Meguid & Au Oust Seeds In Macau

Qualifiers Omar Abdel Meguid and Leo Au proved too strong for experienced opponents Tom Richards and Cameron Pilley, respectively, in today's opening round of the Macau Open as they marched confidently - yet unexpectedly - into the quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour International 50 squash event celebrating its fifth year as one of the top events on the international circuit in Taipa, Macau.

Meguid, the world No37 from Egypt, beat Englishman Richards - ranked 15 places higher - 11-5, 15-17, 11-7, 11-4 in 59 minutes and will now line up against South African Stephen Coppinger for a place in the last four.

Third seed Coppinger recovered from a game down to beat England left-hander Jonathan Kemp 7-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-2.

But Au, from nearby Hong Kong, claimed the biggest scalp in his marathon victory over second seed Pilley. The 23-year-old world No46 survived a tense tie-break opening game before Australian number one Pilley, ranked 13 in the world, restored order to draw level.

The Hong Kong number two stuck to his guns however and, after 78 minutes, celebrated his first meeting with the tall Aussie by clinching a 16-14, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 win.

Top seed Omar Mosaad secured his anticipated place in the last eight round - but the world No10 from Egypt was taken to four games before nailing experienced Finn Olli Tuominen 11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4.

Mosaad, bidding to become the third successive Egyptian winner of the title, now meets Malaysian number one Ong Beng Hee, winner of the title in 2001.

Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Ong Beng Hee (MAS)
[4] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Max Lee (HKG)
[3] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) v [Q] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY)
[Q] Leo Au (HKG) v Adrian Grant (ENG)