Egyptian Quintet Lead Charge On Day Two in Doha
2 Nov 2015
Fourth seed Omar Mosaad led a quintet of Egyptian stars into the second round of the 2015 Qatar Classic on the second day of first round action in the PSA World Series event at the Khalifa Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha.
Mosaad, runner-up in last month's Delaware Investments US Open, dominated his encounter with Hong Kong's Leo Au, winning 3/0 to set up a second round clash with compatriot Mazen Hesham.
Karim Abdel Gawad, Fares Dessouki and Ali Farag completed the set after pulling off impressive wins.
Qualifier Farag, the world No.33, downed England's world No.11 Peter Barker, a former semi-finalist, in a composed 3/1 triumph and will take on Gawad after the 24-year-old celebrated breaking into the top ten for the first time in his career with a dogged five-game win over eighth-seeded compatriot Tarek Momen.
"It feels like my birthday today by becoming a top ten player because ever since I was a small child I wanted to be a top squash player - I have focused my whole life on being the best," said Gawad.
"I feel like my career is starting again now and I hope I can keep on improving my game and I will push myself as hard as I can and beating Tarek is a great result for me.
"He's such a dangerous player and one of the quickest and most talented guys on the tour so I'm very proud and very happy that I was able to come through."
Elsewhere Dessouki impressed as he halted India's world No.17 Saurav Ghosal in straight games and will line up against second-seeded Frenchman Gregory Gaultier in the next round.
After a trio of seeds suffered shock defeats on day one of action in the women's draw, balance was restored on day two as all eight matches went in favour of the higher-seeded player.
Nicol David, the defending champion looking for a record sixth title, led the field as she easily saw off Guyana's Nicolette Fernandes in straight-games - while third seed Camille Serme enjoyed an equally straightforward win over compatriot Coline Aumard.
England's former world No.2 Jenny Duncalf was forced to use every ounce of her experience to come back from two games down to overcome 18-year-old Egyptian talent Mayar Hany to progress to the second round.
Hany, the 18-year-old from Cairo, stunned experienced Australian Donna Urquhart in the final round of qualification to book her place in the main draw and showed no signs of nerves as she picked up where she left off, taking the game to Duncalf from the off - but the Englishwoman withstood a late barrage to seal the match 6-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7.
"In those first two games she was playing so well and it surprised me a little and I just wasn't playing the right game," said Duncalf.
"So in the third I tried to play a much more attacking style and I was rewarded for it. She came back strong again at the end and I was getting a little edgy so I'm happy I seen it through.
"It's a long time since I came from two games down to win but I'm very pleased to come through today," added the 32-year-old from Harrogate.