Egyptian trio Adam Hawal, Mohamed Gohar and Farida Walid all claimed five-game wins to secure their spots in the semi-finals of the PSA World Championships African Qualifying event at the Palm Hills Club in Cairo.
No.5 seed Hawal, who earlier this season stunned World No.2 Paul Coll to reach the last-16 of the Egyptian Open, caused the one seeding upset of the day’s play as he twice came from behind to overturn No.3 seed Mohamed Nasser by a 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9 scoreline.
The 17-year-old, currently ranked at World No.89, will face off against No.6 seed Mohamed Gohar in the semi-finals, after the latter got past rising talent Eiad Daoud in five games.
Eighteen-year-old Daoud had stunned top seed Mohamed Sharaf in the opening round of the event, and came close to a second consecutive upset. The teenager led 1-0 and later 2-1 against Gohar, but the 23-year-old rallied on occasions to seal his spot in the last four by a 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3 scoreline after 76 minutes of play.
The other two men’s players to claim wins were No.2 seed Yassin Shohdy and No.4 seed Yassin Elshafei, who claimed respective wins over the unseeded duo of Taha Elshafei and Ahmed Said Sobhy.
Meanwhile, in the women’s event, No.4 seed Farida Walid fought back from 2-1 down to defeat No.8 seed Nour Megahead in five games. The current World No.69 moved through by an 8-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4, 11-6 scoreline to set up a semi-final with No.6 seed Malak Fafthy, who ended the run of 15-year-old Rama El Nagger in four games.
In the bottom half of the draw, No.2 seed Ruqayya Salem and No.3 seed Nour Khafagy advanced to the semi-finals.
World No.82 Khafagy held off a strong showing from No.7 seed Rana Ismail to claim victory in four games, while Salem’s opponent, No.5 seed Barb Sameh, was forced to withdraw from their match early in the second game due to injury.
The semi-finals of the African Qualifying event will be available to watch live on SQUASHTV.
