- Tanvi Khanna, Yasshmita Jadishkumar and Marwan Assal pick up the Lucky Loser places
- Unseeded Seif Refaay goes through as Yassin Shohdy becomes the only top four seed to qualify
- Xin Ying Yee wins the second all-Malaysian match of the day
- top seed Lauren Baltayan forced to retire after collision at end of third game, Habiba Hani through
- Joachim Chuah wins all-Malaysian match after a Uber crash, Ibrahim Elkabbani loses two game lead, wins in 96m!
- Contrasting wins for Ruqayya Salem and Nour Khagafy in opening matches of the day
- Draw Update : [4] Olivia Weaver, Melissa Alves, Sam Osborne-Wylde w/d, [LL] Main Draw spots
Seif Refaay (Egy) 3-1 [10] Edwin Clain (Fra) 11-6, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7 (71m)
I don’t think many players could have beaten Edwin today. The quality of the squash the Frenchman produced was out of this world.
He attacked relentlessly, making sure his backgame was accurate and tight, he was volleying superbly, taking full advantage of his height.
But today, Seif was just too … Ali Farag ish.
His smooth movement, his lob defence that became attacks, forcing the Frenchman to run to the back again and again from way up in the court, his poise and calm, his vision of the match, of his squash… How that boy can be that calm and composed on court..
He has to be taking from his mum, because his dad, bless him, was nearly the cardiac arrest at every point. And Seif was there, playing, not over doing it, not going wild with every point, just doing his things, and playing his best.
Edwin felt robbed by the ref. To be frankly honest, I don’t think he was. I agreed with all the decisions, and I could see the line taken by the South African ref, back to the Tour after a little absence. But what do I know!
It was a beautiful, amazing fair battle. It’s when you see matches like that, with two very tall boys, playing a bit of a similar game, height, mixing the shots, great length and width, great tactics, retrieving and attacking to the four corners of the court, with a minimum of traffic issues, that you realise that our sport doesn’t have to be a rugby encounter.
I was expecting Edwin to come and play his best squash. He has been beating some very good players. And I knew what to expect.
When the draw of the event was done, I wasn’t even qualified as a reserve! But when I finally got the opportunity to get into the tournament, I really wanted to reach the main draw with the top players. And I’m very happy I’ve achieved that goal.
From the beginning of my time on Tour, I fixed myself some little goals, like top 80, then 50, then 30. But this season, I hope I can get as high as I can. I have been doing well against the top 20 in training, I know I’m ‘in’ this game. But it’s just a matter of time.
Thrilled to be through to the main draw of the CIB Egyptian Open, my first time in a Diamond event. Over the moon, and I hope I can get as far as I can in the main event…
[4] Yassin Shohdy (Egy) 3-0 Mohamed Gohar (Egy) 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (45m)
Both players train with Karim Ali Fathi, and that’s why Karim was not on site today….
Yassin : It’s my first ever Diamond draw… I lost in a couple of qualification finals, so I was a bit nervous when I started the match. But I felt I experienced it before, that I had nothing to lose. I kept my focus and I’m chuffed.
When the scores were tight, close, I hold my hand a little bit, not going to the front too often as I used to do too often, making errors… That made the difference I think.
I played three Egyptians to qualify, they all are close friends, and two of them, we train with the same coach Karim Ali Fathi! So I hit with them twice a week.
It’s a bit of a relief and a reward to reach the main draw. The last time I play a big world tour event was as a wild card in a bronze event, four or five years ago…
[8] Habiba Hani (Egy) 3-1 [1] Lauren Baltayan (Fra) 7-11, 11-6, 11-10 rtd (35m)
A terrible accident, out of the blue really, as both girls were moving well, both running and attacking and retrieving beautifully, very few calls.
But at a crucial game ball 11/10 for Habiba, a clash happened. The Egyptian played a nice winner in the front left corner, and Lauren tried to retrieve it, banged into her opponent’s back, and her head went banging extremely hard on the floor.
