Last night, we witnessed a heroic performance from Max Lee, who
played through the entire fifth game with cramps on his legs. It was
a gladiatorial performance from the world number 17 from Hong Kong,
who defied all odds to walk out the winner.
However, the match took its toll and Max came out a battered man,
suffering from severe dehydration and cramping from the physical
contest and the hot conditions in the court. He was rushed to the
hospital to seek treatment and he is now in a stable condition.
It is unfortunate that Max Lee is unable to recover in time to be
match for tonight's final against England's Daryl Selby and will
concede a walkover.
We wish Max a speedy recovery and by default, congratulations to the
2016 Macau Squash Open champion Daryl Selby.
An exhibition match between our champion Daryl Selby and Max's
compatriot, Leo Au will be played at 7.30 p.m. local time right
before the women's final.
All eight top seeds across the Men's and Women's draws at the 2016
Macau Open came through their last eight encounters in style today
to secure their place in the semi-finals of the PSA M50 and W50
tournaments and earn the right to compete on the stunning all-glass
court situated beside the Macau Tower.
Fresh from the tournament of his life on home soil at the Hong Kong
Open last month - the first PSA World Series event of the season -
defending Macau Men's champion Max Lee kept his defence alive with
an impressive 3-1 victory over Ivan Yuen of Malaysia - who had taken
out another of Hong Kong's top player Tsz Fung Yip yesterday - to
set up a semi-final match with top seeded Marwan ElShorbagy.
"He just tries for winners from everywhere, so I just had to play a
patient game and pick up whatever he threw at me," said Lee
afterwards.
"I’m looking forward to another match now. I’ll be playing Marwan,
he’s a top ten player so I don’t have any expectations.”
In the bottom half of the Men's draw Saurav Ghosal emerged
triumphant in an all-Indian battle with best friend Harinder Pal
Singh Sandhu, coming through a close 3-1 encounter after 64 minutes.
Ghosal will now play England's Daryl Selby in the last four while
another domestic battle in the Women's event saw Annie Au produce an
emphatic win over fellow Hong Kong star Joey Chan to move through to
face England's Emily Whitlock.
Women's top seed Joelle King then came from behind to down Danish
star Line Hansen in a hard fought four games to meet Delia Arnold in
the semis.
“I thought Line played very well," said King. "It’s probably the
best she’s played against me.
"I struggled to see the ball in the first and couldn’t judge the
timing so well but I’m looking forward to the glass courts
tomorrow.”
Malaysian World No.53 Ivan Yuen bridged a 28-place World Rankings
gap to defeat Hong Kong’s Leo Au at the 2016 Macau Open and reach
the quarter-final stage of a PSA M50 tournament for the first time
in his career.
Despite being ranked below fifth seed Au for much of the past five
years, Yuen led the head-to-head record 3-1 coming into the duo’s
Macau Open encounter, and the man from Penang came out on top once
more, with an 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3 victory in 72 minutes seeing
him progress to the last eight.
Yuen will line up against defending champion Max Lee for a place in
the semi-final after Lee overcame Tsz Fung Yip by a 3-1 margin.
Swiss number six seed Nicolas Mueller was the other seeded player to
bow out on the first day of main draw action in the Men’s event
after he lost out to Indian qualifier Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu 3-1.
A quarter-final meeting against compatriot Saurav Ghosal awaits
Sandhu, with Ghosal seeing off Elvinn Keo in straight games to seal
his place in the next round.
Meanwhile, pre-tournament title favourite Marwan ElShorbagy got off
to a winning start, recovering from a game down to defeat
Australia’s Rex Hedrick, and the Bristol-based World No.7 will lock
horns with Scotland’s Alan Clyne, who overcame English qualifier
Joshua Masters in a five-game contest.
England’s World No.19 Daryl Selby and Malaysian No.1 Nafiizwan Adnan
will clash in the other quarter-final fixture after they achieved
respective triumphs against Welshman Joel Makin and wildcard Steven
Liu.
