England’s
Laura Massaro and Hong Kong’s Max Lee stormed to success in their
respective finals at the 2015 Macau Open, PSA W50 and PSA M50
tournaments, today.
Massaro, the top seeded World No.5, lived up to her billing as the
pre-tournament favourite as she halted the run of in-form Egyptian
Nouran Gohar, who was appearing in a second consecutive final,
courtesy of a hard earned 11-8, 11-3, 11-9 victory.
The win sees Massaro collect her first PSA World Tour title since
winning the 2013 Women’s World Championship.
“I’m so happy to have won tonight and to be the Macau Open
Champion,” said Massaro after her victory.
“To beat Nouran 3-0 and win my first title in what feels like a very
long time is great.”
In the men’s event it was World No.18 Lee who lifted the title after
he survived an early onslaught from surprise finalist Fares Dessouki,
the 20-year-old Egyptian who was appearing in just his third PSA
final, to continued his impressive recent form and complete a
straight-games win.
Lee conquered World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy at the China Open
earlier this month and carried that form into the Macau Open,
recording back-to-back wins over 2014 champion Tarek Momen and World
No.12 Marwan Elshorbagy to reach the final, where he proved too much
for Dessouki, taking the title 11-9, 11-6, 11-0.
Lee
Takes It To The Max In Macau
Hong Kong’s Max Lee stunned defending champion and World No.10 Tarek
Momen in the semi-finals of the 2015 Macau Open, recording a
sensational straight-games victory to book his place in the final of
the PSA M50 tournament.
Lee overcame World No.12 Marwan Elshorbagy in the quarter-finals and
continued his recent rich vein of form, which also saw him defeat
World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy during the Stars On The Bund China
Open, as he countered everything the flamboyant Momen threw at him
to record a 13-11, 11-5, 11-4 victory and reach the 15th final of
his career.
He’ll take on talented Egyptian Fares Dessouki in the final after
the 20-year-old came through comfortably against Malaysian Nafiizwan
Adnan to to reach just the third final of his career.
In the women’s PSA W50 tournament Egyptian youngster Nouran Gohar
has continued her impressive start to the season, following up a
surprise quarter-final victory over World No.8 Nour El Tayeb with an
impressive 3-1 victory over World No.10 Annie Au.
Gohar, the 2015 World Junior Champion, will face England’s Laura
Massaro in what will be her second consecutive major final, after
losing out to World No.1 Raneem El Welily in the China Open earlier
this month.
Adnan
Downs Defending Champion Mosaad In Macau
Defending champion Omar Mosaad’s hopes of winning back-to-back Macau
Open titles came crashing down at the hands of Malaysian Nafiizwan
Adan earlier today during what was a shock-filled quarter-final
stage at the PSA M50 and W50 event.
Mosaad breezed into the last eight after defeating compatriot Karim
Ali Fathi in the first round but came unstuck against an inspired
Adnan, who produced one his best performances in recent years to
overcome the powerful Egyptian 3-2 in an intense 75-minute battle.
Adnan will now face another Egyptian in the semi-finals after
talented 20-year-old Fares Dessouki, the World No.21, produced a
stunning comeback against Spain’s number one Borja Golan - coming
from two-games down to see off the 32-year-old after 98-minutes on
court - while Hong Kong’s Max Lee added his name to the list of
surprise semi-finalists, courtesy of a straight-games win over
number four seed Marwan Elshorbagy, where he will face 2013 champion
Tarek Momen.
Just weeks after defeating former World No.1 Nicol David at the
Stars On The Bund China Open, World Junior Champion Nouran Gohar
claimed yet another high-profile scalp in the women’s event as she
knocked number two seed and World No.8 Nour El Tayeb following a
thrilling five-game encounter.
Gohar stormed into a two-game lead only to see El Tayeb claw he way
back into the match and force a decider but the 17-year-old
displayed a maturity beyond her years as she refocused and took the
decider in composed fashion, prevailing 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 6-11,
11-4.
Gohar will face Hong Kong’s Annie Au in the last four while the
bottom half of the draw will be an all-English affair after Laura
Massaro and Alison Waters eased past their respective opponents
Emily Whitlock and Donna Urquart.
Egyptians
On The Charge In Macau
The opening round of action at the 2015 Macau Open saw Egyptian
talent dominate proceedings in the PSA M50 tournament, with top
seeds Omar Mosaad and Tarek Momen, the defending champion, leading a
five-strong Egyptian contingent into the quarter-finals.
