Egyptian Quartet Boosts Home Interest In El Gouna International

Egyptians claimed four of the qualifying slots in the El Gouna International Open after Wael Farag, Omar Abdel Meguid, Andrew Wagih Shoukry and Amr Khaled Khalifa prevailed in the qualifying finals of the third PSA World Series squash event of the year which will take place at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of El Gouna.

In the second day of action of the Sporting Club in Alexandria, Farag became the lowest-ranked player to earn a qualifying place in a World Series event this year when he ended the brave run of fellow countryman Omar Mohie Elddin Marei 11-6, 11-4, 11-4.

The 22-year-old from Cairo, ranked 238 in the world, took advantage of a tired Marei, who flew in from Australia just two days ago and won a marathon against England's Joey Barrington 24 hours earlier. Farag took the first comfortably and led the second 7-0 before Marei enjoyed his best spell of the match.

But from the middle of that game, the tired 20-year-old's legs wouldn't respond as Farag moved on to earn his second appearance in the event's first round.

Meguid was the first to qualify, squandering an early lead to lose the first game against Abdullah Al Muzayen - but then was leading in the second when the Kuwaiti was forced to pull out due to cramp with score standing at 9-11, 5-2.

"Myself and Abdullah have been struggling with injuries," admitted Meguid afterwards. "So I called my physio in Cairo who came specially before the match to make sure we were fit enough to play, gave us some treatment, and taped us up!

"I was not moving too well, but it was more about being a bit too careful! Still, Abdullah was really struggling with his movement, and had to stop. I'm so happy I'm in the main draw again."

Later in the day, Wagih Shoukry came from behind to deny Campbell Grayson a place in the main draw, beating the higher-ranked New Zealander 3-11, 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8 in just under two hours - and Amr Khaled Khalifa defeated Cairo-born Italian Amr Swelim 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 to complete the Egyptian qualifying quartet.

Mathieu Castagnet made sure that it wouldn't be an Egyptian clean sweep. The Frenchman recovered from losing a tough first game against Zahed Mohamed to exert increasing control in a 10-12, 11-5, 11-3, 11-3 victory.

"I was careful to watch Zahed play yesterday, plus, he played Little Greg in Hong Kong about three weeks ago, and I knew how a great fighter he is, and that he thrives on playing at a fast pace," admitted the Castagnet after the match.

"I personally didn't mind, as my natural game is also very physical, but I have to admit that at the end of the first game, I thought that if he was to go on like that much longer at that pace, I was in for a nice 3/0 defeat!

"But in the end, experience paid off, I kept on getting everything back, everything back, and managed to keep a nice cushion till the end of the match. So happy/proud to win here against such a player, they play at such a level in front of their home crowd, they simply display an extraordinary class. They truly have a 'heart of squash'."

Adrian Waller became the first of two English qualifiers, coming through an up and down encounter with Egyptian junior international Mohamed Abouelghar 12-10, 9-11, 11-2, 7-11, 11-8 in 65 minutes.

"It was really warm today, and I lost so much fluid on there!" said the tall 22-year-old from Enfield. "The first two games were really tough, and after he got the second, he had a bit of a drop of energy in the third, which I won really easily

"But in the fourth, he went for a lot of his shots, and played really well. In the fifth, it was really close up to 8-8, but he made two tins, and I found a nice drop shot to win."

Left-hander Robbie Temple, from Gloucestershire, also took 65 minutes to get the better of Egypt's Karim A G A Samy 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6.

Malaysia's Ivan Yuen edged past Karim Ali Fathi 8-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9 in just under an hour and a half, and was understandably as delighted to be making the trip to El Gouna as Fathi was disappointed.

"In the first three games, I just couldn't breathe on there, not helped by the fact I've had a flu for a few days now," said KL-based Yuen. "But in the fourth, I got my confidence back, and told myself, yes, I can do this, don't give up.

"He is really and up and coming player, a bit wild, but it's part of the game. And I'm really glad to go to El Gouna for the first time, really excited!"

Main draw action in El Gouna begins on Sunday after a rest day while players and officials travel from Alexandria to the Red Sea resort.

Updated 1st round draw:
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [Q] Robbie Temple (ENG)
Tarek Momen (EGY) v Mohammed Abbas (EGY)
[8] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY)
[7] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) v [Q] Ivan Yuen (MAS)
Thierry Lincou (FRA) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
Jonathan Kemp (ENG) v [Q] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) v [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Q] Andrew Wagih Shoukry (EGY)
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) v [Q] Wael Farag (EGY)
Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) v [Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[6] Amr Shabana (EGY) v Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
[5] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [Q] Amr Khaled Khalifa (EGY)
Adrian Grant (ENG) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY)

Event website: www.elgounasquashopen.com

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