Omneya On Course In Hurghada

Defending champion Omneya Abdel Kawy took just 19 minutes to secure her place in the second round of the Hurghada International when she beat England's Georgina Stoker in straight games on the opening day of action in the WISPA World Tour Silver event staged on all-glass court on The Plaza in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

It was well into the second game before Stoker claimed her first point, but the 21-year-old from Merseyside was unable to stop the second seed from Cairo, also 21, from romping to a 9-0, 9-1, 9-2 victory.

Nour El Tayeb, the 14-year-old Egyptian schoolgirl who was making her debut on an all-glass court after fighting through the qualifiers in Cairo, met her match in compatriot Raneem El Weleily - who won the first round encounter 9-2, 9-4, 9-3 in 27 minutes.

However, fourth seed El Weleily was full of praise for her younger opponent: "I was in Nour's place four years ago and I wasn't as good as she is today. You need time to get used to the glass and the place, but she really took to it well," said the 18-year-old World Junior Champion from Alexandria.

Before leaving to head back to Cairo to face some school exams, El Tayeb maturely reported: "It was an enjoyable match and, although she was too good for me, I managed to fight and had some good points. It was a good experience for me," she added.

The toughest clash of the day saw Hong Kong's No7 seed Christina Mak down Egyptian qualifier Amnah El Trabolsy 9-7, 9-4, 6-9, 3-9, 9-6 in 55 minutes.

El Trabolsy, in the final stages of an industrial engineering degree, is clearly better than the 88 WISPA ranking suggests. The large Hurghada crowd came to life from the outset as the 22-year-old from Alexandria went 7-0 up in the first game - but Mak soon settled in and overtook her opponent.

England's Sarah Kippax will celebrate her 24th birthday on Thursday with a quarter-final match. The sixth seed from Chester was too strong for Delia Arnold, beating the unseeded 21-year-old from Malaysia 9-4, 9-7, 9-5.

[6] Sarah Kippax (ENG) bt Delia Arnold (MAS) 9-4, 9-7, 9-5 (39m)
[4] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [Q] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 9-2, 9-4, 9-3 (27m)
[7] Christina Mak (HKG) bt [Q] Amnah El Trabolsy (EGY) 9-7, 9-4, 6-9, 3-9, 9-6 (55m)
[2] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt Georgina Stoker (ENG) 9-0, 9-1, 9-2 (19m)