Reda Rallies To Petrosport Upset In Cairo

Egyptian teenager Mohd Ali Anwar Reda pulled off a major upset on the opening day of main draw action in the Petrosport International Championship when he battled to a 106-minute victory over tenth seed Stewart Boswell to claim an unexpected place in the last sixteen of the new $140,000 PSA Super Series Platinum squash event at the Sky Club in Cairo.

It was a disappointing 30th birthday celebration for Boswell, the former world number four from Canberra who is returning to Tour action after a back injury. But the world No14 took the opening two games before 19-year-old Reda took charge of the match and eventually claimed his shock 6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 victory.

"I don't know what to say," the surprise winner told www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "I don't know why I played so badly in the first two games, maybe because I was so nervous.

"Stewart is such a great player, in and out of the court. I'm so happy to have played against him - I used to watch him play when I was eight, so it's an honour for me to win this match.

"I absolutely need to thank my coaches, the four of them. They are working so hard on me - Ahmed Matany, Hatem Hassan, Amir Wagih and Mohd Sayed."

After recording his career-first Super Series win, Reda now goes on to face Peter Barker, the sixth seed who defeated fellow Englishman - and fellow left-hander - Jonathan Kemp 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 11-4.

Local interest on the first day of first round action was led by top seed Amr Shabana, the world number one from Giza, and 20-year-old Ramy Ashour, the sport's rising star who is seeded three.

But, while Shabana had a reasonably comfortable 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4 win over compatriot Amr Swelim, a 24-year-old qualifier, Ashour - troubled by a knee injury - had to battle from 2/1 down to overcome Pakistan qualifier Yasir Butt 14-12, 7-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-4.

"I was very nervous today, I knew that I was going to play bad because I know myself if I am going to play well or if not, so I was expecting what I did," explained Ashour, competing in his first event since suffering a shock second round loss in the British Open in May.

"I am going to the doctor today, I hope my leg will be fine. When I had the injury I started to be more and more nervous."

Ashour will face ninth seed Adrian Grant in the second round on Friday. The Englishman was also taken the full distance before beating Czech qualifier Jan Koukal 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5 in 71 minutes.

1st round (top half of draw):
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Amr Swelim (EGY) 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4 (41m)
[15] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [Q] Amr Mansi (EGY) 11-7, 11-2, 11-8 (30m)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 11-4 (55m)
[Q] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt [10] Stewart Boswell (AUS) 6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 (106m)
[3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Yasir Butt (PAK) 14-12, 7-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-4 (69m)
[9] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Jan Koukal (CZE) 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5 (71m)
[5] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt Karim AGA Samy (EGY) 11-2, 11-2, 11-4 (22m)
[12] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8 (78m)