RESULTS: Sky Open, Cairo, Egypt
Qualifying finals:
Tom Richards (ENG) bt Kamran Khan (MAS) 11-4, 11-5, 12-10 (42m)
Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt Yann Perrin (FRA) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (62m)
Ali Farag (EGY) bt Gilly Lane (USA) 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 (61m)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Wael Farag (EGY) 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 (47m)
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 11-9, 11-7, 7-3 ret. (37m)
Dylan Bennett (NED) bt Robbie Temple (ENG) 11-7, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5 (62m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Joe Lee (ENG) 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (65m)
Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-9, 11-4, 9-11, 7-11, 11-6 (82m)
Egypt's world number one Ramy Ashour will be hoping that it will be 'third time lucky' this year when the third and biggest PSA Super Series 2010 event of the year to date, the Sky Open, gets underway in his home town Cairo tomorrow (Monday).
Runner-up in the year's two previous Super Series championships in the USA, 22-year-old Ashour is seeded to win the $150,000 PSA World Tour squash event which is in its third year at the Sky Petrosport Club.
The Sky Open has attracted a world-class field, including 18 of the top 20 players in the world and led by Cairo King Ashour.
But it is Englishmen James Willstrop and Nick Matthew - winners of the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York and North American Open, respectively - who arrive in Egypt jointly leading the 2010 PSA Super Series Rankings, ahead of Ashour, in third place.
World number two Nick Matthew is the event's second seed - and the only non-Egyptian amongst the top four seeds.
Indeed, following the conclusion of today's final qualifying round, a total of 11 Egyptians will compete in the main draw - all of whom are from Cairo!
Ashour is expected meet former world number one Karim Darwish, the fourth seed, in the semi-final in the top half of the draw - while Matthew is predicted to line up against legendary left-hander Amr Shabana, the four-time world champion who is the third seed.
Cairo teenagers Ali Farag and Karim Abdel Gawad were the youngest players to qualify today - in both cases earning their maiden appearances in a Super Series event.
Farag, ranked 174 in the world, pulled off his second successive upset by beating USA's Gilly Lane 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 in 61 minutes. Karim Abdel Gawad, who is also 18, defeated Englishman Joe Lee 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 in 65 minutes.
Updated 1st round draw:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v Joey Barrington (ENG)
[16] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) v Saurav Ghosal (IND)
[5] James Willstrop (ENG) v Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY)
[9] Daryl Selby (ENG) v Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) v [Q] Dylan Bennett (NED)
[10] David Palmer (AUS) v [Q] Tom Richards (ENG)
[6] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Ong Beng Hee (MAS)
[15] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK)
[14] Alister Walker (ENG) v [Q] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
[7] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
[12] Wael El Hindi (EGY) v [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) v Karim AGA Samy (EGY)
[13] Adrian Grant (ENG) v [Q] Ali Farag (EGY)
[8] Peter Barker (ENG) v [Q] Stephen Coppinger (RSA)
[11] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v [Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Q] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY)