WSA Hong Kong: Omneya on the march

By MATT WAGG
Omneya Abdel Kawy’s timely return to top form prompted a further casualty among the seeded players in the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Squash Open round two.

The Egyptian world No.22 shocked audiences yesterday with a clinical first round deconstruction of second seed Laura Massaro, and continued her run today with a equally strong performance against tenth seed Joelle King.  The 27-year-old, who reached No.4 in the WSA rankings two years ago, came back from a game down to force a deciding fifth game against the New Zealander, and completed the scalp in 62-minutes.  Kawy will now play Alison Waters in tomorrow’s quarter-finals, as the Englishwoman defeated Line Hansen in a four-game, 38-minute clash.

Ninth seed Kasey Brown also caused an upset in the seeding’s this afternoon, as the Australian beat Madeline Perry of Ireland.  Brown took a confident two-game lead  before Perry dug in her heels to prevent a straight-games loss.  The No.5 seed claimed the third game 15-13 in the tiebreak, but was unable to maintain her edge as Brown closed out the match on the hour-mark.

Brown will face top seed Nicol David in next round, after the Malaysian world champion dismissed the last remaining home hope from the competition, 16th seed Joey Chan, in three games.

Camille Serme was leading Malaysia’s Low Wee Wern in the fourth game, when the No.7 seed suffered a pulled hamstring and was forced to retire.  Serme, seeded twelfth for the event, progresses to her second World Series quarter-final of the season where she will play experienced Rachael Grinham.  Grinham defeated resilient qualifier Joshana Chinappa in four games to reach her first World Series quarter-final round since the KL Open back in March.

Third seed Jenny Duncalf continued her Hong Kong Open run by defeating Dipika Pallikal of India.  The Englishwoman put down the No.12 seed in four games to set up a clash with Natalie Grinham tomorrow.  The Dutch international dispatched remaining qualifier Nicolette Fernandes in four games to set up an 18th WSA head-to-head against Duncalf.

Quarter-finals:

[1] Nicol David (MAS) v [9] Kasey Brown (AUS)

[3] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) v [8] Natalie Grinham (NED)

[13] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v [11] Camille Serme (FRA)

Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) v [6] Alison Waters (ENG)

2nd round:

[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [16] Joey Chan (HKG)   11-5, 11-5, 11-1

[9] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [5] Madeline Perry (IRL)        11-6, 11-8, 13-15, 11-6 (60m)

[3] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [12] Dipika Pallikal (IND)     11-9, 7-11, 14-12, 11-7

[8] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [Q] Nicolette Fernandes (GUY)    11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7 (49m)

[11] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [7] Low Wee Wern (MAS)  5-11, 12-10, 11-3, 9-7 ret. (47m)

[13] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Joshana Chinappa (IND)     11-4, 10-12, 12-10, 17-15

[6] Alison Waters (ENG) bt Line Hansen (DEN)    12-10, 11-3, 6-11, 11-7 (38m)

Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [10] Joelle King (NZL)     11-8, 3-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-7