Women’s top four through as Men’s seeds are scattered
Day Two of the qualifying competition saw another series of seeding upset and some tense and thrilling encounters as sixteen players won through to tomorrow’s qualifying finals.
Qualifying D2 Photo Gallery Match Reports
In the women’s matches the top four seeds – Nardine Garas, Alicia Mead, Haya Ali and Marta Dominguez – all won through with Garas, Mead and Dominguez winning in straight games while Ali edged home 11-9 in the fifth against fellow-Egyptian Barb Sameh.
Mead now faces France’s Lauren Baltayan who beat Malak Fathy in three despite falling well behind in the third game. Habiba Hani will face top seed Garas in an all-Egyptian matchup after the sixth seed came from 1-2 down to deny compatriot Jana Swaify. Also coming from 1-2 down was Nour Megahed, who saved match ball on the way to beating Ukraine’s Alina Bushma, and she’ll face Spain’s Dominguez for a place in the main draw. Hong Kong’s Toby Tse came from a game down to beat fifth seeded Swiss Cindy Merlo to earn a final against Ali.
In the men’s events England’s top seed Patrick Rooney is the only one of the top four seeds left in contention. Rooney ended the hopes of South Africa’s Dewald van Niekirk in straight games and will face Yassin Elshafei for a place in the main draw after the Egyptian downed eight-seeded Argentinan Leandro Romiglio in four games.
Simon Herbert added to English interest as he downed third seed Omar Mosaad. He;ll face Colombian Matias Knudson who came through an epic encounter, saving match balls in a tense decider against fifth seed Moustafa Elsirty.
Unseeded Matthew Lai and Rowan Damming continued their runs to reach the finals, while Spain’s Ivan Perez impressively despatched second seed Balazs Farkas in straight games and he’ll face sixth-seeded Swiss Yannick Wilhelmi for a main draw spot.
Qualifying finals take place on Wednesday at the O West Complex, starting at 13.00.
Women’s Qualifying Semi-Finals :
[2] Alicia Mead (Eng) 3-1 [wc] Farida Walid (Egy) 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8 (42m)[9] Lauren Baltayan (Fra) 3-0 Malak Fathy (Egy) 11-6, 11-3, 12-10 (32m) [1] Nardine Garas (Egy) 3-0 [11] Hana Ismail (Egy) 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 (20m)
[6] Habiba Hani (Egy) 3-2 Jana Swaify (Egy) 11-7, 6-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-7 (45m) [4] Marta Dominguez (Esp) 3-0 [12] Cheng Nga Ching (Hkg) 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 (23m)
[15] Nour Megahed (Egy) 3-2 [8] Alina Bushma (Ukr) 11-9, 3-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9 (56m) [3] Haya Ali (Egy) 3-2 [14] Barb Sameh (Egy) 7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9 (51m)
[16] Toby Tse (Hkg) 3-1 [5] Cindy Merlo (Sui) 9-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-4 (30m)
Men’s Qualifying Semi-Finals :
[1] Patrick Rooney (Eng) 3-0 [14] Dewald van Niekerk (Rsa) 12-10, 11-7, 11-3 (39m)[15] Yassin Elshafei (Egy) 3-1 [8] Leandro Romiglio (Arg) 14-12, 5-11, 11-5, 11-8 (41m) [9] Simon Herbert (Eng) 3-1 [3] Omar Mosaad (Egy) 11-5, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7 (46m)
[10] Matias Knudsen (Col) 3-2 [5] Moustafa Elsirty (Egy) 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 14-12 (86m)
Matthew Lai (Hkg) 3-2 Salah Eltorgman (Can) 11-8, 5-11, 3-11, 11-2, 11-9 (54m)
Rowan Damming (Ned) 3-1 [7] Ryunosukue Tsukue (Jpn) 11-9, 11-5, 4-11, 11-5 (48m)
Ivan Perez (Esp) 3-0 [2] Balazs Farkas (Hun) 11-9, 11-5, 11-3 (34m)
[6] Yannick Wilhelmi (Sui) 3-1 [16] Sam Osborne-Wylde (Eng) 11-4, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7 (63m)
Qualifying D2 Photo Gallery Match Reports
