Tuominen Takes Out Lincou In Hurghada by Howard Harding
May 16, 2011-Finland’s
Olli Tuominen recorded his first ever win over France’s former
world number one Thierry Lincou when he beat the fourth seed in the
Hurghada International to claim the biggest upset in the first round of
the men’s PSA Tour International 70 squash event in the Egyptian
Red Sea resort of Hurghada.
The
two PSA Tour stalwarts have been doing battle with each other for more
than a decade – but this time it was the 32-year-old from
Helsinki who finally triumphed, winning 11-8, 15-13, 11-5 in 46 minutes
to inflict the first early round exit on Lincou for 14 months. Tuominen, the world No22, will now
face Egyptian Mohammed Abbas for a place in the semi-finals.
Abbas, a 30-year-old former world No13, is also celebrating an
unexpected quarter-final berth after first battling through the
qualifiers – then upsetting Pakistan’s world No29 Aamir
Atlas Khan 11-9, 13-15, 11-3, 11-3 in 49 minutes. Abbas is mounting a major comeback
after a long-term foot injury – and has recovered more than 30
ranking positions since falling to a ten-year rankings low of 66 at the
end of 2009. Egyptian interest is already
guaranteed in both men’s semi-finals after rising star Tarek
Momen, the 23-year-old world No26 from Cairo, beat experienced
Malaysian Ong Beng Hee 11-13, 13-11, 11-7, 11-4. Momen will face second seed Karim
Darwish, the world No3 from Cairo who defeated Swiss qualifier Nicolas
Mueller 11-8, 11-5, 11-1. An all-Egyptian quarter-final clash
in the top half of the draw will see favourite Ramy Ashour, the world
No2 from Cairo bidding to win the title for a fourth successive year,
take on unseeded Omar Mosaad. There were no surprises in the first
round of the women’s WISPA World Tour Silver 30 event when all
eight seeds progressed safely through to the quarter-finals. Australia’s top seed Rachael
Grinham, winner of the title three times until 2007, defeated
Egypt’s Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 – while
defending champion Omneya Abdel Kawy, the second seed from Cairo
looking for her fourth successive title, recovered from a game down to
beat 18-year-old compatriot Salma Hany, a qualifier, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7,
11-7. RESULTS: Hurghada International, Hurghada, Egypt