Momen, Boswell, Richards into the last sixteen; round 1 ends – Hong Kong Open 2011
Making an outstanding debut on 16th November, Tarek Momen made it to the round of 16 in the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open, seventh PSA World Series squash event of the year, outlasting his Swiss
rival, Nicolas Mueller in a high tempted battle.
The 23-year-old from Cairo, made his first appearance in the well knows PSA World Tour event and added his 25th birthday celebration to it. Momen is one of six Egyptian countrymen securing their spot in the second stage
of the event.
Also, the Egyptian has made a jump to world No.19 in the world ranking table and is now three spots ahead of Zurich born 22-year-old whom he was facing for the first time on tour.
Prevailing in a tight and extended opening game, Mueller was brought down by Momen to prove his ranking disparity over his unseeded opponent to win 15-17, 11-4, 11-8 in just 48 minutes.
With his next fixture against Karim Darwish, compatriot, the Egyptian has to bring up a stronger strategy as the second seeded Darwish, ranked world No.6, displayed his level of dominance while he swirled away overcoming Malaysian
qualifier, Ivan Yuen in just 27 minutes finishing off, 11-5, 11-5 and 11-4.
Amongst the others is another clash to look out for. The four-time champion Amr Shabana taking on Hisham Mohamed Ashour of Cairo. The former world No.1 will be making his 14th successive appearance in the championship
since he made his debut in 1996.
On the other hand, the defending champion, Ramy Ashour, brother of the former world No.1, Hisham Ashour, played his match against Ong Beng Hee, beating him down 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9 in just 47 minutes. However, the champ did
follow with Injuries after that.
One of the upsets of the day was the match between Stewart Boswell and the eighth seed Thierry Lincou. Boswell, beating his opponent in straight games, was surely a threat for the other players on tour now. Lincou, Frenchman, did
put up a strong effort to comeback in the game, yet got knocked down, 11-3, 11-9, 11-5 in no more than 45 minutes.
The longest and the last match of the day were played between Brit, Tom Richards and Mathieu Castagnet. Sharing a the scoreboard with two wins each, Englishman completed a run of four points to master over the Frenchman, 8-11,
11-5, 11-8, 2-11, 12-10 in a an hour and 17 minutes.
Tags: