The African World Championship Qualifying competition got under way at the Black Ball Sporting Club in Cairo yesterday, running alongside the third day of the PSA Gold-level Black Ball Squash Open.
Both men’s and women’s events feature 16-player draws with the eventual winners earning qualification for the CIB PSA World Championships next month in Cairo. The first two rounds will be played out on the Black Ball Club’s traditional courts with the semis and finals staged on the all-Glass court prior to the PSA events.
The men’s draw was dominated by home players with eight Egyptians set to contest the quarter-finals. The only seeding upset saw Hazem Hossam overcome South Africa’s eight-seeded Dewald van Niekirk in a five game thriller.
Sixth seed Mostafa Elsirty had his work cut out against Nigeria’s Gabriel Olufunmilayo, coming from two-one down to also win in five games.
Also through are British Junior Open champion Mohamed Zakaria and Kareem El Torkey, who returned from winning the Rotterdam Open yesterday and prevailed in five games.
Seven Egyptians will contest the Women’s quarter-finals, joined by South Africa’s Hayley Ward, who overcame third seeded Hana Ismail in four games.
The last match of the day produced the biggest upset, as Nadien Elhammamy downed second seed Amina El Rihany in straight games.
Tomorrow’s men’s quarter-finals start at 12.00 (GMT+2), the women’s at 16.00, all on court 13.
Men’s Round One :
[1] Mazen Gamal (Egy) 3-0 Seif Tamer (Egy) 11-7, 11-8, 12-10 (42m)
[6] Moustafa Elsirty (Egy) 3-2 Gabriel Olufunmilayo (Ngr) 11-4, 10-12, 10-12, 11-3, 11-6 (67m)
[7] Mohamed Nasser (Egy) 3-0 Ziad Ibrahim (Egy) 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 (49m)
[4] Seif El-Shenawy (Egy) 3-0 Arno Diekmann (Nam) 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (22m)
[3] Mohamed Zakaria (Egy) 3-1 Khaled Labib (Egy) 11-6, 11-6, 11-1 (33m)
Hazem Hossam (Egy) 3-2 [8] Dewald van Niekerk (Rsa) 6-11, 11-4, 11-7, 3-11, 11-2 (74m)
[5] Kareem El Torkey (Egy) 3-2 Omar Elkattan (Egy) 11-9, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8 (59m)
[2] Yassin Elshafei (Egy) 3-0 Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek (Egy) 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 (40m)
Women’s Round One :
[1] Nardine Garas (Egy) 3-0 Rofiat Abdulazeez (Ngr) 11-2, 11-4, 11-1 (17m)
[7] Nour Megahed (Egy) 3-1 Lojayn Gohary (Egy) 5-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-6 (38m)
[8] Ingy Hammouda (Egy) 3-1 Karma Allam (Egy) 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 11-3 (34m)
Hayley Ward (Rsa) 3-1 [3] Hana Ismail (Egy) 6-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-8 (35m)
[4] Habiba Hany (Egy) 3-0 Salma Elalfy (Egy) 14-12, 11-7, 11-7 (33m)
[8] Malak Fathy (Egy) 3-0 Nour Ramy (Egy) 11-0, 11-1, 11-0 (11m)
[7] Nour Khagafy (Egy) 3-0 Busayo Olatunji (Ngr) 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (21m)
Nadien Elhammamy (Egy) 3-0 [2] Amina El Rihany (Egy) 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 (36m)
