Young Stars Shine on Day One of CIB Egyptian Open

Teenage qualifiers Barb Sameh and Mohamad Zakaria stole the show on the opening day of the CIB Egyptian Open as the first ever diamond-level PSA Squash Tour event got underway at O West, Cairo.

Home duo Sameh and Zakaria each had to come through a gruelling three matches of qualifying to reach today’s first round, and they made sure they didn’t let the golden opportunity go to waste as they wowed with wins over Hong Kong, China’s Tomato Ho and England’s Nick Wall, respectively.

17-year-old Sameh, ranked 168th in the world, was in fine form today, backed loudly by the home crowd as she confidently took the game to World No. 23 Ho.

After clinching the opener 13-11, Sameh was pegged back 11-1 in the second. The Egyptian responded fantastically, though, taking a tight third game 15-13 and then sealing the win with an 11-9 victory in the fourth game to set up a second round clash with reigning world champion Nouran Gohar.

“I’m over the moon right now, I came here, didn’t expect anything, just to enjoy the experience and try to challenge the top players,” Sameh said.

16-year-old World No.62 Zakaria, meanwhile, followed up his WSF World Junior Championship title this summer with a hugely impressive win over World No.35 Wall, with Zakaria wrapping up a 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 win in 40 minutes.

“Today, out of all days I feel good because, as I said before I started: As the days go, as the tournament goes on, I play better. Today was maybe one of my best performances. I think I played better than I played at the World Juniors. I was I was fierce, I was aggressive, I was very active on court. I sent a message from the beginning,” Zakaria said.

Round two of the CIB Egyptian Open takes place tomorrow, Saturday 31 August, from 12:00 (GMT+3). Watch the 2024 CIB Egyptian Open live on SQUASHTV. For more information on the CIB Egyptian Open 2024, follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

Results: 2024 CIB Egyptian Open Women’s Round One

Marina Stefanoni (USA) bt Hana Moataz (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 18-16, 11-9 (46m)
Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt Rana Ismail (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 13-11 (36m)
Menna Hamed (EGY) bt Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 3-2: 10-12, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 (60m)
Melissa Alves (FRA) bt Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 3-1: 6-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-5 (39m)
Nadine Shahin (EGY) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-2: 15-13, 3-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6 (58m)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 11-3 (50m)
Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt Habiba Hani (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-2 (24m)
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt Hannah Craig (IRL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 (32m)
Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 (33m)
Malak Khafagy (EGY) bt Nour Megahed (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 (32m)
Nour Heikal (EGY) bt Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-1: 11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6 (37m)
Salma Eltayeb (EGY) bt Alicia Mead (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-8 (22m)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt Nardine Garas (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 (23m)
Georgia Adderley (SCO) bt Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (25m)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Grace Gear (ENG) 3-2: 6-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8 (51m)
Barb Sameh (EGY) bt Tomato Ho (HKG) 3-1: 13-11, 1-11, 15-13, 11-9 (65m)

Results: 2024 CIB Egyptian Open Men’s Round One

Curtis Malik (ENG) bt Greg Lobban (SCO) 3-0: 11-9, 12-10, 11-8 (42m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8 (68m)
Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) bt Omar El Torkey (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-3 (29m)
Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-3 (37m)
Karim El Hammamy (EGY) bt Timothy Brownell (USA) 3-2: 7-11, 2-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-3 (71m)
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt Farkas Balazs (HUN) 3-2: 7-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-4 (59m)
Fares Dessouky (EGY) bt Yassin Elshafei (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 (39m)
Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) bt Leandro Romiglio (ARG) 3-2: 7-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-1, 13-11 (72m)
Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) bt Rory Stewart (SCO) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 (32m)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt George Parker (ENG) 3-2: 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 7-11, 11-4 (79m)
Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) bt Kareem El Torkey (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 12-10 (39m)
Ramit Tandon (IND) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-9 (32m)
Nathan Lake (ENG) bt Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 3-1: 13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 (43m)
Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt Nick Wall (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (40m)
Iker Pajares (ESP) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 11-4, 11-5 (44m)
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (32m)