18-year-old Amanda Sobhy defeated Natalie Grainger in four games, 11-1, 11-4, 2-11, 11-8, to capture her first U.S. Women’s Championship Sunday afternoon in Cambridge, MA. Sobhy’s victory ended Grainger’s streak of five straight titles.
Julian Illingworth, despite dropping the first game, turned away a determined Christopher Gordon to win his eighth consecutive U.S. S.L. Green crown, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5.
Sobhy, ending a magical season that saw her go undefeated in her freshmen season for Harvard, including capturing the individual collegiate title last weekend in Amherst, was overwhelming in the first two games, winning both in very short fashion. Grainger recovered and looked to be turing the tide with a decisive third game win, but it was not to be as the teenager from Sea Cliff, New York, prevailed in a tight fourth to hoist the winners trophy.
It appeared it may turn into a day of streak busting when Gordon took the first game against Illingworth in the men’s match. Gordon also had his chances to break away in the second and third games, but Ilingworth has won this title eight straight times for a reason, and his quick hands and shot making ability were the difference as he pulled away in the fourth to secure the title.
