Egyptians Lead Upsets In Vancouver

In a day of stunning upsets in the final qualifying round of the Comfort Inn Open in Canada, Mohamed Abouelghar and Amr Khaled Khalifa boosted the Egyptian count in the main draw of the PSA World Tour International 50 event at the Evergreen Squash Club in Vancouver to seven players.

After ousting the highest-ranked qualifying contender in the first round, 18-year-old player Abouelghar twice came from behind in a 64-minute marathon against Mark Krajcsak to beat the Hungarian number one 5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11, 11-9 in a clash described by tournament organiser Paul Marley as "the match of the evening".

Khalifa, a former world junior champion also from Cairo, won his unexpected place in the main draw by despatching Finland's Henrik Mustonen, ranked ten places higher, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.

But it was Englishman Joe Lee who pulled off the biggest upset. The 22-year-old world No 81, fighting his way back to full fitness after a back injury, defeated top-ranked Czech opponent Jan Koukal, the world No47, 11-3, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6 in 57 minutes.

Lee is joined in the main draw by fellow countryman Adrian Waller, the world No60 from Enfield who stunned compatriot Chris Simpson, ranked eight places higher, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8.

The event's top three seeds are from Egypt - led by former world number one Amr Shabana. The 32-year-old from Cairo, making his debut in the Vancouver event, is seeking his first PSA ranking points of the year after a sensational and unexpected title triumph in last week's ATCO PSA World Series Finals in London.

However, three former champions will trying to prevent top seed Shabana from a second successive PSA Tour title success - including England's fourth seed Daryl Selby, the 2009 and 2011 champion; New Zealander Martin Knight, winner of the trophy in 2010; and local hope Shahier Razik, the 2007 champion from Toronto who is making his fifth appearance in the event.

Updated 1st round line-up:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) v Martin Knight (NZL)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [Q] Joe Lee (ENG)
Julian Illingworth (USA) v [Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
[4] Daryl Selby (ENG) v Tarek Momen (EGY)
[3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Alister Walker (BOT)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) v [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG)
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) v [Q] Amr Khaled Khalifa (EGY)
[2] Hisham Mohamed Ashour (EGY) v Shahier Razik (CAN)

For all the latest Tour news: www.psaworldtour.com