Elsewhere, Egyptian qualifier Mayar Hany dispatched compatriot Heba
El Torky in the Women’s event to set up a quarter-final meeting with
Malaysia’s Delia Arnold, who eased past wildcard Liu Kwai Chi.
There were also first round wins for the likes of Joelle King, Annie
Au and Emily Whitlock. King downed South Africa’s Siyoli Waters to
set up a fixture with Denmark’s Line Hansen, while Hong Kong’s Au
defeated France’s Coline Aumard to ensure that she will play
compatriot Joey Chan.
Whitlock, meanwhile, stormed to victory against Egyptian 16-year-old
Hana Moataz and will contest her quarter-final match with Australian
No.1 Donna Urquhart.
28-year-old Elvinn Keo struck a winning blow as he overcame a gap of
almost 30 places on the World Rankings to down Australian Joshua
Larkin in straight-games during the final round of qualification at
the 2016 Macau open and secure a berth in the main draw of the M50
tournament – the first time the Malaysian has ever reached the main
draw of an event biggest tan M25 in stature.
Keo played with control and precision as he saw of Larkin 11-6,
11-6, 11-5 and will now face number two seed Saurav Ghosal in the
first round.
“I’m on cloud nine inside,” said Keo.
“This is my biggest win and the first time I’ve ever mad ether main
draw of a M50. I’ve won some M5 and M10 events but this beats them
all.
“I was disciplined and focused throughout the match and tried to
stay patient.”
Ghosal is also joined in the main draw by compatriot Harinder Pal
Singh Sandhu after the 27-year-old from Chennai came through a
gripping five-game battle with James Huang while Joshua Masters and
Joel Makin also came through their qualification encounters, with
Makin set to lock horns with England’s Darly Selby just one week
after their thrilling quarter-final encounter in the Open
International de Squash de Nantes.
In the women’s qualification Egyptian trio Mayar Hany, Nada Abbas
and Hana Moataz dominated their encounters to end the charge of home
hopes Bubble Lui and Chan Sin Yuk, restively, while Moataz cruised
past South African Cheyna Tucker.
Siyoli Waters, however, ensured South African representation in the
main draw after she defeated Hong Kong’s Carmen Lee in 20 minutes to
set up a first round battle with top seeded Joelle King in what
could be the encounter of the round.
The opening day of qualification encounters at the 2016 Macau Open
saw local hopes Bubble Lui and Chan Sin Yuk upset the seedings to
earn surprise berths in the qualification finals and move to within
one victory of a place in the main draw of the W50 and M50
tournaments.
Lui saw off the challenge of South Korean Yura Choi, coming through
in four games, to set up a deciding battle with top seeded Egyptian
Mayar Hany while Chan Sin Yuk also halted Egypt’s Farah Momen,
sister of Men’s World No.11 Tarek, in four games to move through and
meet Nada Abbas for a place in the main draw.
In the Men’s event there was no such joy for local hopes as Henry
Leung, Leung Teng Chi, Manuel Chan Gassmann and Van Keng Hei all
bowed out at the hands of superior opposition, with World No.72
Joshua Masters of England leading the charge with a straight-games
victory over Leung.
Malaysian Elvinn Keo, South Korean Ko Youngjo, Chi Him Wong of Hong
Kong and Taiwan’s James Huang will however keep regional interest
alive after they all progressed.
The draws for the 2016 Macau Open, PSA M50 & W50 tournaments have
been released with World No.6 Marwan ElShorbagy and World No.9
Joelle King named the top seeds in the Men’s and Women’s events,
respectively, ahead of the start date on Thursday September 15.
ElShorbagy, who plays Australia’s Rex Hedrick in round one, is
coming off the back of a superb season that saw him win two PSA
World Tour titles in addition breaking into the world’s top 10 and
the Egyptian will look to improve on the quarter-final finish he
managed at last year’s tournament.
Bristol-based ElShorbagy is seeded to meet Indian National Champion
Saurav Ghosal in the final, but will need to battle through a highly
competitive field that could see him come up against defending
champion Max Lee, who ended ElShorbagy’s tournament last year, in
the semi-final stage.
