Anaka Alankamony lost to top seed and tournament favourite Nour El Tayeb in the round of 16 at the World Junior Championships being played at Boston.
Anaka had her chances as she matched the world no. 17 with her strokes leading twice in the first game 10-9 & 11-10, however Nour won the crucial points to win the first game. Nour played some brilliant drives throughout the match, it was her consistency that enabled her to win the second convincingly and then race to a a 5-0 lead in the third game. From here Anaka played giving total commitment, running to all corners and digging out all that was thrown at her. winning the third game 11-9 was huge for the Asian Junior Champion. Anaka’s never say die attitude seemed to fluster the normally calm Nour who made a crucial error at game ball. Nour dominated the fourth and progressed to the quarter finals in 36min. After the match Nour said, “It was so hard, she gets everything back!” Anaka was pleased with her performance but said “I am training to win such matches, I am confident of a better performance next year”
[1] Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt [9/16] Anaka Alankamony (Ind) 13/11, 11/6, 9/11, 11/3 (36m)
The team events start on 26 July.
