Peru’s Diego Elias and Hong Kong’s Annie Au are the 2019 Macau Open
Champions after defeating Egypt’s Omar Mossad and Malaysia’s Low Wee
Wern at China’s latest PSA tournament.
Despite the weather preventing glass-court action, spirits were high for
the final of the PSA Bronze event.
World No.9 Elias dominated the court taking the first game 11-3 and
second 11-4. World No.12 Mosaad picked up the pace in the third and
fought back from 6-3 to equal the score at 6-6 but wasn’t able to able
to defeat the Peruvian with the game ending 11-9.
Men's 2019 Macau Open Finals
“That wasn’t easy at all today,” said Elias following his win. “It might
have looked so, but it wasn’t. I played a really good tournament and I’m
happy with my performance. I’ve been playing better every day and I knew
today was going to be a lot harder playing against a player like Omar.
“I’ve had some good wins here and also this season, so I think I’m going
to do well next week in El Gouna. I think it’s going to be a good year
in fact. I hope I can keep on doing well. One of my goals is to qualify
for the World Tour Finals and hopefully finish in the top five (in the
world) by end of the year.”
Meanwhile, in the women’s final, Au stole the show beating Malaysia’s
Low Wee Wern to the trophy in straight-games. World No.11 Au has
competed in the Macau Open several times and played an impeccable game
against the Malaysian.
Au took the first game easily but Wee Wern put up a fight in the second
and levelled the score at 10-10, but Au didn’t go down and managed to
bring it back from being a match ball down to taking the second in 13-11
and third 11-8.
Women's Macau Open Finals
“I’ve been playing this event for many years and in the last few, it’s
either the semi-finals or once the final. So to win, it, I feel very
happy that I took the opportunities I had this year” said Hong Kong’s
No.1 Au.
“It also feels rewarding because I’ve had pretty tough matches in the
beginning. It took me a while to get into this tournament, but luckily I
managed to settle in the last two matches.
“(Low) Wee Wern has been playing really well this event, so I knew she
was going to be a tough customer. I was expecting very tight points and
they were. We’ve played each other many times, so we are both familiar
with each other’s game”.
Low
run Continues to Reach Final Malaysia’s
Low Wee Wern continued her impressive run of form at the Macau Squash
Open after she reached her biggest PSA final in seven years following
her win against Egypt’s Zeina Mickawy in the semi-finals of the PSA
World Tour Bronze tournament.
Having taken out second seed Salma Hany in the second round, then Nadine
Shahin in the quarters yesterday, Low beat a third Egyptian Zeina
Mickawy in four games in the semi-finals. It’s the Malaysian’s biggest
PSA final in seven years after she came back on tour following a
20-month injury lay-off.
“I think I played one of my best this week, so far, “ said Low following
her victory. “I was a lot calmer on court. Even though I lost the
crucial first game, I was actually quite calm. I was finding my length
and the corners pretty well today. It’s a good improvement for me to get
better day by day.
“For me to get into the final of a 50k is a great achievement. I’ve had
to change my flight a couple of times because I didn’t know if I was up
to making this far. Now, I’m slowly getting my confidence back, which is
a good start to the year for me.”
She will face Hong Kong’s top seed Annie Au in the final after she
powered past India’s Joshna Chinappa to reach the final.
“I knew it was going to be a hard match today,” said Au. “Joshna and I
practice a lot together on tour, so we are very familiar with each
other’s game. Moreover, we also play against each other a lot in Asian
continent events. So I knew it was a tough one.
“Luckily, I managed to play according to my game plan today – to keep
the ball at the back and only bring to the front when the opportunity
arises. Today I also feel I have a much better plan setup compared to
the previous days. I feel I also moved a lot more effectively today.”
The men’s final will be contested between Peru’s Diego Elias and Egypt’s
Omar Mosaad after they claimed respective semi-final wins over Hong
Kong’s Tsz Fung Yip and Scotland’s Greg Lobban.
The semi-final matches at the Tap Seac Square had to be cut short after
heavy rain interrupted play halfway through the second game of the men’s
first semi-final. Then, third seed Omar Mosaad was leading Greg Lobban
by a game and 4-2 in the second. After several attempts by the helpers
to dry the floor, it became one too many times and match referee Anthony
Soh decided that it should be continued back at the Macau Bowling
Centre.
“This is a special event for me,” said Mosaad following his victory.
“I’ve reached the final here for the fourth time today. The change of
court halfway back here was a little tricky for me. There was nearly an
hour delay before we restarted. I actually started back really well, but
then Greg started to play even better. The third was important for me to
get the lead again. Then in the fourth, it was pretty much
point-for-point.
“I’m going to give my best tomorrow. It will be one final match before I
head to El Gouna, and I will put in everything I have.”
