Essam Eases Through to Gauteng Open Quarters

#PSAWorldTour

Top seed Shehab Essam had no problems progressing to the quarter-final stage of the Assore Central Gauteng Open, PSA M5 tournament after storming to victory over South African qualifier Craig van der Wath in round two in Johannesburg.

The World No.93 played at an extremely high pace throughout the 27-minute encounter and gave van der Wath no time on the ball as he duly romped to the win with an 11-6, 11-1, 11-6 scoreline.

Essam will face local hero Jean-Pierre Brits for a place in the semi-final after seventh seed Brits dispatched compatriot Gareth Naidoo in straight games.

Elsewhere, Egypt’s Ahmed Effat Ashoush followed up his superb opening round upset against Matthew Serediak with another hard-fought 3-2 triumph, this time against Andrew Martin. The lead changed hands multiple times during a high-octane and highly charged affair and Ashoush prevailed 17-15 in a gladiatorial deciding game to set up a quarter-final clash with Dylan Groenewald, who defeated England’s Mark Broekman in four.

“I am very happy to be through to the next round,” said Ashoush.

“I am pleased with my performances so far and have won two very hard matches in the fifth. I am really looking forward to the match tomorrow against the youngster Dylan Groenewald from South Africa, who had a very good win against Mark”.

Number two seed Aqeel Rehman has also advanced to the last eight thanks to a victory over Hesham Mohamed Aly and he will be pitted against Vincent Droesbeke, with the Frenchman celebrating a 3-0 win against South Korea’s SeungYong Yoo.

Leandro Romiglio of Argentina and local player Devon Hendrikse will face off in the other quarter-final fixture after they achieved respective wins against South African opponents Zuko Kubukeli and Christo Potgieter.

Results – Second Round: Assore Central Gauteng Open 2016
[1] Shehab Essam (EGY) bt [Q] Craig van der Wath (RSA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-1, 11-6 (27m)
[7] Jean-Pierre Brits (RSA) bt Gareth Naidoo (RSA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-3 (35m)
Devon Hendrikse (RSA) bt [8] Christo Potgieter (RSA) 3-1: 7-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-8 (58m)
[3] Leandro Romiglio (ARG) bt [Q] Zuko Kubukeli (RSA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 (35m)
Ahmed Effat Ashoush (EGY) bt Andrew Martin (RSA) 3-2: 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 4-11, 17-15 (60m)
[Q] Dylan Groenewald (RSA) bt [5] Mark Broekman (ENG) 3-1: 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (47m)
Vincent Droesbeke (FRA) bt SeungYong Yoo (KOR) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 14-12 (45m)
[2] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Hesham Mohamed Aly (EGY) 3-1: 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4 (44m)

Draw – Quarter-Final
[1] Shehab Essam (EGY) v [7] Jean-Pierre Brits (RSA)
Devon Hendrikse (RSA) v [3] Leandro Romiglio (ARG)
Ahmed Effat Ashoush (EGY) v [Q] Dylan Groenewald (RSA)
Vincent Droesbeke (FRA) v [2] Aqeel Rehman (AUT)