QSF 3 2024 Round-Up: Khan & Elkabbani Score Five-Game Victories To Reach RD2

The QSF 3 2024 got underway in Doha yesterday, with eight players successfully booking their spots in the second round of the PSA World Tour Bronze event.

USA’s Shahjahan Khan and Egypt’s Ibrahim Elkabbani produced plenty of drama in their opening round bouts, advancing past Tom Walsh and Sanjay Jeeva in see-saw five-game encounters, respectively.

Both players got over the finish line in contrasting fashion, however, with Elkabbani clawing his way back from two games down to beat Malaysia’s Jeeva, while Khan held off a valiant comeback from England’s Walsh – who had come from two games behind to force a decider – to eventually set up a second-round outing against No.8 seed Karim El Hammamy.

Elkabbani wasn’t the only Egyptian player to enjoy success on the opening day in Qatar, with Aly Hussein, Yassin Elshafei and Mohamed Abouelghar all claiming strong victories. World No.63 Hussein overcame Pakistan’s Tayyab Aslam in four games to secure a date with top seed Tarek Momen in the next round, while Abouelghar needed just 32 minutes to defeat compatriot Mazen Gamal.

Elshafei, 22, recorded the only seeding scalp of the day as he battled past Malaysia’s Addeen Idrakie in four games. The World No.81 will now face No.3 seed Eain Yow Ng for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Elsewhere Indian duo Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar started their campaigns in impressive style, both scoring comfortable straight game victories at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Singh overcame Pakistan’s Muhammad Asim Khan after 38 minutes of action, while Senthilkumar defeated Qatari Wildcard Yousef Essam Farag by an 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 scoreline.

Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue, meanwhile, set up a second-round meeting with No.2 seed Aly Abou Eleinen after seeing off the threat of Frenchman Toufik Mekhalfi in the final match of the day.

Round 2 of action will get underway on Thursday, 23 May, at 13:00 (GMT+3), with all of the live scores available to view by clicking here. To keep up to date with the action from Doha, visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Results: Round One

[9/16] Aly Hussein (EGY) bt Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 3-1: 11-9, 11-13, 12-10, 11-5 (52m)

[9/16] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt [WC] Yousef Essam Farag (QAT) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 (32m)

[9/16] Shahjahan Khan (USA) bt Tom Walsh (ENG) 3-2: 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 11-8 (72m)

[9/16] Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) bt Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) 3-2: 12-14, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (66m)

Yassin Elshafei (EGY) bt [9/16] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) 3-1: 11-4, 5-11, 11-6, 11-5 (37m)

[9/16] Abhay Singh (IND) bt Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-2, 11-9, 15-13 (38m)

[9/16] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Mazen Gamal (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 11-9 (32m)

[9/16] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt Tufik Mekhalfi (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 (31m)

Draw: Round Two

[3] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v Yassin Elshafei (EGY)

Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) v [2] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY)

Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) v [7] Omar Mosaad (EGY)

Abhay Singh (IND) v [6] Auguste Dussourd (FRA)

[8] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) v Shahjahan Khan (USA)

Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) v [4] Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT)

[1] Tarek Momen (EGY) v Aly Hussein (EGY)

[5] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)