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26-Feb, Round ONE (Bottom)
Last Sixteens decided in Chicago
as
Momen and Castagnet survive thrillers
On the second day of
first round action at the 2016 Windy City Open, Egyptian
Tarek Momen and Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet were
forced to dig deep to avoid defeat on a day that was once again
dominated by lengthy battles in the men’s draw.
 World
#8 Castagnet found himself 2-0 and match ball down
to an in-form Ali Farag, but showed tremendous fighting
spirit to complete a remarkable comeback after 71 minutes.
“I don’t know how I did it,” said Castagnet. “I was in very good
shape today and I worked hard on getting the right tactics with
my coach Renan Lavigne for the third, fourth and fifth games and
I’m very, very happy that it worked. I remember a match a few
years ago against him when I saved 7 match balls to win in five,
so
when I saved them today I was sure he would think about that
match and I was confident I could pull it off so I’m delighted.”
 It took World
#11 Tarek Momen six minutes longer to secure his
second round place as he twice came from behind to get the
better of Swiss national champion Nicolas Müller - who played
his best match of recent years to come within a whisker of a
huge upset.
“There are so many mixed feelings right now – that was two hours
of nervous breakdown,” said Momen. “I’ve never seen him play
that well and he’s improved physically as well. Many times I
thought he’d feel the work and the effects of the rallies but he
just kept fighting back."
There was more Egyptian success as World #5 Omar Mosaad prevailed
3-1 in an attritional battle with former World No.1
James Willstrop, while second seed Nick Matthew ended
hom hopes with a straight game win over wildcard Chris Hansen.
The upset of the day came as world junior champion and
qualifier Diego Elias came from a game down to
beat beat Egypt's Fares Dessouki.
 In the women's draw defending champion Raneem El Welily
began her title defence with an emphatic victory over Coline
Aumard of France, taking just 20 minutes to see off the
challenger for the loss of just six points.
After exiting the Qatar Classic and Tournament of Champions in
the early rounds El Welily is hopeful of a return to winning
ways ay the top level: "I love being here in Chicago and I had
two great events here previously so hopefully it will be the
same again this year," said El Welily."
Top ranked American hope Amanda Sobhy put in a similarly
emphatic performance, taking just
19 minutes to get past Salma Hany Ibrahim as she continues to
push towards a maiden World Series crown.
Men's Round One (Bottom)
[3]
Omar Mosaad (Egy)
3-1 James Willstrop (Eng)
11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9 (75m)
Saurav Ghosal
(Ind) 3-2 [Q] Omar Abdel Meguid (Egy)
11-13, 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 (73m)
Malcolm reports
Daryl Selby
(Eng) 3-0 Cameron Pilley (Aus)
12-10, 11-8, 11-5 (51m)
[8]
Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) 3-2 Ali Farag (Egy)
8-11, 7-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-1 (63m)
[6]
Tarek Momen (Egy) 3-2 Nicolas Mueller
(Sui)
12-14, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9 (77m)
[Q]
Diego Elias
(Per) 3-1 Fares Dessouki (Egy)
7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-9 (57m)
Borja Golan
(Esp) 3-1 Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
11-5, 13-11, 5-11, 11-4 (51m)
Malcolm
reports
[2]
Nick Matthew (Eng)
3-0 [wc] Chris Hanson (Usa)
11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (35m)
Women's Round One (Bottom)
[4] Camille Serme (Fra) 3-0 [Q] Hania El Hammamy (Egy)
11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (35m)
Joey Chan (Hkg) 3-1 Low Wee Wern (Mas)
7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 14-12 (65m)
Joelle King (Nzl) 3-1 Donna Urquhart (Aus)
11-8, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5 (44m)
[7]
Amanda Sobhy (Usa) 3-0 Salma Hany Ibrahim (Egy)
11-2, 11-4, 11-5 (19m)
[8]
Nouran Gohar (Egy) 3-0 [Q] Mariam Metwally
(Egy)
11-9, 11-6, 11-4 (30m)
Jenny Duncalf (Eng) 3-0 Nicolette Fernandes (Guy)
12-10, 11-7, 11-5 (37m)
Annie Au (Hkg) 3-0 [Q] Nele Gilis (Bel)
11-5, 11-8, 11-1 (20m)
[2]
Raneem El Welily
(Egy) 3-0 [Q] Coline Aumard (Fra)
11-3, 11-3, 11-1 (20m)
Check out all
the reports on Windy City Tumblr
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