Kheirallah Crushed In Alexandria Upset

Egyptian teenager Raneem El Weleily pulled off a sensational upset in the Women's Alexandria Sporting Club Open when she knocked out top seed and defending champion Engy Kheirallah in the semi-finals of the WISPA World Tour event in Egypt's second largest city Alexandria.

The 17-year-old world junior champion from Alexandria, seeded three, fought back from 2/1 down to defeat fellow Alexandrian Kheirallah 10-8, 4-9, 1-9, 9-7, 9-4 in 80 minutes to reach the second WISPA Tour final of her short career.

"At the beginning of the first game, I was so excited and though I was in control I snatched it 10/8," said the surprise finalist afterwards. "I started pretty well in the second game and took the lead till I was 4/1 up - but then I lost my concentration and had so many unforced errors which made me lose the game, and the third one as well.

"The fourth game started pretty well - we went point by point, and she was leading 7/5 when I managed to concentrate and keep the ball going and won 9/7.

"Luckily the last game finished 9/4, though I really had no idea what my plan was it was so confusing and just I didn't know where to play what," admitted the teenager. "But I'm really satisfied with my performance mentally and physically - and hope I can keep it up tomorrow as well."

El Weleily's opponent in the final will be France's No2 seed Isabelle Stoehr, who had a more straightforward 9-0, 9-3, 9-2 victory over Hong Kong's fourth seed Christina Mak in 33 minutes.

Semi-finals:
[3] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [1] Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 10-8, 4-9, 1-9, 9-7, 9-4 (80m)
[2] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt [4] Christina Mak (HKG) 9-0, 9-3, 9-2 (33m)