Big Omar wins all-Egyptian final
By NATHAN CLARKE
Tall Egyptian Omar Abdel Meguid emerged victorious in a thrilling five-game encounter with compatriot Karim Ali Fathi in the final of the 2016 Oregon Open to secure the PSA M15 crown and his second consecutive PSA World Tour title.
The towering World No.33 booked his place in the final after a gruelling 90-minute semi-final battle with Raphael Kandra and he looked to be feeling the effects of that encounter as he got off to a laboured start against 22-year-old Fathi, who raced into an early 5-0 lead in the first game before converting 11-3 to make the first dent in the scoreboard.
Meguid, 29, quickly levelled the match however, playing with renewed vigour and power to dominate the second game before the match swung back in favour of Fathi once again as he edged a tense and physically punishing third game which was dominated by lengthy, lung-bursting rallies.
Meguid once again upped his levels to reverse momentum in the fourth and force a decisive fifth game. That’s where he showed his class and dexterity to record a series of sublime winners when tied at 5-5 to pull away from Fathi and secure the match and the championship 3-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7.
$15,000 Men’s Oregon Open 2016, Multnomah Athletic Club, Portland, Oregon, USA
Final:
[1] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt [2] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) 3-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7 (65m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt [3] Raphael Kandra (GER) 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 14-12 (90m)
[2] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) bt [Q] Vikram Malhotra (IND) 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (62m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt [7] Arturo Salazar (MEX) 11-9, 6-11, 11-1, 11-7 (50m)
[3] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [6] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (73m)
[Q] Vikram Malhotra (IND) bt [4] Todd Harrity (USA) 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4 (48m)
[2] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) bt [8] Eric Galvez (MEX) 12-10, 11-6, 11-5 (45m)
1st round:
[1] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt [Q] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (28m)
[7] Arturo Salazar (MEX) bt [WC] Sam Gould (USA) 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 (25m)
[6] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt Joe Chapman (IVB) 11-3, 11-8, 11-6 (31m)
[3] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt Shahjahan Khan (PAK) 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (50m)
[4] Todd Harrity (USA) bt [Q] Valentino Bong (MAS) 11-5, 11-5, 11-3 (30m)
[Q] Vikram Malhotra (IND) bt [5] Christopher Gordon (USA) 11-5, 5-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6 (75m)
[8] Eric Galvez (MEX) bt [Q] Matias Tuomi (FIN) 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 (40m)
[2] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) bt [LL] Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (25m)
Qualifying finals:
Valentino Bong (MAS) bt Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 (50m)
Vikram Malhotra (IND) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 11-5, 11-2, 11-6 (30m)
Matias Tuomi (FIN) bt Sean Conroy (IRL) 11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5 (55m)
Addeen Idrakie (MAS) bt Charlie Johnson (ENG) 8-11, 2-11, 11-7, 16-14, 11-7 (124m)
1st qualifying round:
Julian Illingworth (USA) bt Will Gruner (USA) 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 (37m)
Valentino Bong (MAS) bt Nicolas Talbott (USA) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (42m)
Faraz Khan (USA) bt Ismail Hafez (EGY) 13-11, 11-8, 11-9 (44m)
Vikram Malhotra (IND) bt Sunny Seth (GUY) 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 (50m)
Matias Tuomi (FIN) bt Salim Khan (USA) 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6 (56m)
Sean Conroy (IRL) bt Mauricio Sanchez de la Paz (MEX) 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6 (65m)
Charlie Johnson (ENG) bt Alex Spiro (USA) 11-2, 11-2, 11-5 (25m)
Addeen Idrakie (MAS) bt Yehia Essam (EGY) 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8 (60m)
Picture by PATRICK LAUSON