Tesni Evans meets Nicol David in first round
By SEAN REUTHE
Malaysian Nafiizwan Adnan pulled off a huge upset as he defeated former World No.3 Omar Mosaad in the final round of qualification to secure his place in the main draw of the 2017 J.P. Morgan China Open – the PSA M100 tournament which gets under way in Shanghai today (August 31).
World No.32 Adnan recovered from dropping the first game to impress as he starved the hard-hitting Mosaad of attacking opportunities, grinding his way to a 3-1 win that sees him go through to take on England’s Daryl Selby in the first round.
While Mosaad bowed out, there was joy for another Egyptian, Karim Ali Fathi, as he overturned the seedings to defeat number one seeded qualifier Alan Clyne in a four-game encounter. Fathi will now face Germany’s Simon Rösner in the main draw.
Clyne’s compatriot, Greg Lobban, ensured there would be at least one Scottish presence in the event as he defeated Hong Kong’s Tsz Fung Yip, with India’s Saurav Ghosal completing the line up of qualifiers in the Men’s draw.
The top four men’s seeds are all Egyptian, namely Ali Farag, Marwan ElShorbagy, Ramy Ashour and Fares Dessouky.
Ghosal’s compatriot, Joshna Chinappa, will also be competing in the main draw of the women’s event after coming through a tense and tough five-game encounter with national rival Dipika Pallikal Karthik. Chinappa clinched the final game 11-8 and will now face World No.1 and tournament favourite Nour El Sherbini tomorrow.
Salma Hany Ibrahim, Olivia Blatchford and Tesni Evans completed the women’s qualifiers. Evans overcame Joey Chan of Hong Kong and her reward is a first round battle with Malaysian legend Nicol David.
An all-English tussle features No.7 seed Alison Waters and Emily Whitlock.
2017 J.P. Morgan China Squash Open.
Mens Final Qualifying Round:
[8] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) bt [1] Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-1: 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (60m)
[6] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt [3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-1: 13-15, 11-4, 13-11, 11-4 (61m)
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [4] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-2, 11-4 (46m)
[2] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [5] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-1 (51m)
Men’s First Round (August 31):
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [WC] Joe Wong (CHN)
Diego Elias (PER) v [8] Max Lee (HKG)
[6] Paul Coll (NZL) v Zahed Mohamed (EGY)
[Q] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [4] Fares Dessouky (EGY)
[3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v Cesar Salazar (MEX)
[Q] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) v [7] Daryl Selby (ENG)
[5] Simon Rösner (GER) v [Q] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)
[Q] Greg Lobban (SCO) v [2] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
Women’s Final Qualifying Round:
[1] Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt [7] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) 3-2: 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8 (56m)
[6] Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY) bt [4] Donna Urquhart (AUS) 3-1: 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 (40m)
[3] Olivia Blatchford (USA) bt [8] Mayar Hany (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-7, 10-12, 11-7 (44m)
[2] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [5] Joey Chan (HKG) 3-1: 4-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (57m)
Women’s First Round (August 31):
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [Q] Joshna Chinappa (IND)
Emily Whitlock (ENG) v [7] Alison Waters (ENG)
[5] Nicol David (MAS) v [Q] Tesni Evans (WAL)
Joelle King (NZL) v [3] Laura Massaro (ENG)
[4] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [Q] Olivia Blatchford (USA)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[8] Annie Au (HKG) v [WC] Li Dongjin (CHN)
[Q] Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY) v [2] Camille Serme (FRA)
Picture courtesy of PSA