Alan Clyne and Diego Elias beached at the marina
By NATHAN CLARKE in El Gouna
New Zealand’s Paul Coll and Qatar number one Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi pulled off the biggest upsets of qualification at the 2016 El Gouna International as they overcame the challenge of Alan Clyne and Diego Elias, respectively, to go through as two of eight qualifiers to gain a berth in the main draw of the PSA World Series Tournament.
Kiwi Coll stormed past England’s Tom Ford 3-0 in round one of qualification and backed up with a gritty straight-games win over tenacious Scotsman Clyne.
That result sees him through to face Chris Simpson in the main draw, while Tamimi overcame a gap of almost 20 places on the World Rankings to defeat World Junior Champion Diego Elias in one of his biggest wins on Tour in recent months.
Tamimi will now face South African Stephen Coppinger in a main draw that will also feature Omar Abdel Meguid, who was the only Egyptian from a 14-strong contingent to come through qualification. Meguid overcame compatriot Mohamed Reda in straight-games to set up a main draw encounter with Hong Kong’s Max Lee.
The other players to come through qualification were Gregoire Marche, Nafiizwan Adnan, Cesar Salazar, Greg Lobban and Nicolas Müller.
PSA M150 2016 El Gouna International, Egypt.
Results – Qualification Finals:
[1] Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt [13] Farhan Zaman (PAK) 3-1: 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 13-11 (55m)
[9] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [5] Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-1 (58m)
[6] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt [12] Christopher Gordon (USA) 3-1: 8-11, 14-12, 12-10, 12-10 (53m)
[4] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt [10] Mohamed Reda (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 (52m)
[3] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt [14] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) 3-2: 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-13, 11-6 (112m)
[15] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt [8] Diego Elias (PER) 3-1: 12-10, 9-11, 12-10, 15-13 (53m)
[7] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (41m)
[2] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt [16] Ivan Yuen (MAS) 3-1: 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 (39m)
Results – Qualification Round One:
[1] Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt Angus Gillams (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5 (76m)
[13] Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt [L] Maged Ashraf (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-6 (27m)
[9] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Tom Ford (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (35m)
[5] Alan Clyne (SCO) bt [L] Omar Bahgat (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 (18m)
[6] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt Joshua Larkin (AUS) 3-1: 11-4, 7-11, 11-7, 11-2 (45m)
[12] Christopher Gordon (USA) bt [L] Khaled Mostafa (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 (31m)
[10] Mohamed Reda (EGY) bt Andrew Wagih Shoukry (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-0 (15m)
[4] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt [L] Marwan Tareq (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (29m)
[3] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt [L] Saadeldin Abouaish (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-5 (34m)
[14] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) bt [L] Karim Magdy (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-0 (72m)
[15] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt Ahmed Hussein (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 (23m)
[8] Diego Elias (PER) bt Ben Coates (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (18m)
[7] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [L] Mohamed Elgawarhy (EGY) 3-2: 11-3, 11-2, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5 (55m)
Karim El Hammamy (EGY) bt [11] Todd Harrity (USA) 3-2: 11-9, 4-11, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10 (70m)
[16] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt [L] Youssef Ibrahim Abdallah (EGY) 3-2: 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-3 (60m)
[2] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Mazen Gamal (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (31m)
Main Draw – 2016 El Gouna International, First Round:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v Mazen Hesham (EGY)
Chris Simpson (ENG) v [Q] Paul Coll (NZL)
Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v [Q] Cesar Salazar (MEX)
[Q] Greg Lobban (SCO) v [8] Simon Rösner (GER)
[7] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v [Q] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Leo Au (HKG)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [WC] Zahed Mohamed (EGY)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [3] Omar Mosaad (EGY)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
Max Lee (HKG) v [Q] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY)
Daryl Selby (ENG) v Fares Dessouki (EGY)
Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v [6] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
[5] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [Q] Gregoire Marche (FRA)
Ali Farag (EGY) v [Q] Nicolas Müller (SUI)
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) v [Q] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
Tom Richards (ENG) v [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Picture from Squash Mad archive