Cuskelly Over Delierre In Five; Egyptians Dominate British Open Qualifying Finals by Steve Cubbins
photos Steve Cubbins
May 19, 2013
- Egyptian players claimed half of the available places in the main
draw of the Allam British Open as men's qualifying concluded at
Pontefract Squash and Leisure Club, while three English players were
also added to the first round draw which takes place at the KC Stadium
in Hull on Monday and Tuesday.
First through was Andrew Wagih, who recovered from two games down to
beat Scotland's Alan Clyne, the qualifying second seed, 12/10 in the
decider after 86 minutes of intense play.
"When I was down 2/0, I guess I still I had that hunger.," said Wagih.
"I knew it was going to be so hard to try and beat one of the fittest
player on the circuit, but I just kept fighting and now the tournament
is not finished, let's see what it brings...."
Ali Anwar Reda joined his compatriot in the main draw, coming through
an equally tough match against Hong Kong's Max Lee, 'only' four games
but all fiercely contested.
World Junior Champion Marwan El Shorbagy qualified for the second year
in a row as he beat compatriot Omar Abdel Meguid in three tempestuous
games, and Karim Abdel Gawad made it four for Egypt as he came from a
game down to deny Englishman Joe Lee.
"I'm happy with the way I played today," said Marwan, "and it's nice
finally get through again,especially without having too heavy matches."
Lee was later reprieved as he drew the "Lucky Loser" spot created by
the withdrawal of Amr Shabana, and his reward for that was a rematch
with Gawad on Tuesday!
Wagih and Shorbagy meet compatriots Karim Darwish and Tarek Momen
respectively, while Reda is set to meet England's Peter Barker, all on
Monday.
Chris Simpson and Jonathan Kemp continued to impress as they boosted
the English contingent with fairly quick wins over Mazen Hesham and
Nafiizwan Adnan. Simpson now faces Swiss Nicolas Mueller while Kemp
will test his shotmaking against speedy Indian Saurav Ghosal, both on
Monday.
"I controlled the match, but not easily," said Simpson. "Mazen is 19
years old, and probably the best or at least one of the very best
juniors, so I had to play a 'senior' game -I tried to frustrate him by
playing a typical patient English game and it worked."
Henrik Mustonen played superbly to despatch France's Grégoire March in
four games, the bad news for the young Finn being that he now meets
defending champion and world number two Nick Matthew tomorrow.
"I hardly made any error in the first two games," said Mustonen. "In
the third I made a few too many, but Olli [Tuominen] was encouraging me
in believing that I was playing the right tactic."
The day started with a marathon and ended with one too as Ryan Cuskelly
finally overcame Canada's Shawn Delierre in a five-game 96-minute
bruising encounter. Cuskelly doesn't get much rest either, the Aussie's
next opponent on Monday afternoon is fellow left-hander Laurens Jan
Anjema.
Allam British Open 2013 - Sun 19th May, Day TWO:
Men's Qualifying Finals:
Andrew Wagih (Egy) 3-2 Alan Clyne (Sco) 7/11, 8/11, 11/8, 11/5, 12/10 (86m) Henrik Mustonen (Fin) 3-1 Grégoire Marche (Fra) 11/3, 11/8, 7/11, 11/9 (55m) Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) 3-1 Max Lee (Hkg) 13/11, 9/11, 11/9, 11/9 (69m) Chris Simpson (Eng) 3-0 Mazen Hesham (Egy) 11/6, 11/8, 11/3 (32m) Ryan Cuskelly (Aus) 3-2 Shawn Delierre (Can) 8/11, 11/4, 10/12, 11/7, 11/8 (96m) Jonathan Kemp (Eng) 3-1 Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) 11/7, 11/3, 6/11, 11/6 (45m) Marwan El Shorbagy (Egy)3-0 Omar Abdel Meguid (Egy) 11/7, 11/9, 11/5 (37m) Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) 3-1 Joe Lee (Eng) 8/11, 11/7, 11/5, 11/4 (56m)