Mosaad, the 2013 champion, overcame compatriot Karim Ali Fathi 3-1
to move into the last eight to face Malaysian Nafiizwan Adnan, where
he’ll be confident of reaching a second consecutive semi-final after
making the last four at the Stars On The Bund China Open earlier
this month.
Defending champion Momen suffered a first round exit at the China
Open at the hands of Marwan Elshorbagy, who is also through to the
quarters courtesy of a comfortable victory over Wildcard Steven Liu,
and will face a tough last eight encounter with compatriot Omar
Abdel Megiud as he hopes to keep his chances of securing
back-to-back title triumphs alive while Fares Dessouki completed the
Egyptian quintet courtesy of an impressive straight-games win over
Olli Tuominen.
Australian Donna Urquart, the former World No.13, pulled off the
biggest upset of the first round in the Women’s PSA W50 tournament
as she took out former World No.2 Jenny Duncalf in a tense 3-2
encounter, eventually prevailing 11-3, 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7.
England’s Emily Whitlock further upset the seeding as she knocked
out former World No.1 Rachael Grinham 3-0 to move into the last
eight while top seeds Laura Massaro and Nour El Tayeb enjoyed
comfortable first round victories.
Previews
Nicol David Out Of Macau Open
Malaysian World No.2 Nicol David has been forced to withdraw from
the upcoming Macau Open, PSA W50 tournament, due to a calf injury.
The 32-year-old was recently dethroned from the World No.1 spot
following a nine-year streak atop the world rankings and her injury
setback assures Egyptian Raneem El Welily of maintaining the top
spot for a second consecutive month.
As a result of David’s withdrawal England’s Laura Masaaro now
occupies the number one seeding with Egypt’s Nour El Tayeb seeded
second for the event which gets underway on Thursday September 17.
Exciting
Encounters Ahead in Macau
The draw for the 2015 Macau Open, PSA M50 tournament, has been confirmed
with Tarek Momen, the World No.9 from Egypt, returning to defend his
crown when the Men's event begins on Thursday September 17 at the Centro
De Bowling in Macau.
Momen is aiming to retain a title for the first time in his career after
becoming the fourth Egyptian in a row to taste victory in the tournament
courtesy of his triumph over compatriot Omar Mosaad in last year's
final.
Mosaad, who claimed success at this event in 2013, is also included in
the draw and has been seeded number one as he looks to build on the form
that saw him end the 2014/15 season with victory at the Internacional
Sporta PSA M35 event.
Borja Golan is likely to meet Mosaad in what could be a mouth-watering
semi-final match-up if both players make it that far while Momen could
do battle with Marwan Elshorbagy as the duo bid to reach the final.
World No.1 Nicol David heads a superb looking field in the Women's event
in a draw that also contains highly-renowned players such as England
No.1 Laura Massaro and the dangerous Egyptian Nour El Tayeb.
David is seeded to face El Tayeb, against whom she won the 2014 Hong
Kong Open, in the semi-final as she bids to retain the title she won
last year while Laura Massaro could face compatriot Alison Waters in the
semi-final. Massaro may also have a difficult tie against Annie Au in
the quarter-finals should both players win their opening fixtures.
“The Macau Open has attracted a number of the world's greatest players
in recent years and this year looks to be no different with the draw
hosting a wealth of talent,” said Tournament Promoter Kenneth Lei.
“With no less than 17 of the world's top 20 players taking part across
both the Men's and Women's events, we look set to see some intense
matches take place on court.”
2015 Men's Macau Open – Main Draw:
[1] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Leo Au (HKG) v [8] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
[6] Fares Dessouki (EGY) v Olli Tuominen (FIN)
[Qualifier] v [3] Borja Golan (ESP)
[4] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) v [WC] Steven Liu (MAC)
[Qualifier] v [5] Max Lee (HKG)
[7] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) v Shaun Le Roux (RSA)
[Qualifier] v [2] Tarek Momen (EGY)
2015 Women's Macau Open – Main Draw:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) v Delia Arnold (MAS)
[Qualifier] v [8] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
[6] Joelle King (NZL) v [Qualifier]
[WC] Liu Kwai Chi (MAC) v [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
[4] Alison Waters (ENG) v [Qualifier]
Jenny Duncalf (ENG) v [7] Rachael Grinham (AUS)
[5] Annie Au (HKG) v [Qualifier]
Dipika Pallikal (IND) v [2] Laura Massaro (ENG)
The 2015 Macau Open takes place at the Centro De Bowling from Thursday
September 17 – Sunday September 20.
