Reda & Aziz Boost Home Interest In Sky Open

Egyptians Mohd Ali Anwar Reda and Omar Abdel Aziz boosted home interest in the Sky Open after surviving the qualifying finals of the $147,500 PSA Tour squash event - the first Super Series Platinum championship of the year - at Sky Petrosport Club in Cairo.

Reda, the 20-year-old world No43 from Cairo, beat South African Stephen Coppinger 11-6, 3-11, 15-13, 11-9 in 62 minutes - and later was drawn to meet Australia's 13th seed Stewart Boswell in the main draw.

His Cairo compatriot Aziz, ranked one place lower, despatched England's Robbie Temple 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 and will now face fellow countryman Wael El Hindi, the defending champion who is seeded nine.

But the toughest qualifying battle was staged by Mark Krajcsak and US number two Gilly Lane. In a marathon 93-minute encounter, Hungarian number one Krajcsak fought back from 2/1 down to beat Lane 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6.

The 25-year-old from Budapest will now meet Mohd Azlan Iskandar, the 14th seed from Malaysia, in the first round.

Qualifying finals:
Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (42m)
Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt Gilly Lane (USA) 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6 (93m)
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 11-6, 3-11, 15-13, 11-9 (62m)
Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt Ali Farag (EGY) 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 3-11, 13-11 (66m)
Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt Robbie Temple (ENG) 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 (51m)
Tom Richards (ENG) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 11-4, 11-9, 2-11, 11-8 (60m)
Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Stephane Galifi (ITA) 11-7, 12-10, 11-4 (43m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Julien Balbo (FRA) 11-3, 11-0, 6-11, 11-9 (43m)