Malaysian Open Squash Championships 2022: Day One – Player Reaction, Courts 2 & 4

The Malaysian Open Squash Championships 2022 kick off today, with 16 matches coming up in the first round of the tournament.

We’ll be bringing you the player reaction from courts two and four right here. You can follow player reaction from the glass court here.

Click here to watch live and free.

Court 2 Order Of Play

13:00 Ainaa Amani (MAS) v Zeina Mickawy (EGY)
13:45 Bernat Jaume (ESP) v Shahjahan Khan (USA)
15:15 Yathreb Adel (EGY) v Alex Haydon (AUS)
16:00 Faraz Khan (USA) v Karim El Hammamy (EGY)

Court 4 Order Of Play

13:00 Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) v Mazen Gamal (EGY)
14:30 Ineta Mackevica (LAT) v Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP)
15:15 [WC] Ong Sai Hung (MAS) v Moustafa El Sirty (EGY)
16:00 Ooi Kah Yan (MAS) v Julianne Courtice (ENG)

Amani in RD1 shock, ElSherbini comes from behind

In an opening round shock, Malaysia’s World No.106 Ainaa Amani upset Egypt’s World No.28 Zeina Mickawy 3-2 to set up a second round clash with compatriot and defending Malaysian Open champion Aifa Azman.

Amani made a brilliant start to the match as she better held her nerve at 10-10 to take the opening game 12-10.

Mickawy, who has been as high as 20 in the PSA World Rankings, then hit back with a dominant 11-6 win to restore parity, before taking the lead with a hard-fought 11-7 win.

Amani, a late addition to the tournament following an injury to Lisa Aitken, then responded brilliantly. The 20-year-old levelled the match with an 11-7 win in the fourth game before sealing a memorable victory with an 11-6 win in the fifth.

Afterwards, Amani said: “That was a really unexpected win. I just wanted to come out and do my best and the result was really, really good!

“It’s a really an honour to represent my country, especially after I only got into the draw last minute on Saturday. I just wanted to play and enjoy the match.”

ElSherbini, meanwhile, came from behind to beat Mazen Gamal 3-1. After World No.55 Gamal took the opening game 11-8, ElSherbini found his length well to respond with dominant 11-4 and 11-3 wins, before wrapping up the match with an 11-8 win in the fourth game.

Results:
Ainaa Amani (MAS) bt Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-2: 12-10, 6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6 (48m)
Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) bt Mazen Gamal (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-8 (45m)

Khan and Mackevica battle back

The USA’s Shahjahan Khan had to show plenty of fighting spirit as he came back from one game down to beat Spain’s Bernat Jaume 3-1.

World No.62 Jaume took an unexpected lead against the World No.27 with a hotly contested 12-10 win, before the US No.1 recovered to take the next three games 11-5, 11-5, 11-6.

Khan will play No.5 seed Miguel Rodriguez in the next round.

In the women’s draw, Ineta Mackevica overcame Singapore’s Au Yeong Wai Yhann in an entertaining 3-2 win. The Singaporean came back from a game down to take a 2-1 lead, before the Latvia No.1 put the tie to bed with convincing 11-4, 11-6 wins in the fourth and fifth games.

“It feels good [to come back],” Khan said afterwards. “I’m not happy with the way I played today but I’m happy to have gone through. There are always ups and downs and about once-per-week you have that sort of match. Bernat played well. Hopefully I can enjoy my moment tomorrow with Miguel.

“I know I can knock on the doors of the top guys. I’ve been proving and going to a fifth every time. Hopefully tomorrow’s the day, let’s see how I do!”

Results

Shahjahan Khan (USA) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-1: 10-12, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (53m)

Ineta Mackevica (LAT) bt Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) 3-2: 12-10, 10-12, 4-11, 11-4, 11-6 (40m)

Adel and Courtice through comfortably

Egypt’s Yathreb Adel and England’s Julianne Courtice both progressed comfortably through to the next round after recording 3-0 wins.

26-year-old former World No.13 Adel had too much for 21-year-old Word No.78 Alex Haydon to handle on a warm court, with Adel recording a straightforward 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 win over the Australian to progress to round two, where she’ll face South Africa’s No.7 seed Olivia Fiechter.

Courtice, meanwhile, recorded a similarly comfortable victory, with the 31-year-old needing just 20 minutes to overcome Malaysia’s Ooi Kah Yan.

Results

Yathreb Adel (EGY) bt Alex Haydon (AUS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 (21m)

Julianne Courtice (ENG) bt Ooi Kah Yan (MAS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 (20m)

Khan edges past El Hammamy and El Sirty eases through

In the final two matches of the day on the traditional courts, the USA’s Faraz Khan came through a challenging contest against Egypt’s Karim El Hammamy, while El Hammamy’s compatriot Moustafa El Sirty breezed past Malaysian wildcard Ong Sai Hung.

World No.50 Khan went into his match against El Hammamy as a slight underdog, with El ranked four places above the American in the PSA World Rankings.

Khan, though, made a confident start, with the 29-year-old taking a competitive 20-minute first game 11-9.

El Hammamy responded in the second game to level, with the Egyptian pulling level with an 11-8 win.

Khan, though, then went on the offensive, regaining the lead with an 11-6 win and then sealing the match with an 11-8 in the fourth game to go into round two, where he will face No.3 seed Mazen Hesham.

El Sirty, meanwhile, comfortably held off the challenge of the 23-year-old wildcard. The powerful Egyptian took the first game 11-6 and a competitive second game 11-9 before ending the match in under 30 minutes with another routine 11-6 victory.

After his win, Khan said: “I don’t know how I feel after that, I think mostly relief is what I’m feeling to be honest. I was training at the Specter Center with [US head coach] Ong Beng Hee and I know I’m quite difficult to deal with, so I want to thank him for getting on court with me and spending time with me, even though I’m a bit of a slow learner.

“Thanks to him. You travel so far and the money can be low and anxiety gets higher as you get older, not lower! I’m so happy, thanks to God, all the benevolent creators!”

Results

Faraz Khan (USA) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8 (62m)

Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) bt [WC] Ong Sai Hung (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (29m)