A pair of qualifiers prevailed, and the third seed fell, during a series of upsets in today’s first round of the Macau Open, thePSA World Tour International 50 squash event at the Centro de Bowling do Complexo Desportivo Internacional de COTAI in Macau, China
England’s Daryl Selby was the biggest casualty – the third-seeded world No12 going down 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 to flying Finn Olli Tuominen, the former world No13 from Helsinki, now ranked 11 places below his opponent.
Tuominen progresses to meet Julian Illingworth, the US number one who recovered from a game down to beat French qualifier Mathieu Castagnet 6-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-5 – recording his first Tour victory since August.
Malaysia’s Ong Beng Hee is celebrating his third appearance in the Macau Open after reaching the final in 2000 and winning the title a year later. Now competing as a qualifier, the Penang-born 31-year-old world No33 produced a stunning upset by beating England international Tom Richards, ranked 21 in the world, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6.
“Not the result I wanted in the ‘city of dreams’, going down in 3, but all credit to Ong Beng Hee who was on fire today,” tweeted Richards after the match.
The former world No7 now takes on top seed Mohamed El Shorbagy after the Egyptian world No8 survived a tough first round battle against Cameron Pilley – beating the world No18 from Australia 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-3.
And Spain’s ‘comeback King’ Borja Golan also had reason to celebrate: The qualifier from Santiago DC, fighting back to top form after knee surgery, despatched England’s Jonathan Kemp 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 to set up a quarter-final clash with second seed Thierry Lincou.
The formidable 35-year-old Frenchman, a former world champion and world number one currently ranked 10 in the world, battled back from 2/1 down to overcome Egypt’s world No15 Omar Mosaad 11-8, 4-11, 7-11, 11-3, 13-11.
Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) v [Q] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) Olli Tuominen (FIN) v Julian Illingworth (USA)
[4] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) v Hisham Mohamed Ashour (EGY)
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v [Q] Borja Golan (ESP)
