|
|
|
TODAY in Egypt ...
Sat 28th March, Day ONE
|
 |
Egyptians Excel in Cairo
One of the few events on the tour with two distinct locations,
the Hurghada International gets under way today at the National
Stadium in Cairo. We're here for three days for qualifying and
round one, then the survivors head down to the Red Sea resort
for the quarter-finals onward.
First things first though, it was the men's qualifying draw at
11am, which was a pretty smooth affair with everyone turning up
in good time, ably organised by Andrew Shelley with Mr Sawy -
"one of the best draw pickers in the business" - pulling out the
numbers.
Things continued to go well for the hosts once play started,
with the Egyptian men claiming seven of the eight available
spots for tomorrow's qualifying finals. The lone interloper is
England's Robbie Temple, although top seed Tom
Richards did stand at match ball before being disqualified
by the referee.
In the women's event four Egyptians won, and a clean sweep is on
as they all avoid each other tomorrow.
|
 |
 |
|
Men's Qualifying first round -
Centre Court:
Andrew Wagih (Egy) bt Tom Richards (Eng)
5/11, 11/5, 6/11, 11/5, 10/11 disq (58m)
Amr Swelim (Egy) bt Gregoire Marche (Fra)
11/8, 12/10, 11/3 (41m)
Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (Egy)
11/9, 11/6, 9/11, 11/4 (53m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) bt Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa)
11/3, 11/5, 8/11, 11/8 (31m)
Mazen Gamal (Egy) bt Rob Sutherland (Wal)
12/10, 8/11, 11/8, 3/11, 11/2 (66m)
Mohammed Abbas (Egy) bt Ahmed Hawas (Egy)
11/3, 11/4, 11/2 (18m)
Robbie Temple (Eng) bt Basem Makram (Egy)
11/9, 11/7, 11/8 (37m)
Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) bt Karim AGA Samy (Egy)
11/6, 11/7, 11/4 (22m)
Women's Qualifying Round One - Court One:
Joey Chan (Hkg) bt Farah Abdel Meguid (Egy)
9/11, 11/4, 11/4, 11/7 (32m)
Kanzy El Defrawy (Egy) bt Salma Hany (Egy)
10/12, 11/5, 11/7, 11/9 (45m)
Olivia Blatchford (Usa) bt Elise Ng (Hkg)
11/3, 12/10, 11/7 (27m)
Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt Salma Nasser (Egy)
9/11, 11/9, 11/5, 11/8 (33m)
Nouran El Torky (Egy) bt Coline Aumard
(Fra)
11/7, 11/6, 11/3 (30m)
Dipika Pallikal (Ind) bt Eliza Kargioti (Gre)
11/4, 11/0, 11/8 (20m)
Lucie Fialova
(Cze) bt Sara El Noamany (Egy)
11/9, 11/9, 6/11, 11/8 (38m)
Heba El Torky (Egy) bt Farida El Dahab (Egy)
11/7, 11/3, 11/3 (16m)
|
|
Men's Round
One
Steve Cubbins reports |
|
Andrew Wagih (Egy) bt Tom
Richards (Eng)
5/11, 11/5, 6/11, 11/5, 10/11 disq
(58m)
Richards red carded in opener
There are some events where you know that some of the qualifying
matches will be over quickly, as the touring pros take on locals
who are not yet at that level. It's not like that in Egypt
though, where the production line of talent can throw up people
you've never heard of who are more than a trifle handy.
Not that this was the case for the top seed in the qualifying,
Tom Richards. The Englishman was up against Andrew Wagih
Shoukry, well known for his exploits in the BJO and an up and
coming pro himself, like Tom, so this opening match on the
Centre Court was always going to be a tough one.
And so it proved. Tom twice took the lead, and twice was pulled
back. He had to fight back in the fifth as Andrew took leads of
6/3 and 8/5. He did that well, levelling at 8-all and going on
to earn match ball at 10/9. Tom was distraught when he was
denied a let, forcing extra points, but that was far from the
end of the controversy.
 One
of Andrew's supporters had already been sent from the arena for
coaching mid-game, and the referee was shortly to brandish a
second red card to end the match prematurely.
At 10-all Andrew
had an easy opportunity to win the rally, but tinned the ball
with Tom stuck behind him.
The Englishman gave his opponent a
one-handed shove in the back which sent him a couple of yards
forward, then exited the court to change
his racket in which the strings had broken.
After returning to court, Tom had a few practice hits, was
expecting to serve for the match but heard the referee say
"conduct match, abuse of opponent" [the official
report says it was a conduct game].
 "First
of all I would like to thank the crowd and my coach who helped
me a lot, I played really well in the 5th game, I was 8/5 up so
I wanted to win quickly and finish the ball.
"I got tired at the
end but I tried hard and hopefully I will be fresh for
tomorrow."
 |
 |
|
 |
 "It had been a
good match, we'd both been up and down a bit but it hadn't been
contentious, there were no warnings, no nothing, and then it's
completely ruined by a ridiculous decision like that.
