi Khanna of Columbia advanced with a three-game win over Hedvika Suchankova of Dickinson. On the other side of the draw, Kristyna Alexova (Bates) came from behind to defeat Torey Lee of Bowdoin in five. The other C main draw matches are currently underway.
The D draw quarterfinals are scheduled for this afternoon.
Pool Trophy (Men’s A Division): Defending Pool Trophy champion Ahmed Abdel Khalek of Bates had his work cut out for him in the quarters, thanks to Moustafa Bayoumy of St. Lawrence. Bayoumy won the first game, and Abdel Khalek answered by winning the second game. The third game was the closest, with Bayoumy winning 12-10. The momentum shifted to Abdel Khalek: he won the fourth game 11-5 and the fifth 11-1. He’ll face Trinity’s Rick Penders in the semifinals. Penders advanced with a four-game win over Omar El Atmas of Drexel.
Another former Pool Trophy champion, Amr Khalifa of St. Lawrence, did not fair as well Abdel Khalek. Khalifa, who was seeded second, faced Rochester’s Ryosei Kobayashi in the quarters. Kobayashi, who entered the tournament ranked seventh, won the first game but then lost 10-12 to Khalifa in the second. The third game was also close, and it went 11-9 to Kobayashi, who pulled away 11-6 to win the fourth game and the match. Kobayashi will play teammate Mario Yanez, who defeated Osama Khalifa (Columbia), who retired in the third game. Rochester is now guaranteed to have one player in the final.
Men’s B Division: In the A draw, Kah Wah Cheong — who a week ago won the deciding match to give Yale the national team title — was the first player to advance out of the quarters; he defeated George Willis of St. Lawrence in three. He’ll play Drexel’s Bransten Ming, who defeated Jarrett Odrich of Virginia in three. The other A draw matches are underway.
Penn’s Karim Tarek was the first player to advance out of the B draw quarterfinals. He defeated St. Lawrence’s Lockie Munro 12-10 in the third. The other B draw matches are underway.
The C and D main draw quarterfinals are scheduled for this afternoon.
