Selena wins team event gold at Egypt TT meet

Sharm El-Sheikh: India's young Selena Selvakumar came up with a sterling, unbeaten run in the junior girls team event to win the title at the Egypt Junior and Cadet Open.

The 17-year-old Chennai paddler on Thursday paired up with local pair of Riman Hesham and Waad Ibrahim to upset the top seeded Egypt A team 3-2 in a gripping final.

She beat Sarah Abousetta 3-1 (11-8, 13-11, 11-13, 11-7) in the opening encounter and Marwa Alhodaby 3-1 (12-10, 4-11, 11-8, 11-9) in the fourth to set up the unexpected victory.

Her twin wins are particularly impressive as Egypt's Waad Ibrahim and Riman Hesham had lost to the highly rated Marwa Alhodaby and Mariam Alhodaby to hand over the initiative to their opponents.

Selena, however, didn't lose her cool. She soaked in the early pressure and won the first game 12-10 against Marwa. That was enough to shift the momentum and she rode on it for a comfortable win.

Waad Ibrahim later defeated Sarah Abousetta 3-1 (3-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-6) for a highly satisfying win.