"I was a bit frustrated at getting a no let just before, I'd
been getting no protection from the referee, he was in my way
and I gave him a push. At worst it should have been a warning,
it's just ridiculous that your living can be affected by
something like that."
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Amr Swelim (Egy) bt Gregoire Marche (Fra)
11/8, 12/10, 11/3 (41m)
Swelim seeps past Greg
Amr Swelim kept the possibility of an all-Egyptian qualifying
lineup alive as he overcame young Frenchman Greg Marche.
The European Junior Champion competed well in the first two
games, but when Swelim took the second on extra points it seemed
to take the wind out of Greg's sails, and Swelim got off to a
good start in the third which proved conclusive.
"The
first two games were tough. He's very quick, fast around court
and picks up everything, I had to try to delay my shots to slow
him down.
"It was crucial that I won the second, and I think after going
two down he lost his head a bit in the third.
"I haven't played Andrew much, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow
..."
|
|
Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (Egy)
11/9, 11/6, 9/11, 11/4
'Don't worry, it's always like that'
I'd seen Ali Anwar play at many events and he always seemed such
a nice boy, well behaved on and off court. So when I arrived in
the middle of this match to seem him and Omar Meguid (who I'd
never seen before) engaged in a pretty physical affair, with Ali
berating the referee as he came off after losing the third game,
I was somewhat surprised.
 I
returned for the end of the fourth, and there they were hugging
away and smiling as the match concluded. Very strange.
"Don't worry," said Ali, "it's always like that between us!
We've been playing each other since 1999 and although I usually
win I've never won 3/0, not once. We know each other's games so
well, I know he's going to block me and timewaste, and his
volleys are going to cause me trouble, but we're great
friends!".
Well that's alright then ...
"I play Jesse or Karim tomorrow," said Ali, looking forward,
"they're both tough opponents but hopefully I can play another
good match to qualify for the main draw of Hurghada for the
first time. |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) bt Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa)
11/3, 11/5, 8/11,
11/8 (31m)
Karim makes it four
Whatever happens next, Karim Abdel Gawad made sure that at least
two Egyptians will qualify for the main draw as he beat Jesse
Engelbrecht, the sixth seed. To be fair, the South African had
only flown in at midnight, so his preparation wasn't the best
and he struggled to find his game early on as Karim took
advantage of good starts in the first two games.
Jesse fought back, taking the third and establishing a 5/2 lead
in the fourth, but couldn't hold on to it as Karim came back to
make it four out of four for Egypt.
 "It's
only the fourth time in my life I've played on that court, and I
was very nervous before the match, I'd heard a lot about Jesse.
I had some good coaching though, and after I won the first game
I believed I could win the match.
"He played well in the third, and in the fourth I knew I had to
concentrate more, I really didn't want a fifth."
 |
|
 |
|
Mazen Gamal (Egy) bt Rob Sutherland (Wal)
12/10, 8/11, 11/8, 3/11, 11/2 (66m)
Sutherland can't stop Egyptian Advance
The rest of the world was left with just one chance of stopping
an Egyptian clean sweep as Mazen Gamal provided another upset as
he beat eighth seed Rob Sutherland in a tough five-setter.
"I played four good games, won two of them, lost the first and
third on a couple of crucial points at the end, but I just
didn't turn up for the fifth," bemoaned the Welshman after the
match.
|
 |
|
 "I'm
still injured, and still having treatment on my leg, I'm just
trying to push on it.
"I'm am just playing this tournament, I am not expecting
anything from it. I think I played ok today though, and
hopefully my leg will get better ...
 |
Mohammed Abbas (Egy) bt Ahmed Hawas (Egy)
11/3, 11/4, 11/2
(18m)
No Sweat for Abbas
 Mohammed
Abbas isn't the type of player you expect to see in qualifying,
but he's had a long period of injury problems which have seen
his ranking drop to below his real level.
He certainly showed glimpses of why he's been up there near the
top ten today as he controlled the match completely, not letting
Hawas settle for a moment.
As Marwan [who watched this one] says, "I think his squash is
one of the best in the world, some people are saying his squash
is better than Shabana's, anyway tomorrow he is going to play
against Mazen, we will see what is he going to do then ..." |
|
 |
|
Robbie Temple (Eng) bt Basem Makram (Egy)
11/9, 11/7, 11/8 (37m)
Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) bt Karim AGA Samy (Egy)
11/6, 11/7, 11/4 (22m)
Robbie breaks the Spell
 The
Egyptian stranglehold was finally broken when Robbie Temple
became the first (and only) non-Egyptian winner of the day.
"It wasn't a particularly enjoyable match," said the Englishman
with a double-handed backhand, "but I'm just glad to get through
to the next round."
The final match of the day saw a seventh home player through as
Omar Abdel Aziz completed the finals lineup, and he will face
Temple tomorrow, |
 |
 |
|
Women's
Round One ...
