Farag Floors Fourth Seed Aziz In Kuwait Upset by Howard Harding
17 June 2011-Egyptian
teenager Ali Farag scored the biggest upset in the quarter-finals of
the Jena International Championship when he claimed his first victory
over higher-ranked compatriot Omar Abdel Aziz to reach the semi-finals
of the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 squash event at Qadsia Sporting
Club in Hawally, Kuwait.
Unseeded Farag, the 19-year-old world No79 from Cairo, overcame a third
game fightback by fourth seed Aziz to beat the experienced 27-year-old,
ranked more than 30 places higher, 11-7, 11-9, 12-14, 11-1 in 44
minutes.
Farag, now in his first Tour semi-final since January, will meet favourite Aamir Atlas Khan for a place in the final.
Khan, eager to reclaim his status as Pakistan's top-ranked player,
battled for 47 minutes to overcome England's reigning World University
champion Joel Hinds 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6.
Khan, the 20-year-old world No29 from Peshawar, is celebrating his first Tour semi-final appearance for a year.
Local hero Abdullah Al Muzayen, who upset No2 seed Farhan Mehboob in
the opening round, continued to delight the Kuwait crowd by defeating
fellow qualifier Harinder Pal Sandhu to earn a surprise place in the
last four.
The Kuwaiti number one despatched his Indian opponent 13-11, 11-5, 11-5
to set up a semi-final clash with third seed Simon Rosner.
The German number one saw off Malaysian Muhd Asyraf Azan 11-4, 11-6, 11-8.