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Japan Pro Kansai
Squash Open,
Wakayama, Japan
Meguid &
Kobayashi Win Japan Titles
Egyptian Omar
Abdel Meguid and local star Misaki Kobayashi emerged victorious in
the Japan Pro Kansai Squash Open in the first year of a joint men’s and
women’s event at the XIST Sports Club in Wakayama, Japan.
It was an all-Japan
final that brought the maiden women’s $4,000 WISPA World Tour event to a
climax.
While top-seeded
Tokyo-born Misaki Kobayashi reached the second Tour final of her career without
dropping a game, her experienced opponent Chinatsu Matsui, the No2 seed,
battled for five games in her semi-final against Hong Kong’s fourth seed Liu
Tsz-Ling before surviving in 52 minutes.
But 20-year-old
Kobayashi maintained her straight games run in the event by recording her first
Tour triumph over her 33-year-old compatriot, beating Matsui 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 in
just 21 minutes to earn the second title of her short career.
The final of the
men’s $4,000 PSA World Tour event was also a battle between two fellow
countrymen.
But second seed
Omar Abdel Meguid was the underdog – facing favourite Karim AGA Samy.
Despite ranked
exactly 50 places below 21-year-old Samy, 22-year-old Meguid recovered from a
game down to upset his Cairo compatriot 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-1 to secure the
third Tour title of his career.
Men’s 1st round:
[1] Karim AGA Samy
(EGY) bt [Q] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) 11-5, 11-2, 11-6 (21m)
[4] Hon Fung Wong (HKG)
bt Ken Okada (JPN) 7-11, 15-13, 11-9, 11-3 (39m)
[7] Cheng Yao Huang
(TPE) bt [Q] Syo Miyakawa (JPN) 11-1, 17-15, 11-1 (24m)
[Q] Kobayashi
Ryosei (JPN) bt [5] Maekawa Kosuke (JPN) 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 (37m)
Caspar Grauball
Nielsen (DEN) bt [8] Shamsul Islam Khan (PAK) 11-13, 11-9, 11-2, 6-11, 11-4
(39m)
[3] Choong Kam Hing
(MAS) bt Zahir Shah (PAK) 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 (29m)
[6] Tsukue
Shinnosuke (JPN) bt [Q] Shimizu Takanori (JPN) 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6 (47m)
[2] Omar Abdel
Meguid (EGY) bt Bumpei Kawano (JPN) 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 (31m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Karim AGA Samy
(EGY) bt [4] Hon Fung Wong (HKG) 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 (22m)
[7] Cheng Yao Huang
(TPE) bt [Q] Kobayashi Ryosei (JPN) 11-4, 11-5, 13-11 (24m)
[3] Choong Kam Hing
(MAS) bt Caspar Grauball Nielsen (DEN) 11-5, 8-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-8 (49m)
[2] Omar Abdel
Meguid (EGY) bt [6] Tsukue Shinnosuke (JPN) 13-11, 11-6, 12-10 (32m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Karim AGA Samy
(EGY) bt [7] Cheng Yao Huang (TPE) 11-4, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5 (44m)
[2] Omar Abdel
Meguid (EGY) bt [3] Choong Kam Hing (MAS) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (26m)
Final:
[2] Omar Abdel
Meguid (EGY) bt [1] Karim AGA Samy (EGY) 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-1 (35m)
Women’s 1st
round:
[5] Miwa Maekawa
(JPN) bt Rieko Oshima (JPN) 11-2, 11-3, 11-1 (13m)
[3] Carmen Lee (HKG)
bt Hiromi Matsumoto (JPN) 11-2, 11-9, 11-4 (13m)
[8] Sally
Skaarenborg (DEN) bt Risa Sugimoto (JPN) 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (16m)
[7] Mayu Yamazaki
(JPN) bt Yuko Nakata (JPN) 11-5, 11-0, 11-3 (12m)
[4] Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG)
bt Izumi Iwaki (JPN) 11-1, 11-1, 11-6 (15m)
[6] Karman Siu (HKG)
bt Kana Sakurai (JPN) 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 (12m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Misaki
Kobayashi (JPN) bt [5] Miwa Maekawa (JPN) 11-9, 13-11, 11-7 (27m)
[8] Sally
Skaarenborg (DEN) bt [3] Carmen Lee (HKG) 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 12-10 (45m)
[4] Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG)
bt [7] Mayu Yamazaki (JPN) 10-12, 11-2, 11-9, 11-5 (27m)
[2] Chinatsu Matsui
(JPN) bt [6] Karman Siu (HKG) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (24m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Misaki
Kobayashi (JPN) bt [8] Sally Skaarenborg (DEN) 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (14m)
[2] Chinatsu Matsui
(JPN) bt [4] Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG) 16-14, 11-8, 10-12, 8-11, 11-5 (52m)
Final:
[1] Misaki
Kobayashi (JPN) bt [2] Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 (21m)
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