At the start, we were hoping that Lauren was able to recover from that contributed injury, and the question was is it a no let or a stroke? But as the French Pocket Rocket was unable to restart the match, I was told the decision was not necessary, and the match was awarded to Habiba.
Lauren’s coaching camp was not happy with the decision to award the match to the Egyptian, and loud discussions followed.
Before the accident happened, I was really enjoying it. It was a very clean match, I was enjoying every single point, I was giving it my all, and I think she did too.
I tried to play my normal game against Lauren, attacking and playing at a high pace but it didn’t work, because she is so fast, and it made more comfortable.
So I started to change the game plan, using heights, slowing the pace more, attacking more. It’s not me and it’s not my normal game but I had to stick to this plan if I want to win.
[12] Xin Ying Yee (Mas) 3-1 [15] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (Mas) 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9 (46m)
I’m very happy with my performance. Both mentally and physically. Like I said, we are from the same country, we really want to win and get through.
I know she loves playing to the front, and also that she is not as fit as me. So I tried to make the rallies as long as possible, even when I was 6/0 down in the first. I told myself, try to calm and play to the back first, and eventually, if I get the confidence, then I’ll take it to the front.
Yes, my first Diamond event, and it’s so exciting! One of the biggest event of the season, and it’s in Egypt! It’s my second time here, it’s such a great country, the facilities are amazing, jut the Uber I find a bit scary !!!! But we’ve been shopping in the Malls and shopping areas every day, it’s been great! The food is amazing, and the people are nice…
[16] Joachim Chuah (Mas) 3-1 [2] Sanjay Jeeva (Mas) 12-14, 11-5, 11-0, 11-4 (54m)
I’m not usually edgy on the court, I’m usually more calm than that. My adrenalin was like kicking in, but all credit to Sanj, he had an amazing run last week at the Asian Games, congratulations to him, it’s not easy to walk away with a gold medal.
I trained with Sanjay a lot throughout the summer. We know each other’s game very well. It’s more of a mental thing for me when we play each other.
I felt the pressure was on him, he is higher than me in the rankings, and he is also my senior, and I respect that. And he played really well, it was very tough for me to hang in there, HE made it tough for me to hang in there in the first, and come back in the second.
It was more of a mental thing for me as I said, I feel he was unlucky, and I was lucky.
It’s my first Diamond, I’m really really excited, I haven’t been on Tour that long, this is my third month, and my first full season.
So I’m just happy to come here and play. I’m not asking for much, I just want to show what I can do, I put in a lot of work in the summer, and I’m hoping it pays off.
Ibrahim Elkabbani (Egy) 3-2 [12] Marwan Assal (Egy) 16-14, 11-4, 7-11, 9-11, 11-3 (96m)
What to say about such a high-profile match… It might not look like a high-profile match looking at the rankings, but… We are talking tall, strong guys who wouldn’t look ridiculous in a Rugby match, in Egypt, and within minutes of their homes.
Those two have been playing in the local tournaments; they know the drill; they know that it was always going to be a huge physical battle.
I didn’t come anywhere near the game. I’m not that blond! I just kept watching the other court, following at times the match on SquashTV from the Press Room, but mostly, I listened to the crowd. I listened to the poor ref who is such a kind and polite, respectful person, who wouldn’t say boo to a squash ball. I thought he was going to walk out at some point… Whatever money those guys are getting, it’s just not enough, let me tell you.
From the middle of the third, I told Tournament Director Omar Elbolorossy that this one was going to 5. And so it was.
An incredible fight from young Honey (Asal means Honey in Egyptian), whose game has improved a lot, I’m told: he stopped tinning the ball for days, and is more patient… Which allowed him to claw back to set up a decider.
But today, Ibrahim just managed the better start in the last game, closing the ‘le spectacle était dans la salle’ show (the show was in the audience) in 96 very very long minutes for both camps…
Let’s start from the beginning of the tournament. I entered the tournament the day before yesterday at 10am, when Adam Hawal forfeited. So all I was thinking about during this tournament was to enjoy myself on court.
