In form Egyptian Omar Abdel Meguid, the 27-year-old from Giza,
extended his recent mid-tier dominance on the PSA World Tour to
collect a third consecutive PSA M15 tournament by defeating home
hope Todd Harrity in the final of the 2016 Ganem Vein Institute
Cactus Classic 2016 in Phoenix, USA.
The World No.33, who now has eleven PSA World Tour titles to his
name, came into the 16-man main draw tournament in the form of his
life having won back-to-back tournaments, at the Qatar Circuit II
and Oregon Open, for the first time in his career and his confidence
was evident as he commanded the field from round one.
The powerful giant, who stands 191cm, swept aside World No.81 Jaymie
Haycocks, No.69 Reiko Peter and World No.67 Mahesh Mangaonkar to set
up the title-decider with No.52 Harrity and his big match experience
came to the fore early on as he stormed out of the gates to take the
opening there points and set up an easy first game win.
Harrity fought back in the second but, when tied at 10-10, failed to
convert his chance as Meguid opened up a commanding 2-0 lead.
American number one Harrity showed his court craft and skill in the
third as he slowed the pace to frustrate the Egyptian but Meguid
upped his levels again in the fourth to power to victory and take
the title 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4.
The second day of the Ganem Vein Institute Cactus Classic, PSA M15
tournament saw the first round action draw to a close with United
States No.3 Chris Hanson claiming a superb victory against eighth
seed Peter Creed in an epic five-game thriller to move through to to
the quarter-final.
Welshman Creed looked to be in cruise control after establishing an
early two-game lead but Hanson soon sparked into life, taking the
remaining three games without reply to record a 3-11, 4-11, 11-7,
11-2, 14-12 triumph.
Hanson will go up against compatriot Todd Harrity, the United States
No.1, in the last eight after he overturned a one-game deficit to
defeat Canada’s David Baillargeon.
Second seed Karim Ali Fathi, meanwhile, is also through to the next
round after a routine win over wildcard Faraz Khan. The Egyptian was
in scintillating form as he disposed of Khan in straight games and
he outmatched the World No.158 to complete the victory in just 32
minutes.
Fathi will face Qatar’s Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi in the next round
after the number six seed dispatched Valentino Bong.
Al Tamimi was in top form throughout the encounter and comfortably
dismantled the Malaysian in three games to secure his quarter-final
berth.
There were no upsets to be found on the first day of the Ganem Vein
Institute Cactus Classic, PSA M15 tournament as all four seeded
players eased through to the quarter-final stage.
Title favourite Omar Abdel Meguid went up against England’s Jaymie
Haycocks in his fixture and used all of his impressive 6’ 2” frame
to dominate the court to great effect.
The World No.33 comfortably pulled through in three games to wrap up
the victory by an 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 margin and secure a last eight
berth.
Meguid will go up against Reiko Peter in the next round after the
Swiss seventh seed dispatched Ireland’s Sean Conroy in a
straightforward 3-0 win.
World No.57 Henrik Mustonen, meanwhile, overcame Clinton Leeuw to
reach the quarter-final of a PSA World Tour event for the first time
since October. South African Leeuw put in a strong showing against
an opponent ranked 74 places above him in the world rankings but
ultimately fell short in four games.
Next up for Mustonen is India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar who downed
20-year-old Egyptian Karim El Hammamy. Both players took part in a
heated battle and, despite the referee being called in to action a
few times throughout the encounter, Mangaonkar managed to achieve
the victory in 79 minutes to earn his place in the next round.
Baillargeon
Battles Past Idrakie In Cactus Classic Qualifying
#PSAWorldTour
Canada’s David Baillargeon earned his place in the main draw of the
Ganem Vein Institute Cactus Classic, PSA M15 event after a
hard-fought clash with Malaysia’s Addeen Idrakie in the final round
of qualifying.
Baillargeon quickly settled into a rhythm of taking the ball early
and peppering a barrage of attacking shots into the front of the
court to take a two-game lead. A change of tactics from Idrakie saw
him fight back to level proceedings and the 22-year-old dropped just
a single point in the fourth as he looked to be on his way to a
superb comeback.
However, buoyed by an enthusiastic crowd, Baillargeon managed to
steady his game up to creep to the victory on the tie-break, earning
the win with an 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 1-11, 12-10 scoreline to set up a
main draw meeting with United States No.1 Todd Harrity.
Valentino Bong fared better than compatriot Idrakie as he swept past
top qualifying seed Joe Chapman to seal his spot in the first round
of the main draw. Bong took advantage of an out of sorts Chapman to
wrap up the victory in straight games and he will go head-to-head
with Qatar’s Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi in round one.
Elsewhere, Ireland’s Sean Conroy came through a tough 74-minute
fixture against Reuben Phillips to move in to to the main draw where
he will line up against Reiko Peter for a place in the
quarter-final.
Clinton Leeuw and Mark Broekman went up against each other in the
other final qualifying round clash with the former prevailing to
claim a main draw spot against Henrik Mustonen in the next round.
