Hong Kong FC Open: Kwan Lau Scores Upset To Reach RD2

6 December 2022

Hong Kong No.2 Tsz Kwan Lau scored the pick of the upsets on day one of the The Hong Kong Football Club Open 2022 as he fought back from 2-0 down to beat Egypt’s World No.44 Karim El Hammamy and move into round two of the PSA World Tour Bronze event.

Karim El Hammamy secured the opening two games of the round one contest both 11-8 and looked well on his way to booking his round two spot and upsetting the home crowd. Lau had other ideas however and fought back to level the match at 2-2 after clinching a tight fourth game 15-13. Lau completed the comeback, scoring an 11-8 victory in the final game to reach round two and continue his great form from last week’s Platinum event. He’ll take on Malaysian Open champion Mazen Hesham in round three.

More upsets followed on day one in Hong Kong as European pair Rory Stewart from Scotland and Hungary’s Balazx Farkas scored victories over Henry Leung and Faraz Khan to reach the second round of the final World Tour event of the year. Stewart dropped the third game but managed to comfortably take the fourth game to advance in four to set up a match with Spain’s Iker Pajares.. Farkas however wasted no time in dispatching USA’s Khan, winning in straight games to move into the second round where he will meet No.3 seed Youssef Soliman.

World No.29 Mohamed ElSherbini survived a scare from local player Wong Chi Him in his opening match as the Hong Kong player came back from 2-0 down to level the match at 2-2 but El Sherbini was able to hang on in the fifth and final game to take it 15-13 and move through to the next round. He will now face No.8 seed Greg Lobban for a quarter final place.

There were comfortable wins throughout the day for Dimitri Steinmann, Aly Abou Eleinen and Juan Camilo Vargas, who all recorded straight games victories to advance. Whilst, Spain’s Bernat Jaume closed out day one with a four-game victory over former World No.12 and wildcard Max Lee to set up a last 16 encounter with No.1 seed Marwan ElShorbagy.

Results: Hong Kong Football Club Open 2022 – RD1

Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) bt Wong Chi Him (HKG) 3-2: 11-5, 13-11, 9-11, 7-11, 15-13 (75m)

Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt [WC] Harley Lam (HKG) 3-0: 11-8, 13-11, 11-8 (43m)

Balazs Farkas (HUN) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-9, 11-5 (40m)

Rory Stewart (SCO) bt Henry Leung (HKG) 3-1: 11-5, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4 (47m)

Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 8-11, 11-5, 15-13, 11-8 (81m)

Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt Ivan Yuen (MAS) 3-0: 11-1, 11-6, 12-10 (28m)

Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) bt Mazen Gamal (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 (41m)

Bernat Jaume (ESP) bt [WC] Max Lee (HKG) 3-1: 11-4, 4-11, 11-5, 12-10 (44m)

Draw: Hong Kong Football Club Open 2022 – RD2

[1] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v Bernat Jaume (ESP)

Rory Stewart (SCO) v [7] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)