Veteran Golan Digs Deep In Doha

Borja Golan, the 39-year-old Spaniard who made his Qatar Classic debut in 2003, wound back the clock to overcome his higher-ranked 2022 opponent Mohamed Elsherbini to secure a place in the second round of the first PSA World Tour Platinum event of the new season at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in the country's capital Doha.

The former world No.5, who is the oldest player competing in Qatar, made a stunning start to the match, occupying the front of the court with ease as he took the first game 11-2 in just nine minutes.

Egyptian ElSherbini improved in a stop-start second game and had a 9-6 lead and later a game ball at 10-9, only for the in-form Spaniard to claw his way into a 2/0 lead with a 13-11 victory.

This win both motivated Golan and deflated ElSherbini, with the 39-year-old sealing his place in the next round with an 11-4 win in the third game.

"Every match I play nowadays is so special, so coming out here to Qatar again on this beautiful court and in this great event is amazing," said Golan later. "I think today felt so good.

"Every time I step out on court I try to be very professional and concentrate. I know the margins are very little and at my age I have to play my best every time if I want to win. Today was a perfect day for me."

On an opening day of upsets, France's Mathieu Castagnet also turned back the clock to shock world No.27 Moustafa El Sirty and set up a second round clash with last week's Zed Open champion Youssef Soliman at the QTerminals-sponsored event in Doha.

In his first match in almost four months, the 36-year-old world No.52 played a brilliantly controlled game against the talented 20-year-old, who is regarded as one of the game's rising stars.

After dropping the first game 11-8, the former Castagnet played a brilliant tactical game, increasing his hitting tempo while maintaining strict discipline.

This proved immediately effective as a number of errors began to creep into the game of the attack-minded El Sirty, and Castagnet levelled with an 11-6 in game two before edging the third 13-11.

In a tight fourth game, Castagnet looked to have one foot in the next round when he took a 9-6 lead, only for a brilliant run of points from El Sirty to take the Egyptian to game ball at 10-9. Castagnet, however, fended this off well, saving the game ball before eventually securing the match with a 12-10 win in the fourth, after a nervous wait for a video referee decision on match ball.

"It was really difficult to be honest, that was my first match for three or four months now," Castagnet explained.

"I am really happy to be back in good shape! He is a very talented young player. He is a fighter, really strong, so it was not easy for me. I love this kind of match, and that was a really good fight.

"I am ranked world No.52. I don't want to be arrogant, but I feel I can be higher than that, so for me it is a pleasure that I can play the young generation with my ranking, and hopefully they won't be happy to see my name against theirs!"

To the delight of the home fans, Qatar's Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi was able to provide another upset as he comfortably overcame the higher-ranked Ramit Tandon of India in the day's final match to set up an enticing encounter with world No.2 Paul Coll in round two.

In an even first game, world No.44 Al Tamimi was initially forced onto the defensive by some good, tight, shots from world No.30 Tandon, before the Qatar No.1 settled and took the first game 11-8 thanks to his improved accuracy.

Al Tamimi, who is blessed with excellent speed and racket skills but has at times struggled for consistency, was much the better player in game two, with the 27-year-old taking advantage of a flurry of errors from Tandon - who missed August's Commonwealth Games due to injury - to take the second game 11-4 in just seven minutes.

Al Tamimi continued to dominate in the third game and comfortably swatted aside the tiring Tandon with an 11-3 win that was a minute shorter than the rapid second game.

After the match, Al Tamimi said: "I'd like to thank everyone for the support. I couldn't play last year, my first time missing the event since 2010.

"I'm really happy to be back here and I'm really happy with the win. Until yesterday, I was 50/50 to play this event because I have national service, but thanks to the Federation, who helped me. I hope I can play the whole season and the upcoming seasons without having to disappear from the tour for a while.

"I look forward to playing tomorrow again, and I hope the support will be even bigger."

There were more upsets on the opening day in Doha as world No. 49 Declan James beat world No.20 Baptiste Masotti 3/1, world No. 42 Dimitri Steinmann beat world No.24 Adrian Waller 3/1 and world No.45 Yahya Elnawasany came from behind to beat world No.32 Sebastien Bonmalais 3/2.