Egyptians Surge Into Petrosport International

Local interest in the Petrosport International Championship was boosted by the addition of four further Egyptians after completion of the qualifying finals for the new $140,000 PSA Super Series Platinum squash event at the Sky Club in Cairo.

Amr Swelim, one of three qualifiers from Cairo, beat Cairo-born Swede Badr Abdel Aziz 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 to earn a first round clash with compatriot Amr Shabana, the world number one from Giza who is seeded to win his 14th Super Series title on home soil.

Mohd Ali Anwar Reda recovered from two games down to beat higher-ranked Indian champion Saurav Ghosal 2-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 12-10 in 109 minutes. But there was a 23-minute break in the first game when Ghosal was struck on the face, causing a suspension of the match while the gash was treated.

"After I accidentally hit him at 4-2, I lost concentration and lost the first two games very quickly," Reda told www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards.

The Cairo-born 19-year-old now faces Australian Stewart Boswell, the tenth seed who celebrated his 30th birthday on the eve of the first round.

But the surprise of the day was caused by Stephane Galifi, the 29-year-old Frenchman making his return to the PSA Tour after a two-year break. The former world No40 from Aix-en-Provence - now ranked 173 - beat rising Englishman Tom Richards 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 in 41 minutes.

Galifi, in his first Super Series event since reaching the qualifying finals of the Tournament of Champions in New York in 2005, now faces Mohd Azlan Iskandar, the eighth seed from Malaysia who was runner-up in last week's CIMB Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.

Qualifying finals:
Yasir Butt (PAK) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 11-4, 12-14, 11-9, 11-9 (49m)
Simon Rosner (GER) bt Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) 11-8, 11-3, 11-1 (32m)
Jan Koukal (CZE) bt Ahmed Hawas (EGY) 9-11, 11-1, 13-11, 11-8 (47m)
Amr Swelim (EGY) bt Badr Abdel Aziz (SWE) 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 (35m)
Stephane Galifi (FRA) bt Tom Richards (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 (41m)
Amr Mansi (EGY) bt Julien Balbo (FRA) 11-4, 2-11, 11-5, 13-11 (47m)
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 2-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 12-10 (109m)
Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 7-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (59m)