VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open – Day One: Evening roundup

The VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open 2023 continued with the first evening session of the tournament. Day One of the PSA Gold event was split between the OCBC Arena and the Kallang Squash Centre as both venues hosted four matches per session.

In the first match of the evening session on the Kallang Squash Centre’s traditional court, Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio bested France’s Lucas Serme in three games. France’s Melissa Alves earned a win on the OCBC Arena’s glass court by beating Hong Kong’s Ka Yi Lee in just 22 minutes.

Rachel Arnold beat Singaporean wildcard Au Yeong Wai Yhann in straight games despite a promising start to the match from the 24-year-old.

In a tight affair, England’s Curtis Malik came out the victor in his clash with Egypt’s Karim El Hammamy. The match was the longest of the day at 69 minutes, and included two 20-point games as the pair fought on the traditional court for a place in the second round.

“I’m really happy, that feels like my biggest win. It’s up there with beating [Eain] Yow [Ng] – I’ve never played a Gold event before so this feels really special,” said Malik after his win.

“I was pleased with how I backed up mentally. I made a few errors but attacked at the right times, and I think I broke him a bit mentally and physically at the end.

“I’ve got Fares Dessouky next on the glass court and on SQUASHTV. It’s about time.”

Eain Yow Ng faced a determined Balazs Farkas in their first round battle. Despite a fight back in the earlier two games, the 6’4″ Hungarian slowed coming to the business end of the match and Eain Yow took full advantage, finishing his decisive win with a strong 11-4 victory in the third.

In the only five-game contest of the day, Nour Aboulmakarim defeated a resilient Tsz-Wing Tong. The Egyptian ace battled from 2-1 down to win two consecutive games 11-8, 11-7 to earn her place in the second round where she will face USA’s Sabrina Sobhy.

In the final glass court match of the day, David Baillargeon dashed Singapore’s home hopes as he knocked out men’s wildcard Marcus Phua in comfortable fashion, winning 11-5, 11-3, 11-6.

Rounding off the day’s action, Scotland’s Georgia Adderley upset World No.34 Nadine Shahin in three games. The 22-year-old dominated the early stages of the match, winning the first two games 11-4, 11-7. The Egyptian made it difficult in the third game, but despite taking it to a tie-break, it wasn’t enough to stop the Scotswoman as she stormed to victory to set up a round two match-up with No.4 seed Tinne Gilis.

Tomorrow’s action commences at 12:00 (GMT+8) with play available to watch live on SQUASHTV with live scores available here.

Results: Women’s RD1

Melissa Alves (FRA) bt Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (29m)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt [WC] Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (22m)
Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) bt Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-2: 11-7, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 (57m)
Georgia Adderley (SCO) bt Nadine Shahin (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 12-10 (33m)

Results: Men’s RD1

Leandro Romiglio (ARG) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-3 (44m)
Curtis Malik (ENG) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 (69m)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Balazs Farkas (HUN) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 (44m)
David Baillargeon (CAN) bt [WC] Marcus Phua (SGP) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 (27m)