Yip and Salma Hany send top seeds packing in Macau

There will be no top seeds in the finals of the Macau Squash Open for the second year running as both the men’s and women’s top seeds were shockingly shown the door during the quarter-finals with Hong Kong’s Tsz-Fung Yip and Egyptian Salma Hany ejecting Borja Golan and Camille Serme in straight games.

Hong Kong are guaranteed a finalist in the men’s event with Yip to face compatriot Leo Au, who overcame first game jitters to oust Egyptian Omar Abdel Meguid in a somewhat physical encounter, in the last four.

“I played pretty well today and I’m especially happy with how I managed to concentrate throughout the match,” said Yip.

“Maybe Borja (Golan) was a little distracted but I am glad I managed to stay focussed and truly happy I managed to get through this round. If Leo (Au) wins too, we’d both be fighting for a spot for the final tomorrow, and that would be a brilliant thing for Hong Kong squash. So, I hope he will put on a good show later.”

Max Lee, crowd favourite in Macau, returns to the last four once again, after seeing off the challenge of tricky Egyptian Mazen Hesham in 38 minutes.

There was nearly another upset in the final match of the evening as Qatari Abdulla Al Tamimi blew away a two game and later a 9-6 lead in the fourth against the “Hammer of Thor” Omar Mosaad. The former world championships finalist had to dig deep to come through after just over an hour in court.

Meanwhile Salma Hany, the 21-year-old from Alexandria pulled off the other upset of the day as she took out Camille Serme in three games.

After losing to Serme twice last year, this time, it was her turn to shine.

“I’m very happy with my performance today,” said Hany.

“Playing Camille (Serme) is always tough and yeah, I’m just happy with how I did in court and managed to get the win.”

There was more joy for Hong Kong as both Joey Chan and Annie Au also booked their places in the last four, with Chan upsetting higher ranked American opponent Olivia Blatchford in four games.

Annie Au, however, had an easy day in the office as she found her range very early in the match to see off England’s world number 17 Emily Whitlock in under 20 minutes.

Results – Men’s QF
Yip Tsz-Fung (HKG) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 (40m)
Leo Au (HKG) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 13-11, 11-4, 11-3 (42m)
Max Lee (HKG) bt Mazen Hesham (EGY) 11-8, 11-5, 12-10 (38m)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Abdulla Al Tamimi (QAT) 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 (72m)

Draw – semi-finals
Yip Tsz-Fung (HKG) v Leo Au (HKG)
Max Lee (HKG) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)

Results – Women’s QF
Salma Hany (EGY) bt Camille Serme (FRA) 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 (53m)
Joey Chan (HKG) bt Olivia Blatchford (USA) 11-6, 5-11, 11-3, 13-11 (43m)
Annie Au (HKG) bt Emily Whitlock (ENG) 11-4, 11-1, 11-3 (19m)
Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Mariam Metwally (EGY) 11-5, 14-12, 11-3 (35m)

Draw – semi-final
Salma Hany (EGY) v Joey Chan (HKG)
Annie Au (HKG) v Nouran Gohar (EGY)