RESULTS: CIMB Malaysian Open Squash Championships, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Men's 1st round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Yasir Butt (PAK) 11-3, 11-1, 11-6 (25m)
[8] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7 (60m)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 10-12, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-3 (56m)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [5] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 10-12, 11-5, 11-1, 11-9 (56m)
[6] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (39m)
[3] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [Q] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 (50m)
[7] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt [Q] Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7 (64m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Simon Rosner (GER) 11-5, 11-8, 13-11 (38m)
Women's 1st round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Vanessa Atkinson (NED) 11-4, 11-5, 11-8 (38m)
Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 12-10, 11-5, 11-7 (33m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt Delia Arnold (MAS) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 (31m)
[8] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [Q] Aisling Blake (IRL) 11-4, 12-10, 11-3 (35m)
[7] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) bt [Q] Annie Au (HKG) 11-4, 3-11, 11-4, 11-4 (32m)
[4] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [Q] Samantha Teran (MEX) 11-2, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8 (48m)
[5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [Q] Camille Serme (FRA) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (34m)
[2] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 11-13, 6-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 (53m)
Egyptians Omar Mosaad and Omneya Abdel Kawy enjoyed mixed fortunes in today's (Wednesday) first round of the CIMB Malaysian Open, the premier annual international squash championships in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
Two local players failed at the first hurdle in the men's $52,500 PSA World Tour event – and Omar Mosaad caused the downfall of the bigger of the two when he upset two times champion Mohd Azlan Iskandar. The fifth seed from Kuala Lumpur took the opening game, but was unable to extend his advantage as 21-year-old Mosaad took the upper hand before going on to beat the world No13 and local hero 10-12, 11-5, 11-1, 11-9 in 56 minutes.
It is the first time that Iskandar, the champion in 2004 and 2007, has failed to make at least the semi-finals in six successive appearances in the event since 2004.
Mosaad, the world No26 from Cairo, goes on to meet England's James Willstrop for a place in the semi-finals. Fourth seed Willstrop, who won the silver medal in last week's World Games in his first competitive appearance since undergoing ankle surgery in April, made a shaky start to his maiden KL campaign when he dropped the first two games.
But the former world No2 from Leeds in Yorkshire re-established his authority on the match by beating Egypt's unseeded Hisham Mohd Ashour 10-12, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-3 in 56 minutes.
Local interest in the men's event is now carried single-handedly by sixth seed Ong Beng Hee, the defending champion from Penang. In his eighth consecutive appearance in the event since 2000, the three-time champion despatched local wild card opponent Muhd Asyraf Azan 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 to reach the quarter-finals.
Top seed Amr Shabana celebrated his first PSA Tour appearance in KL since 2000 with an 11-3, 11-1, 11-6 win over Pakistan qualifier Yasir Butt. The three-time world champion from Egypt will now face another Pakistani when he takes on Farhan Mehboob, the No8 seed who battled for exactly one hour to overcome Australian Cameron Pilley 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7.
Second seed Nick Matthew, the Englishman who is expected to line up against Shabana in Saturday's final, beat rising German star Simon Rosner, a qualifier, 11-5, 11-8, 13-11.
"It was good to win 3/0," said Matthew, the new World Games champion. "He's a dangerous player!"
Australia's Kasey Brown stole the headlines in the women's $53,500 WISPA World Tour Gold event. The unseeded 23-year-old from New South Wales upset sixth-seeded Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy 12-10, 11-5, 11-7 - only days after the world No7 from Cairo clinched the bronze medal in the World Games in Chinese Taipei.
Brown now faces top seed Nicol David, the world number one and local heroine who has her sights on a fifth title in a row – after reaching her seventh successive final! The 25-year-old from Penang got her 2009 campaign off to a healthy start with an 11-4, 11-5, 11-8 victory over 2004 champion Vanessa Atkinson, the former world number one from the Netherlands.
In the other half of the draw, a trio of English players stand in the way of Australia's second seed Rachael Grinham reaching the final for the first time after five semi-final finishes since 2002.
Grinham recovered from a two-game deficit to beat France's Isabelle Stoehr 11-13, 6-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 – and will now take on Jenny Duncalf, the fifth seed from England who defeated French qualifier Camille Serme 11-9, 11-8, 11-7.
The adjacent quarter-final will be an all-English affair between seventh seed Laura Lengthorn-Massaro and fourth seed Alison Waters. Both needed four games to get the better of their first round opponents – Lengthorn-Massaro overcoming Hong Kong qualifier Annie Au 11-4, 3-11, 11-4, 11-4, while Londoner Waters took 48 minutes to defeat Mexican qualifier Samantha Teran 11-2, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8.
Men's quarter-final line-up:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) v [8] Farhan Mehboob (PAK)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
[3] Wael El Hindi (EGY) v [6] Ong Beng Hee (MAS)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [7] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK)
Women's quarter-final line-up:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) v Kasey Brown (AUS)
[3] Natalie Grinham (NED) v [8] Madeline Perry (IRL)
[4] Alison Waters (ENG) v [7] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG)
[2] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v [5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG)