Abouelghar Conquers In KL
A pair of successive upsets by
Mohamed Abouelghar in the NSC Series No1 in Malaysia led the Egyptian
teenager to the PSA World Tour Challenger 5 squash title at the Bukit
Jalil National Squash Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
After surviving a five-game battle
against local player Valentino Bong in the first round, fourth seed
Abouelghar made his breakthrough in the semi-finals with a 65-minute win over
Ivan Yuen, the No2 seed from Malaysia.
And another Malaysian awaited the
18-year-old from Cairo in the final. Top seed Muhd Asyraf Azan claimed
his anticipated place in the climax after defeating unseeded Pakistani Farhan
Zaman in straight games.
But Abouelghar was too strong for
his KL-based 23-year-old opponent, winning 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9 in 37 minutes
to secure the second PSA World Tour title of his career in his second final
appearance.
It was when he won his first
title - at the Royal Jordanian Open in Jordan in March last year - that
Abouelghar, then aged just 16 years and five months, became the second youngest
PSA Tour title winner ever.
1st round:
[1] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) bt Zahed Mohamed (EGY) 11-4, 5-11,
10-12, 11-8, 11-9 (45m)
Syed Hamzha Shah Bukhari (PAK) bt [Q] James Earles (ENG) 11-7,
11-9, 11-8 (32m)
Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt Ravi Dixit (IND) 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 11-8
(25m)
[3] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt Elvinn Keo (MAS) 11-9, 11-5,
3-11, 11-8 (40m)
[4] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Valentino Bong (MAS) 16-14, 10-12,
11-6, 3-11, 11-4 (40m)
Basem Makram (EGY) bt [Q] James Huang (TPE) 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (38m)
Kam Hing Choong (MAS) bt [Q] Muhammad Saqib Yousaf (PAK) 6-11,
5-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-7 (47m)
[2] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt [Q] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) 11-7, 11-4,
9-11, 11-9 (45m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) bt Syed Hamzha Shah Bukhari (PAK) 5-11,
11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (75m)
Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt [3] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) 12-10, 13-11,
11-2 (33m)
[4] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Basem Makram (EGY) 11-2, 11-7,
11-4 (23m)
[2] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt Kam Hing Choong (MAS) 14-12, 11-6, 11-7
(33m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) bt Farhan Zaman (PAK) 11-9, 11-9, 14-12
(35m)
[4] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt [2] Ivan Yuen (MAS) 10-12, 11-7,
12-10, 8-11, 11-3 (65m)
Final:
[4] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt [1] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) 11-8,
9-11, 11-6, 11-9 (37m)
|