ElShorbagy Leads Seeds Through to Round Two of Pakistan Open

World Championship runner-up Marwan ElShorbagy got his Pakistan Open Men’s Squash Championships campaign off to a strong start after the World No.5 dispatched Hong Kong’s Chi Him Wong on day one of the PSA M50 tournament.

The Pakistan Open and the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) International Women Squash Championship – which take place side by side at the Mushaf Squash Complex & PSB Roshan Khan Squash Complex in Islamabad – are the first PSA World Tour events to be held in Pakistan since January following August’s decision by the Professional Squash Association (PSA) to sanctioning PSA World Tour events in the country again.

And just two days after his stunning run to the World Championship final in Manchester, ElShorbagy eased past Chi by an 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 margin to set up a round two meeting with Mohd Syafiq Kamal.

Also through to the next round is World No.11 Mohamed Abouelghar after he defeated France’s Auguste Dussourd, while he will be joined by fellow Egyptian Zahed Mohamed and Hong Kong’s Leo Au in the next round after they saw off Portugal’s Rui Soares and Spain’s Edmon Lopez, respectively.

There were also wins for Max Lee, Tsz Fung Yip, Nafiizwan Adnan and Mazen Hesham, while all but three of the home players were eliminated in round one.

Farhan Zaman, Tayyab Aslam and Ahsan Ayaz live to fight another day and they have respective fixtures against Hesham, Abouelghar and Mohamed in store in the second round.

The CAS Championship, meanwhile, is headed up by Hong Kong’s World No.11 Annie Au, who cruised through to the quarter-finals after her first round opponent, Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold, retired through injury after their first game.

Australia’s number eight seed Sarah Cardwell was the only seeded player to miss out on a quarter-final berth after she fell to a surprise 3-0 defeat against Egyptian qualifier Hana Moataz.

Moataz is joined in the last eight by compatriots Hania El Hammamy, Mayar Hany, Nadine Shahin and World Junior Champion Rowan Elaraby, while 40-year-old veteran Rachael Grinham also claimed victory in day one, with the former World No.1 beating Tong Tsz-Wing to reach the quarter-finals.

Results – First Round: 2017 Pakistan Open Men’s Squash Championships
[1] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Wong Chi Him (HKG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 (29m)
Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) bt [Q] Kashif Asif (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (31m)
Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt [Q] Waqar Mehboob (PAK) 3-1: 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5 (32m)
[8] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 (30m)
[6] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) bt [Q] Asim Khan (PAK) 3-1: 11-6, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8 (50m)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-2 (21m)
Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) bt [Q] Muhammad Shoaib Hassan (PAK) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-9 (27m)
[3] Zahed Mohamed (EGY) bt [Q] Rui Soares (POR) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (30m)
[4] Leo Au (HKG) bt Edmon Lopez (ESP) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 (28m)
Shehab Essam (EGY) bt [Q] Shahjahan Khan (PAK) 3-2: 11-5, 3-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-2 (58m)
Mazen Gamal (EGY) bt Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 (27m)
[5] Max Lee (HKG) bt [Q] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (21m)
[7] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt [WC] Israr Ahmed (PAK) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (35m)
Peter Creed (WAL) bt [LL] Zeeshan Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-3 (21m)
Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt [Q] Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari (PAK) 3-1: 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6 (43m)
[2] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-2 (18m)

Draw – Men’s Second Round
[1] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS)
Farhan Zaman (PAK) v [8] Mazen Hesham (EGY)
[6] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) v Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) v [3] Zahed Mohamed (EGY)
[4] Leo Au (HKG) v Shehab Essam (EGY)
Mazen Gamal (EGY) v [5] Max Lee (HKG)
[7] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) v Peter Creed (WAL)
Tayyab Aslam (PAK) v [2] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)

Results – First Round: 2017 Chief of the Air Staff International Women Squash Championship
[1] Annie Au (HKG) bt Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-0: 11-4 ret.
[Q] Hana Moataz (EGY) bt [8] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (28m)
[7] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) bt [Q] Nouran El Torky (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 12-10 (42m)
[3] Mayar Hany (EGY) bt [WC] Sadia Gul (PAK) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 (20m)
[4] Nadine Shahin (EGY) bt [Q] Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 (41m)
[5] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Tong Tsz-Wing (HKG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-2 (23m)
Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt [6] Nada Abbas (EGY) 3-2: 6-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6, 13-11 (40m)
[2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [Q] Enora Villard (FRA) 3-0: 14-12, 11-5, 15-13 (40m)

Draw – Women’s Quarter-Final
[1] Annie Au (HKG) v [Q] Hana Moataz (EGY)
[7] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) v [3] Mayar Hany (EGY)
[4] Nadine Shahin (EGY) v [5] Rachael Grinham (AUS)
Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v [2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)