Shaken Shabana Survives World Open Defence In Qatar

Amr Shabana, the 25-year-old from Cairo who twelve months ago became Egypt's first world champion, survived a tough challenge in his defence of the title on the opening day of action in the Qatar Men's World Open in the Qatar capital Doha.

Unseeded Mark Chaloner, a former England captain, led the left-hander by two games to one before sixth seed Shabana eventually asserted his authority on the match to win 11-4 8-11 3-11 11-7 11-5 in 51 minutes.

The Egyptian's next hurdle is compatriot Mohammed Abbas, the 16th seed who triumphed 11-5 11-4 11-2 in an all-Egyptian clash against qualifier Wael El Hindi in 27 minutes.

Favourite Lee Beachill, seeded to become the first Englishman to win the title in the 28-year-old history of the event, was stretched for 51 minutes by unseeded Davide Bianchetti before prevailing 11-4 11-5 11-10. It was a year ago that the Italian pulled off one of the tournament's biggest shocks when he beat Beachill's compatriot Peter Nicol, a former champion, in the second round in Pakistan.

Beachill next faces Australian Joseph Kneipp after the tenth seed despatched Malaysian qualifier Mohd Azlan Iskandar 11-9 11-7 11-6 in 36 minutes.

The qualifying finals of the Women's Qatar Classic produced no surprises, though Australia's Amelia Pittock was pushed to the limit by Canada's Runa Reta before winning 9-3 9-4 4-9 7-9 9-5 in 70 minutes. Her reward is the highest seed matched up with a qualifier - England's No2 seed, a former world champion, Cassie Jackman.

Men's 1st round:
[1] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-4, 11-5, 11-10 (5-3) (51m)
[10] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) bt [Q] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 (36m)
[8] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Simon Parke (ENG) 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (56m)
[12] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Rodney Durbach (RSA) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (44m)
[4] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Tommy Berden (NED) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 (37m)
[13] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 (46m)
[6] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Mark Chaloner (ENG) 11-4, 8-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-5 (51m)
[16] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt [Q] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-5, 11-4, 11-2 (27m)

Women's Qatar Classic, Doha, Qatar
Qualifying finals:
Alison Waters (ENG) bt Ellen Petersen (DEN) 9-2, 9-4, 9-1 (33m)
Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt Runa Reta (CAN) 9-3, 9-4, 4-9, 7-9, 9-5 (70m)
Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) bt Rebecca Botwright (ENG) 9-10, 9-0, 9-4, 9-2 (48m)
Melissa Martin (AUS) bt Eman El Amir (EGY) 7-9, 9-2, 7-9, 9-4, 9-3 (40m)
Sharon Wee (MAS) bt Heidi Mather (AUS) 9-4, 6-9, 9-2, 9-5 (43m)
Engy Kheirallah (EGY) bt Dianne Desira (AUS) 9-6, 9-0, 7-9, 10-8 (50m)
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 9-7, 9-0, 9-2 (36m)
Tegwen Malik (WAL) bt Katie Patrick (CAN) 9-3, 9-2, 9-5 (27m)