Odense Open Day Two: Elsirty Sinks Top Seed Zakaria as Seeds Tumble

Moustafa Elsirty knocked out No.1 seed Mohamad Zakaria in an all-Egyptian round-two battle at the Odense Open, as five of the eight men’s seeds went crashing out. 

Zakaria was the No.1 seed for this event but could hardly have been handed a tougher draw for his first match, being pitted against the former World No.22.

It was little surprise, given the calibre of the two players, that there wasn’t much to split them early on, with the more experienced Elsirty saving a game ball at 11-10 down in the first before taking the tiebreak 13-11. 

The second also went Elsirty’s way on a tiebreak, this time 12-10, but the 16-year-old grew in confidence in game three, winning it 11-5 in less than seven minutes. 

The older ball perhaps suited his style of play more than the powerful, hard-hitting Elsirty, so it was little surprise to see the 22-year-old ask for a new one at the start of game four. 

Once again, the players went toe-to-toe in the early rallies, but Elsirty pulled clear from 6-4 up, winning four points on the bounce to bring up six match balls. 

Determined not to go down without a fight, Zakaria dragged his opponent around the court in the rally that followed, forcing Elsirty into some brutal movement and retrievals.

He got back everything that was thrown his way, though, watching Zakaria tin a backhand to close out victory. 

Elsirty’s opponent will be another Egyptian in the form of Ziad Ibrahim, who edged a five-game thriller against compatriot Mohamed Nasser. 

In total, the players dueled for 80 minutes on the traditional court, with Ibrahim eventually claiming victory 12-10 in a deciding tiebreak. 

Germany’s Valentin Rapp, Scotland’s Alasdair Prott and Malaysia’s Darren Pragasam also recorded impressive wins to ensure only three seeded players will feature in the men’s quarter-finals. 

The women’s draw will also feature two unseeded players in the last eight – Nadien Elhammamy and Lowri Roberts. 

Reigning British Junior Open U17 champion Elhammamy beat Germany’s Katerina Tycova 11-5, 12-10, 11-8, while Roberts came from a game down to knock out No.2 seed Kaitlyn Watts of New Zealand. 

16-year-old Elhammamy will now play fourth seed Kiera Marshall, while Roberts’ reward for her impressive win is a last-eight matchup with Amina El Rihany. 

France’s Lauren Baltayan – the No.3 seed who is also still just 16 years of age – will play compatriot Elise Romba in the only women’s quarter-final not to feature an Egyptian player. 

You can see a full breakdown of all the results and fixtures from the Odense Open here.