Historic World Open Underway In Hong Kong

The first ever joint men's and women's World Open got underway in Hong Kong today with 64 players battling through the first qualifying rounds of the year's biggest event, sponsored jointly by Cathay Pacific and Credit Suisse Privilege.

Hong Kong's Christina Mak delighted home crowds when she overturned a two-game deficit to beat Australia's Lisa Camilleri 1-9 6-9 9-3 9-7 9-3 in 66 minutes to book a place in the women's qualifying finals against Mexico's Samantha Teran.

In the men's event, it took Welshman Alex Gough 80 minutes - the longest match of the day - to overcome Frenchman Jean-Michel Arcucci 11-8 9-11 8-11 11-7 11-8 to set up a meeting with Italy's Davide Bianchetti in the qualifying finals. It was only three days ago in Doha that the pair - both qualifiers - fought out a second round battle in the Qatar Classic, with the 34-year-old Welsh national champion securing a surprise place in the quarter-finals of the PSA Super Series Platinum event.

Men's 1st qualifying round:
Dan Jenson (AUS) bt Chiu Ho Fai (HKG) 11-0, 11-5, 11-6 (12m)
Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Yasir Butt (PAK) 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (17m)
Joey Barrington (ENG) bt Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) 11-3, 11-8, 11-6 (35m)
Phillip Barker (ENG) bt Matthew Giuffre (CAN) 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9 (47m)
Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-8, 10-11 (0-2), 4-11, 11-9, 11-4 (33m)
Rodney Durbach (RSA) bt Christopher Gordon (USA) 11-9, 10-11 (1-3), 11-8, 6-11, 11-4 (55m)
Simon Parke (ENG) bt Dick Lau (HKG) 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 (24m)
Shahier Razik (CAN) bt Ben Garner (ENG) 10-11 (1-3), 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 (42m)
Mark Chaloner (ENG) bt Roger Ngan (HKG) 11-5, 11-2, 11-6 (25m)
Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Anson Kwong (HKG) 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (22m)
Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt Timothy Manning (AUS) 11-6, 11-2, 10-11 (1-3), 5-11, 11-7 (59m)
Alex Gough (WAL) bt Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8 (80m)
Alister Walker (ENG) bt Raymond Chiu (HKG) 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (24m)
Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt Kashif Shuja (NZL) 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (21m)
Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt Liam Kenny (IRL) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (24m)
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt Max Lee (HKG) 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (19m)

Women's 1st qualifying round:
Samantha Teran (MEX) bt Kozue Onizawa (JPN) 10-8, 9-3, 9-1 (25m)
Christina Mak (HKG) bt Lisa Camilleri (AUS) 1-9, 6-9, 9-3, 9-7, 9-3 (66m)
Kirsty McPhee (ENG) bt Alana Miller (CAN) 5-9, 9-7, 3-9, 9-2, 9-6 (51m)
Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Eun Chan Ahn (KOR) 9-1, 9-6, 7-9, 9-1 (29m)
Runa Reta (CAN) bt Carin Clonda (AUS) 9-0, 9-1, 9-1 (19m)
Karen Kronemeyer (NED) bt Ka Kei Chiu (HKG) 9-5, 9-4, 9-4 (24m)
Dianne Desira (AUS) bt Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) 9-2, 9-7, 9-4 (23m)
Eun Ok Park (KOR) bt Manuela Manetta (ITA) 9-1, 5-9, 1-9, 9-4, 9-1 (66m)
Sarah Kippax (ENG) bt Amanda Hopps (AUS) 9-2, 9-5, 9-4 (29m)
Lauren Briggs (ENG) bt Daniela Schumann (GER) 9-3, 9-0, 9-1 (24m)
Nicolette Fernandes (GUY) bt Lee Hai-Kyung (KOR) 9-1, 9-5, 2-9, 7-9, 9-6 (55m)
Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Shin Nga Leung (HKG) 9-4, 9-4, 9-7 (34m)
Suzie Pierrepont (ENG) bt Elise Ng (HKG) 9-2, 9-5, 9-4 (21m)
Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) bt Orla Noom (NED) 9-6, 10-8, 9-0 (37m)
Louise Crome (NZL) bt Charlie de Rycke (BEL) 9-5, 9-3, 9-6 (30m)
Rebecca Botwright (ENG) bt Joey Chan (HKG) 6-9, 9-2, 9-4, 9-1 (33m)