I wasn’t preparing for the tournament at all. I know I’m good, I know I can beat anybody in this qualifications draw, it’s only a matter of time. I knew the time would come, that the work I do with Captain El Attar would pay off. Obviously, I’m very happy it paid off on this event.
This morning, I was talking with Hesham [El Attar, his coach], and he told me: you don’t have to do anything special whenever you feel uncomfortable on court.
Just use height as much as you can, put the ball into the corners, don’t go for anything special. And so that’s what I did in the first two games, and I was not playing my best squash in the first. The ‘fight’ was what it was all about, who was going to wait the most for the opportunities and take advantage of them.
I fought at the end of the first game [32m opener]. He was playing so many tins in the second, and I was thinking ‘do not do anything special, keep going on the same route’.
In the third, I was 3/0 up, and suddenly, the tables turned. He was really good in the backhand back corner and he took the backhand side from me today. And I was too passive on that side. I was hitting the ball, but as we hit the ball SO HARD in the first two games, I was struggling to get the ball to the back of the court as the ball was so soft. It just kept stopping in the serve box.
He has very skilful hands, and he started to go for some winners. Add to that I was penalised with so many strokes.
In the 5th, Hesham told me “bro, you are not taking advantage of the fact he is playing everything straight drives from the backhand. Put your body in the backhand back corner, show him you are ready to volley, and that’s what changed the whole match.
Not sure if he started cramping, or what happened with him. But I’m really, really, really happy and grateful for Captain Hesham today, for his advice today. All he said was, it all about whose got the biggest personality on court. It’s not physical. It’s not tactical. All you need to think about it your personality.
I really need to thank my mum for the support and ‘my guys’ who came from hundreds of kilometres to support me today.
Nour Khagafy (Egy) 3-2 [11] Tanvi Khanna (Ind) 11-9, 5-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4 (63m)
Loved that game. When I spoke with Tanvi yesterday after her victory, she mentioned how tired she was after coming back from Japan (the Asian Games) and how she struggled to backup the good results she had lately and the expectations about her squash.
And today I feel it was the match too far. She did extremely fair to take the 4th, as she was running on fumes from the start of that game, but the 5th, nothing left in the tank, and the hard work Nour make her do throughout the match finally paid off.
The Egyptian was able to execute her plan to perfection, clinically and prevent the Indian any hope of come back…
Very happy I stuck to my game plan and made her a bit nervous, with the quality of my attacking shots as well.
It’s my first Diamond event! It’s a relief, because I’ve been working really really hard. And I feel that my squash is at a level that allows me to compete with anyone and get good matches, not even wins.
I worked really hard to get to this point so it’s actually paying off. Very happy about this win.
[6] Ruqayya Salem (Egy) 3-0 [16] Menna Walid (Egy) 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (30m)
Today, Ruqayya always looked the stronger player, more mentally than anything else. The lefthander was calm (looked like anyway), accurate with her basic game, and patient. In front, Menna, maybe more skilled with a racquet (but with the young Egyptians, it’s very subtle!), was alternating stunning shots with mishits and tins.
I didn’t felt at any time she was enjoying her time on court at all. Yesterday, she clinched a victory out of the racquet of Jana Swaify, a player she never beat before, coming back from 2/1 down and taking it 11/9 in the 5th!
I feel that that match might have left traces and pain in her legs, and also, drained her mentally. And today, the accuracy, the clinical approach from Ruqayya was just too damaging for Menna’s legs.
Qualifying for two back to back Diamond events is a reward for all the hard work I have produced for months, with all my coaches here and in the US, Wael El Hindi, my coaches from the Virginia Uni, and Omar Mosaad here of course.
Those two qualifications prove that I have the ability to play straight into the main draw, without the qualifications. I really wanted to prove myself, and that’s why I’m here.
We both wanted to take our space, play our shots the way we want to play them. She is a lot taller than me and a bit bigger, so sometimes it’s hard to get around her. But I was trying to get to my shots as fast as possible.
The ref was pretty good, he didn’t give any bad call or anything, he was trying to keep us both safe. He did a pretty good job!
