The Northern Joe Cup: Zakaria Ends Withington Hopes, Top Seeds Malik & Mekhalfi Through

Teenage sensation Mohamad Zakaria knocked out home favourite Finnlay Withington in five games to round off quarter-finals day at The Northern Joe Cup. 

The 16-year-old has already earned quite the reputation on the PSA Tour after winning his first title in LA a few weeks ago, but was facing another of the sport’s rising stars in Withington, who himself is just 19. 

Taking to the court at the Cheetham Hill Sports Club, where Withington grew up playing, the players went toe-to-toe throughout the opening game, which the Egyptian eventually won 14-12 on a controversial stroke decision. 

Backed by a vocal home crowd cheering his every point, Withington responded by winning the next two games, only for the young Egyptian to take the match into a decider by winning game four. 

The opening rallies of game five were always likely to be decisive and it was Zakaria who took control. He won the first three points before Withington got himself on the board, but that was as good as it got for the reigning British Junior Open champion, who lost the next eight points, with Zakaria letting out a huge cry of joy upon claiming victory. 

The Egyptian will now play No.3 seed Emyr Evans for a place in the final, after the Welshman saw off Pakistan’s Noor Zamam. 

Evans edged the first two games 11-9 before opening the door in game three, which was won convincingly by Zamam. 

Any danger of the 19-year-old gaining the momentum were soon dispelled though, as Evans raced out of the blocks in game four, dropping only one point in the game to book his semi-final berth.

The other men’s semi-final will see top seed Toufik Mekhalfi and No.4 seed Dewald van Niekerk go head-to-head. 

Mekhalfi beat the in-form Owain Taylor 3-0 in the second match of the day, while South Africa’s Van Niekerk got the better of AbdAllah Eissa by the same scoreline. 

Women’s No.1 seed Torrie Malik also booked her spot in the semi-finals by a 3-0 scoreline, beating another home favourite, Lowri Robers. 

The 19-year-old, runner-up here one year ago, took just shy of half an hour to record an 11-4, 11-8, 11-8 win, only trailing for a single point during the entire match.

Malik’s semi-final opponent will be Egyptian teenager Nour Megahed, who edged a nail-biting thriller against No.6 seed Ali Loke. 

Loke battled back from two games down and had match balls of her own at 10-9 and 11-10 up in the fifth, but was unable to convert either, allowing Megahed the opportunity to bring up a match ball of her own, which she won on a backhand volley into the corner. 

The other women’s semi-final will be between two other teenage stars – defending champion Saran Nghiem against Yasshmita Jadish Kumar of Malaysian. 

Like Megahed and Zakaria, Nghiem needed all five games to win her quarter-final against Hana Ismail, while Kumar beat Menna Walid 3-1. 

Results: Men’s Quarter-Finals 

[1] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) bt [5] Owain Taylor (WAL) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 12-10 (46m)  
[4] Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) bt [WC] AbdAllah Eissa (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (37m) 
[3] Emyr Evans (WAL) bt [7] Noor Zaman (PAK) 3-1: 11-9, 11-9, 4-11, 11-1 (39m) 
Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt [2] Finnlay Withington (ENG) 3-2: 14-12, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-1 (58m) 

Results: Women’s Quarter-Finals 

[1] Torrie Malik (ENG) bt [7] Lowri Roberts (WAL) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-8 (27m) 
Nour Megahed (EGY) bt [6] Ali Loke (WAL) 3-2: 13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 14-12 (60m) 
[3] Saran Nghiem (ENG) bt [8] Hana Ismail (EGY) 3-2: 9-11, 11-2, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 (52m) 
[2] Yasshmita Jadish Kumar (MAS) bt [5] Menna Walid (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9 (38m)