Ghosal, meanwhile, makes his first appearance at this tournament
since 2014 and the World No.17 opens up against a qualifier, while
the likes of World No.32 Nicolas Mueller and World No.20 Daryl Selby
could lie in wait for the man from Kolkata in the quarter-final and
semi-final stages, respectively.
World No.224 Steven Liu will be flying the flag for Macau and the
country’s number one player has been named the tournament wildcard.
The 22-year-old faces Malaysian No.1 Nafiizwan Adnan in the opening
round.
Elsewhere, King is the pre-tournament title favourite in the Women’s
event, with her nearest challenger likely to be second seed Annie
Au, who this month returned to the world’s top 10.
King could come up against the dangerous Emily Whitlock in the
quarter-final, while World No.17 Delia Arnold, who begins her
tournament against wildcard Liu Kwai Chi, is seeded to meet the New
Zealander in the last four.
Au also has a difficult path to the final, with the likes of World
No.20 Joey Chan and former World No.2 Jenny Duncalf competing on her
side of the draw.
The Macau Open 2016 returns to the PSA World Tour calendar once
again, running for the fifth consecutive year since 2011. The 2016
edition will offer $50,000 on-site prize money and bonuses in both
the men’s and women’s categories.
The event will be held from 13 to 18 September 2016 and is organised
by the Macau Squash
Association with support from the Macao Sports Bureau of Macao SAR
Government.
Egypt’s world number 7 Marwan Elshorbagy and India’s world number 21
Saurav Ghosal leads the pack in the men’s event. Defending champion
Max Lee of Hong Kong is the third seed and will be looking to
continue his great start to the season after reaching the
semi-finals of the World Series Hong Kong Open last month. England’s
Daryl Selby, who will be playing in his second Macau Open, complete
the top quartet.
In the women’s event, Joelle King of New Zealand returns to Macau as
the top seed ahead of Hong Kong’s Annie Au in second spot. The top
seeded pair met in the quarter finals of this event a year ago with
the Hong Kong number one coming out victorious. World numbers 18 and
15 Delia Arnold of Malaysia and Emily Whitlock of England are seeded
3 and 4 respectively.
Local challenge at the event will once again be spearheaded by
siblings Steven and Ivy Liu, the national champions of Macau who
will both face Malaysian opponents in Nafiizwan Adnan and Delia
Arnold.
The Macau pair will also be joined by their younger counterparts who
will play in the qualifying rounds
-15 year old Yeung Weng Chi in the women’s and Van Keng Hei, Manuel
Chan Gassmann and Leung
Teng Chi in the men’s.
The qualifying rounds will take place on the 13 and 14 September
2016, with the main draw matches following from 15 September 2016
onwards at the at the Bowling Centre located at Avenida da Nave
Desportiva. The semi finals and final, will be played at the glass
court that will be erected on Praça Do Lago Sai Van.
The Macau Squash Open 2016 press conference was held earlier today
where the draw was officially released to the local media. Present
at the press conference today were Mr. Wu Lao Ut (Head of Sport
Development, Macau Sports Bureau), Mr. William Kuan (Chairman, Macau
Squash Association), Mr. Victor Hoi (Vice President, Macau Squash
Association), Mr. Kenneth Lei, the tournament director, and
assistant tournament directors, Mr. Armando Amante and Mr. Lim Chee
Ming.
In conjunction with the 2016 Macau Squash Open, there will be a
Macau Squash Charity Carnival held at the Praça Do Lago Sai Van on
17 and 18 September between 1 -6 pm before the matches in aid of the
Macau Autism Association.
All Macau citizens are entitled to enjoy free entry throughout the
tournament and tickets are distributed on a first-come first-served
basis. For more details, please call the ticketing hotline on
28530497 or register@asm.org.mo
The Macau Squash Open 2016 is sponsored by the Macau Sports Bureau
and supported by the Melco Crown Entertainment, Contribuild Group,
Nutrihome, Macau Clothing and Coca-Cola Beverage Company Limited
Macau.
