Egyptians Flourish In Alexandria Openers

Five home players claimed places in the quarter-finals of the Atlantis Sporting Club Open after successes in the first round of the WSA Silver 25 squash event at the Alexandria Sporting Club in Alexandria, Egypt.

Favourite Omneya Abdel Kawy, the world No14 from Cairo, defeated France's Laura Pomportes 11-3, 12-10, 11-4 and will now face compatriot Salma Hany Ibrahim for a place in the semi-finals.

Ibrahim, 18, from Alexandria, beat 15-year-old Egyptian qualifier Zeina Farid Mickawy 11-8, 11-5, 11-7.

Third seed Nour El Tayeb, the 2012 champion who has leapt to No8 in the world rankings after reaching the finals of the Hong Kong Open and Malaysian Open last month, ousted fellow Egyptian Farah Abdel Megid 11-9, 11-9, 12-10.

The 21-year-old from Cairo now meets Milou van der Heijden, the No8 seed from the Netherlands who took four games to overcome Austrian Birgit Coufal 11-6, 16-14, 8-11, 11-9.

Second seed Line Hansen is the leading non-Egyptian in the field. The world No25 from Denmark despatched German qualifier Sina Wall 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 and progresses to meet seventh-seeded Czech Lucie Fialova in the quarter-finals.

Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) v [5] Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY)
[3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [8] Milou van der Heijden (NED)
[4] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [6] Habiba Mohamed Ahmed (EGY)
[2] Line Hansen (DEN) v [7] Lucie Fialova (CZE)