Seeds Suffer In Qatar Classic Upsets

Tarek Momen, a 21-year-old qualifier from Egypt, led a trio of men's upsets on the opening day of main draw action in the Qatar Classic, the $147,500 PSA Tour Super Series squash event at Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in the Qatar capital Doha.

An Egyptian also produced the sole surprise in the women's $74,000 WISPA World Tour championship when unseeded Engy Kheirallah despatched her sixth-seeded national team-mate Omneya Abdel Kawy in straight games.

But Cairo-based University student Tarek Momen stole the headlines with his stunning victory over England's rising star Alister Walker, the tenth seed. But Momen was not an unknown quantity - as the Electronic Engineering student at the American University in Cairo upset leading Australian David Palmer in the biggest shock in the Kuwait World Open earlier this month.

In Doha, Momen recovered from two games down to beat the world No12 from Leeds 6-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 in exactly one hour.

"I'm happy and surprised," Momen told www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "Alister is such a good player - the last time I saw him play, he beat Shabana in Cairo and played amazing squash! Overall, I'm very happy."

Walker was measured in his response: "I am disappointed, yes, but not devastated. My preparation was good - and it will be for my next event too."

There was further disappointment for England - and more unexpected success for Egypt - when unseeded Hisham Mohd Ashour ousted ninth-seeded Londoner Adrian Grant 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7. The result was Ashour's second victory over the world No11 this month after also beating Grant in Kuwait.

But it wasn't all smiles for Egypt in the men's event in Doha where teenager Mohamed El Shorbagy failed to make the last 16. The 18-year-old 12th seed from Alexandria, the youngest player in the draw, squandered a 2/1 lead against Olli Tuominen and went down 11-5, 8-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-3 to the unseeded Finn.

The shock in the women's event was perhaps not a surprise to the players themselves. On paper, sixth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy should have brushed aside her unseeded Alexandria opponent Engy Kheirallah - but the world No7 from Cairo has yet to beat her Egyptian team-mate on the WISPA Tour in four meetings in the last four years.

And history was repeated as Kheirallah cruised to an 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 win over her country's top player to earn a surprise place in the second round.

All eyes were on favourite Nicol David, the world number one from Malaysia who suffered a rare defeat in the US Open in New York earlier this month. But the top seed was in sparkling form as she dismissed fellow Penangite Low Wee Wern, a 19-year-old qualifier, 11-3, 11-8, 11-6.

And Jenny Duncalf, David's conqueror in New York, also moved comfortably into the last 16. The fourth seed from Harrogate defeated Dutch qualifier Annelize Naude 11-3, 11-8, 11-8 to get one place closer to a predicted semi-final clash with her Malaysian rival.

Men's 1st round:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Daryl Selby (ENG) 11-9, 13-11, 11-7 (53m)
[15] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Chris Ryder (ENG) 11-5, 11-6, 11-2 (35m)
[7] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [Q] Simon Rosner (GER) 9-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 (45m)
Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt [9] Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 (51m)
[3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Abdul Salem Al-Malki (QAT) 11-2, 11-2, 11-4 (19m)
[11] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (47m)
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 12-10, 12-10, 11-4 (44m)
[Q] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [10] Alister Walker (ENG) 6-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 (60m)
[14] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt [Q] Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 (47m)
[5] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Eric Galvez (MEX) w/o
[13] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) 11-1, 11-2, 11-6 (32m)
[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 5-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 (42m)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [12] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) 11-5, 8-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-3 (61m)
[8] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-6, 11-3, 11-5 (33m)
[16] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8 (70m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 (35m)

Women's 1st round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [Q] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-3, 11-8, 11-6 (22m)
[11] Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) bt Suzie Pierrepont (ENG) 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (27m)
[7] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [Q] Dipika Pallikal (IND) 11-9, 11-5, 12-10 (29m)
[16] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [Q] Alana Miller (CAN) 11-2, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4 (35m)
[4] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [Q] Annelize Naude (NED) 11-3, 11-8, 11-8 (19m)
[14] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6 (48m)
Engy Kheirallah (EGY) bt [6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (30m)
[10] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt Donna Urquhart (AUS) 11-8, 9-11, 14-12, 8-11, 11-9 (55m)
[15] Camille Serme (FRA) bt Delia Arnold (MAS) 10-12, 11-9, 11-3, 11-7 (47m)
[5] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [Q] Joelle King (NZL) 6-11, 11-9, 14-12, 11-6 (58m)
[13] Samantha Teran (MEX) bt Sarah Kippax (ENG) 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10 (61m)
[3] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [Q] Joey Chan (HKG) 11-3, 11-5, 11-8 (21m)
[9] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 11-4, 16-14, 11-7 (31m)
[8] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Raneem El Weleily (EGY) 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 (26m)
[12] Annie Au (HKG) bt [Q] Lucie Fialova (CZE) 11-8, 11-4, 11-7 (25m)
[2] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Emma Beddoes (ENG) 11-5, 10-12, 11-8, 11-4 (35m)