While Mosaad has plenty of experience here in Macau, his opponent
tomorrow will be a first-time finalist here. Top seed Elias edged out
defending champion Yip in a match that truly showcased both their
amazing skills. The pair, who both play a very similar game of very
calculated lengths and deft drops, entertained the crowd for a full 53
minutes.
“I’m feeling really good and I think I played well. Yip is a really
tough player who loves to play the ball to the front. He has very good
hands and I had to work a lot today. I had to run a lot more today than
the previous days,” the Peruvian Puma said after.
Peru’s World No.9 Diego Elias has been seeded to face India’s World
No.12 Saurav Ghosal in the final of the 2019 Macau Open after the main
draws for the PSA World Tour Gold tournament were released today.
The pair will lock horns in the final at the Tap Seac Square, if they
can make it through a high-quality draw which will battle it out in
Macau, China, between April 10-14.
Elias, who along with the other top eight seeds receives a bye into the
second round, will come up against tough competition in his side of the
draw from the likes of 2018 winner Hong Kong’s Tsz Fung Yip, who he is
seeded to meet in the semi-finals, and Yip’s compatriots Max Lee and Leo
Au.
Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the draw, Ghosal could face Egypt’s
former World No.3 and last year’s runner-up Omar Mosaad for a place in
the final. Scotland’s Greg Lobban and Malaysia’s Nafiizwan Adnan are
also seeded on his side of the draw.
The wildcard spots in the men’s draw are occupied by Macau’s Manuel
Gassmann and Hong Kong’s Tsz Kwan Lau, who will face Malaysia’s Ivan
Yuen and Spain’s Edmon Lopez in round one, respectively.
Hong Kong’s World No.11 Annie Au, who reached the semi-finals at last
year’s tournament, tops the women’s draw and is seeded to meet Egypt’s
World No.12 Salma Hany in the title decider.
India’s World No.16 Joshna Chinappa is set to face Au in the last four,
while Hany, who finished runner-up at last year’s tournament to
compatriot Nouran Gohar, could come up against Hong Kong’s World No.18
Joey Chan in the semi-finals as she looks to do one better this year.
Meanwhile, the wildcard spots are taken up by Macau’s Liu Kwai Chi and
Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk, who will face Japan’s Satomi Watanabe and New
Zealand’s Amanda Landers-Murphy, respectively, in round one.
Both the men’s and women’s draws will be contested by 24 players, while
a prize purse of $100,000 will be split equally between the male and
female players.
Tickets for round one up until the quarter-finals are free seating at
the Macau Bowling Centre. Semi-finals and finals tickets at the
all-glass court at the Tap Seac Square are limited seating and will be
on a first come, first served basis. For more information regarding
tickets, please contact:
register@asm.org.mo
Main Draw: Men’s Macau Open [1] Diego Elias (PER) [Bye]
[WC] Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) v [9/16] Edmon Lopez (ESP)
[9/16] Ivan Yuen (MAS) v [WC] Manuel Gassmann (MAC)
[5] Max Lee (HKG) [Bye]
[7] Leo Au (HKG) [Bye]
Auguste Dussourd (FRA) v [9/16] Peter Creed (WAL)
[9/16] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) v Shahjahan Khan (PAK)
[4] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) [Bye]
[3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) [Bye]
Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) v [9/16] Mazen Gamal (EGY)
[9/16] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v Victor Crouin (FRA)
[8] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) [Bye]
[6] Greg Lobban (SCO) [Bye]
Henry Leung (HKG) v [9/16] Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
[9/16] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) v Bernat Jaume (ESP)
[2] Saurav Ghosal (IND) [Bye]
Main Draw: Women’s Macau Open
[1] Annie Au (HKG) [Bye]
[WC] Liu Kwai Chi (MAC) v [9/16] Satomi Watanabe (JPN)
[9/16] Vanessa Chu (HKG) v Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND)
[7] Samantha Cornett (CAN) [Bye]
[5] Mayar Hany (EGY) [Bye]
Lee Ka Yi (HKG) v [9/16] Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG)
[9/16] Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) v [WC] Chan Sin Yuk (HKG)
[3] Joshna Chinappa (IND) [Bye]
[4] Joey Chan (HKG) [Bye]
Salma Youssef (EGY) v [9/16] Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG)
[9/16] Rachel Arnold (MAS) v Rachael Chadwick (ENG)
[6] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) [Bye]
[8] Nadine Shahin (EGY) [Bye]
Jessica Turnbull (AUS) v [9/16] Ho Tze-Lok (HKG)
[9/16] Low Wee Wern (MAS) v Sarah Cardwell (AUS)
[2] Salma Hany (EGY) [Bye]