Marwan El
Shorbagy reports |
|
"First game I had a slow start I couldn't play with her game, my
balls were too short. In the second I changed my game and I
slowed the pace and started to hit a better length and width and
I played much better."
 |
Joey Chan (Hkg) bt Farah Abdel Meguid (Egy)
9/11, 11/4, 11/4, 11/7 (32m)
 Good
Start for Joey....
Farrah had a good start in the first game as she surprised Joey
with her game, but after that Joey changed her game she started
to hit a good length and width and started to volley as she kept
the pressure on Farrah. Farrah couldn't find her pace in the
match maybe because she is lacking in match practice.
 "She
played very well, I haven't played from last week coz of lots of
tournament in Egypt, I think if I was training I would have done
much better than today."
 |
|
Kanzy El Defrawy (Egy) bt Salma Hany (Egy)
10/12, 11/5, 11/7, 11/9 (45m)
Defrawy
looking good.....
 Kanzy
had a slow start in the first game, Salma was playing very well
attacking, she took the lead 7/2 after that Kanzy started to
comeback, 10/10 then Salma finished two good
shots to take the first game.
After the first game everything has changed Kanzy started to
attack very well and making Salma moving around the court.
The fourth game they both played very well but it was Kanzy who
was playing better and get to the next round as she will play
against Joey Chan. |
"I didn't play bad, thanks god that I won the last game coz if I
lost I think I was going to lose the match.
"I know I had a slow start in the first game, I started to play
when I was 7/2 down.
"Hopefully I can play well tomorrow coz I have a good chance.
 |
|
Olivia Blatchford (Usa) bt Elise Ng (Hkg)
11/3,
12/10, 11/7 (27m)
Safe Start for Liv.
Olivia has been training here in Egypt for 2 or 3 weeks now, she
had a good preparation before the match.
She was playing very well today, controlling the match, Elise
couldn't find her pace, I think she was surprised as well.
Second game was very important for both players, Olivia was
leading most of that game and she won that game, and the same
story in the third and she gets to the next round. |
 |
|
" I think I didn't play my best
today, Salma played well today. tomorrow I will play with Olivia
I have to play better than today against her otherwise I am not
going to win."
 |
Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt Salma Nasser (Egy)
9/11, 11/9, 11/5, 11/8 (33m)
El Tayeb in
control....
 They
played last year in the same round, they both play in same club
so they both know each other very well. Today Salma was playing
very well she started very good. El Tayeb didn't like some
decisions from the ref, she lost some concentration which helped
Salma to win the first game.
Second game El Tayeb manage to win it, after that she got the
confidence and she started to control the match and played much
better. Last game she was leading all of it, she did some errors
at the end but she managed to win.. she will play against Plivia
tomorrow.. it should be interesting..!! |
|
Nouran El Torky (Egy) bt Coline Aumard
(Fra)
11/7, 11/6, 11/3 (30m)
Nouran has done it
again...
They played last year and it was a very tough match [Nouran won
in 76 minutes!., Nouran has improved a lot and she is having
good training now for the world juniors. Coline hasn't played
her best today, I think last year she played better.
Nouran was hitting a good length and width , she was keeping the
pressure on her all the match. In the second game Coline had a
good start and she got the lead 5/1, she lost completely her
concentration after that Nouran started to comeback as Coline
was helping her with some mistakes. Nouran won 7 points in a row
to take the second and in the third Coline wasn't there, Nouran
just finished the match and is waiting for the winner of Dipika
and Eliza's match.
|
 |
|
 |
Dipika Pallikal (Ind) bt Eliza Kargioti (Gre)
11/4, 11/0, 11/8 (20m)
Speedy Dips .....
Dipika is looking good for the tournament, she didn't give her
opponent any chance to play today. She is going to play against
Nouran, it should be a good match...
 "I
played awful in the last game, but I played good enough to win
the match and get through to the next round ..."
 |
|
Lucie Fialova
(Cze) bt Sara El Noamany (Egy)
11/9, 11/9, 6/11, 11/8 (38m)
Tough Match...
That was the toughest match of the day ... They both are very
good physically, the first two games were very tough, but Lucie
was able to get through these two games, they both were playing
at a very high pace.
In the third Lucie started to get a bit tired and Sara managed
to take the advantage and win the game. Last game was tough as
well but Lucie was able to get through next round and she is
going to play against Hebaa.
 "We
both played at a very high pace, I was trying to slow the pace
in the third that's why I lost that game.
"I think she played very well, she is so strong. Anyway I am
happy to win the first match."
 |
 |
|
"I played very well today, hopefully I can play well again
tomorrow against Lucie.
I would like to thank my coach Emad and Nasser."
 |
Heba El Torky (Egy) bt Farida El Dahab (Egy)
11/7, 11/3, 11/3 (16m)
 |
|
