Khalifa Knocks Off Farag, Will Compete for National Championship Tomorrow
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by:
Tara FreemanAmr Khaled Khalifa '16 will compete for a national championship tomorrow at noon.
March 2: Amr Khaled Khalifa battled back from a two-game deficit to win the next three games, knocking off defending champion Ali Farag of Harvard 3-2 in the semifinals of the CSA Individual Championships in Hartford, CT on Saturday. With the victory, Khalifa advances to tomorrow's national championship match against Princeton's Todd Harrity taking place at noon.
Farag opened up to an early two game lead with 11-9 and 11-3 wins, looking composed to secure a berth in a second consecutive Pool Trophy final. Khalifa, however, powered to an 11-7 win in the third, followed by an 11-6 win in the fourth, forcing a fifth and final game. Khalifa and Farag went point for point in the deciding game until Farag had match ball at 10-8. Khalifa caught him again though, forcing the game into extra points. They tied again at 11-all, and Khalifa finally pulled away for a thrilling 13-11 win in the fifth.
Earlier in the day, Khalifa defeated Princeton's Tyler Osborne 3-1 in the quarterfinals (11-8, 11-13, 11-4, 11-5).
In the Molloy Division, Sebestian Riedelsheimer and Ibrahim Khan were both defeated in the round of 16. Riedelsheimer was edged by John Steele of Wesleyan, 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-2), while Khan battled in a tough 3-1 loss to Karm Kumar of Rochester (12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7).
Kyle Ogilvy earned a victory over Ibrahim Bakir of Drexel 3-1 (11-9, 12-10, 12-14, 11-3) to advance to the consolation semifinals against Ryan Todd of Cornell at 9:45 am tomorrow.
Pool Division (A)
32: Amr Khaled
Khalifa (SLU) def. Johan Detter (Trinity) 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-8)
16: Amr Khaled Khalifa (SLU) def.
Brandon McLaughlin (Harvard) 3-0 (12-10, 11-3, 11-5)
Q: Amr Khaled Khalifa (SLU) def. Tyler
Osborne (Princeton) 3-1 (11-8, 11-13, 11-4, 11-5)
S: Amr Khaled Khalifa (SLU) def. Ali
Farag (Harvard) 3-2 (9-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-6, 13-11)
F: Amr Khaled Khalifa (SLU) vs. Todd Harrity (Princeton) 3/2 noon
Molloy Division (B)
64: Kyle Ogilvy (SLU)
def. Kristian Muldoon (Bates) 3-0 (13-11, 11-6, 11-6)
64: Sebastian Riedelsheimer (SLU) vs.
BYE
64: Ibrahim Khan (SLU) vs. BYE
32: Andrew McGuinness (Navy) def. Kyle
Ogilvy (SLU) 3-0 (11-8, 17-15, 11-8)
32: Sebastian Riedelsheimer (SLU) def.
Parker Hurst (Middlebury) 3-0 (11-8, 11-2, 11-8)
32: Ibrahim Khan (SLU) def. Ibrahim
Bakir (Drexel) 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9)
16: Karm Kumar (Rochester) def. Ibrahim
Khan (SLU) 3-1 (12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7)
16: John Steele (Wesleyan) def. Sebastian
Riedelsheimer (SLU) 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-2)
Second Round Consolation:
C1: Kyle Ogilvy (SLU) def. Moustafa
Hamada (Trinity) Default
CQ: Kyle Ogilvy (SLU) def. Ibrahim Bakir
(Drexel) 3-1 (11-9, 12-10, 12-14, 11-3)
CS: Kyle Ogilvy (SLU) vs. Ryan Todd (Cornell) 3/3 9:45am