Home Hopes Dashed By International Field As Al Ahram Qualification Ends by Nathan Clarke
photo alahramsquashopen.com
September 18, 2016
- The closing day of qualification action at the 2016 Al Ahram Squash
Open NewGiza saw a quartet of international players dash local hopes as
all four Egyptian representatives in the Women's finals bowed out -
while their male counterparts were denied a clean sweep of victories by
Scotland's Greg Lobban.
Australian former World No.1 Rachael Grinham, Welsh star Tesni Evans,
Malaysian Low Wee Wern and England's Fiona Moverley all came through to
defeat local players Mariam Metwally, Hana Ramadan, Nadine Shahin and
Salma Hany Ibrahim to reach the main draw of the lucrative $100k
tournament - offering equal prize money across the Men’s and Women’s
draws - which will see live squash return to Egypt's iconic Great
Pyramid of Giza for the first time in a decade.
Grinham and Evans came through their encounters with relative ease but
Wern and Moverley were forced to dig deep into their reserves to come
through tough 5-game battles with Shahin and Ramadan - with Moverley in
particular impressing as she rallied from two-games down to seal the
win and set up a first round encounter with Nicol David in a match that
will take place on the stunning all-glass court situated in the shadow
of the Great Pyramid.
In the Men's event Lobban upset the seedings to take out fancied
Egyptian talent Mohamed Abouleghar and prevent a local clean sweep in
qualification, with Omar Abdel Meguid, Karim Ali Fathi and Mohamed Reda
all moving into the main draw.
After the withdrawal of French top ten player Mathieu Castanet this
morning due to a calf injury, Egypt's Zahed Mohamed will now also
compete in the main draw as a lucky loser, and will face Spaniard Borja
Golan.
