Egyptians dominate as Qualifying Finalists are decided at  CIB Egyptian Open

GThe second day of qualifying for the CIB Egyptian Open was a great one for the hosts as Egyptian players claimed 11 of the 16 available spots in the Qualifying Finals – and at least one representative in each of tomorrow’s 8 finals opening up the possibility for a home clean sweep.

The women’s matches opened with two seeding upsets as Rana Ismail ousted seventh seed Asia Harris in straight games while wildcard Barb Sameh produced another impressive performance to overcome ninth-seeded compatriot Menna Walid in five games.

“I’m really happy with the way I executed the game plan,” said Same.

“Especially in the 5th game, it was really, really tough. She came back at me every time I had a lead. 80% of the game is mental and today was no different.”

Nour Khafagy came from a game down to end the hopes of top-seeded Swiss Cindy Merlo while wildcards Ruqayya Salem and Habiba El Shazli both overcame English opponents in Torrie Malik and Kiera Marshall.  Eighth seed Nour Heikal scored a sixth Egyptian win as she edged past compatriot Jana Swaify in five games. 

In what was probably the match of the tournament to date, Ireland’s Hannah Craig won a see-saw five-game battle with sixth-seeded Saran Nghiem 12-10 in the decider, while USA’s Marina Stefanoni beat Scotland’s Alison Thomson in four games. Both face Egyptian opponents tomorrow.

“Saran is such a consistent player, so today was not necessarily thinking about winning but more about not losing,” said a delighted Craig. “At the end of the 4t, I had to admit I went into auto pilot, I thought play smart, and hit the targets. This is by far the most exciting battle I had for a long time,any chance like that it makes all the training a MILLION TIMES WORTH IT!”

The men’s matches also started with an upset as a delighted Emyr Evans beat third seed Cesar Salazar in four games. Top seeded Scotsman Rory Stewart eased past France’s Toufik Mekhalfi in straight games. Fifth seeded Swiss Yannik Wilhelmi boosted the non-Egyptian tally as he edged past Spain’s Ivan Perez in five games  in the last match of the day. 

Highlights of the five Egyptian successes in the men’s matches were Yassin Elshafei’s four-game win over fourth seed Ryunosuke Tsukue and success for World Junior Champion Mohamed Zakaria in five hotly contested games against wildcard Ziad Ibrahim.

“I’m very proud to take the match in four today,” said Elshafei. “Ryunosuke is very good player, but today I played some good squash, and taking the first game from 10-4 down was crucial. I was very stressed today, I put a lot of pressure on myself, I didn’t want to disappoint my crowd, but after a while, the crowd was supporting me, and that made a huge difference.”

Zakaria was just happy to have got through : “It was a good match, he played very well, I didn’t. I’m just happy I was able to close it down. Tomorrow Emyr Evans, I’m going to have a look at our match in Manchester, and also watch his match against Cesar today and will try and analyse as much as I can for tomorrow, new day, new match.”

They’re joined in the qualifying finals by Ibrahim Elkabbani, Moustafa El Sirty and Aly Hussein.

The qualifying finals start at 13.00 tomorrow, with the winners putting their names into the pot for the main draws.

All action will be streamed live on SQUASHTV. For more information on the event, follow PSA Squash Tour on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. 

Qualifying Round Two Results :  

Women’s : 
Nour Khagafy (Egy) 3-1 [1] Cindy Merlo (Sui)   6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 (36m)
[10] Rana Ismail (Egy) 3-0 [7] Asia Harris (Eng)  11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (27m)
[15] Hannah Craig (Irl) 3-2 [6] Saran Nghiem (Eng)   4-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10 (66m)
[WC] Barb Sameh (Egy) 3-2 [9] Menna Walid (Egy)  11-5, 11-8, 11-13, 9-11, 11-6 (61m)
[WC] Habiba El Shazli (Egy) 3-1 Kiera Marshall (Eng)  11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9 (42m)
[8] Nour Heikal (Egy) 3-1 [wc] Jana Swaify (Egy)   9-11, 11-4, 12-10, 13-11 (47m)
[5] Marina Stefanoni (Usa) 3-1 [14] Alison Thomson (Sco)   11-3, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7 (47m)
[WC] Ruqayya Salem (Egy) 3-2 [4] Torrie Malik (Eng)  9-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-3, 11-3 (41m)

Men’s : 
[1] Rory Stewart (Sco) 3-0 [15] Toufik Mekhalfi (Fra)  11-8, 11-9, 11-6 (31m)
[6] Ibrahim Elkabbani (Egy) 3-0 Viktor Byrtus (Cze)  11-5, 11-5, 3-0 rtd (22m)
[8] Mohamed Zakaria (Egy) 3-2 [wc] Ziad Ibrahim (Egy)  11-5, 14-16, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6 (92m)
[14] Emyr Evans (Wal) 3-1 [3] Cesar Salazar (Mex)  11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9 (61m)
[16] Yassin Elshafei (Egy) 3-1 [4] Ryunosuke Tsukue (Jpn)  14-12, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4 (46m)
[7] Aly Hussein (Egy) 3-2 [WC] Khaled Labib (Egy)  7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 (87m)
[5] Yannik Wilhelmi (Sui) 3-2 Ivan Perez (Esp)  11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8 (86m)
[11] Moustafa ElSirty (Egy) 3-1 Matias Knudsen (Col)  7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8 (62m)