Greenwich Open SF: Tarek Joins Top Seeds In Finals

Egypt’s Marwan Tarek continued his knockout run at the Greenwich Open, to make it through to the finals of the Challenger 5 level competition.

The former World Junior Champion had already taken out two of the top eight seeds to make the semi-finals, where he came up against another unseeded Egyptian, in Karim Elbarbary.

It was the first meeting between the pair on Tour, and from the start, Tarek was in complete control. He won the first two games with 11-7 scorelines, before then taking the third 11-4 to secure victory after just 38 minutes.

The Egyptian will now face Colombian Andres Herrera in the final on Sunday afternoon. The tournament’s top seed had to fight his way past Egypt’s Abdelrahman Nassar in a five-game thriller. The Colombian led twice in the contest, including taking a third game tie-break, but Nassar fought back to level on both occasions. Herrera eventually took the win in five after 73 minutes, to advance to the final.

The women’s final at the Greenwich Open on Sunday will be contested between the top two seeds. England’s Alicia Mead, the top seed, had to come from behind to win her semi-final contest. She went 2-1 down to Ukraine’s Alina Bushma in the last four, but fought back to win both the fourth and fifth games to make it through to the final.

Wen Li Lai will be the woman Mead faces in the final, after the Malaysian got the better of unseeded American Emma Trauber. The No.2 seed spent 36 minutes on court against the American, winning 11-6, 11-6, 11-7.

Men’s Semi-Final Results: Greenwich Open
Marwan Tarek (EGY) bt Karim Elbarbary (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 (38m)
[1] Andres Herrera (COL) bt [6] Abdelrahman Nassar (EGY) 3-2: 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 4-11, 11-5 (73m)

Men’s Final Draw: To Be Played Sunday, October 30
Marwan Tarek (EGY) v [1] Andres Herrera (COL)

Women’s Semi-Final Results: Greenwich Open
[1] Alicia Mead (ENG) bt [4] Alina Bushma (UKR) 3-2: 3-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-2, 11-7 (48m)
[2] Wen Li Lai (MAS) bt Emma Trauber (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (36m)

Women’s Final Draw: To Be Played Sunday, October 30
[1] Alicia Mead (ENG) v [2] Wen Li Lai (MAS)