Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas)
11-5, 11-7, 12-14, 11-6 (66m) Adrian Grant (Eng)
Adrian Grant 11-7, 14-12, 11-4
(50m)
Leo Au
[Q] Leo Au (Hkg)
16-14, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 (78m)
[2] Cameron Pilley (Aus)
Mosaad Marks Egyptian Hat-Trick In Macau
Top seed Omar Mosaad edged out unseeded Englishman Adrian
Grant in today's Macau Open final to become the third
successive Egyptian to win the PSA World Tour International 50
squash event staged on an all-glass court at the Complex
Desportivo International do Cotai in Taipa, Macau.
World No10 Mosaad took the opening game - but Londoner Grant, a
33-year-old former world No9 currently ranked 24 (pictured above,
foreground, with Mosaad), used all his experience to take the
next two to lead 2/1.
"Adrian held a slender lead in the fourth at 8-6 and threatened to
end the match early," said event spokesman Casper Lai. "Omar,
not ready to throw in the towel, fought back to take the lead and
then the game 11-9.
"The decider was nail-biting. Once again, at 8-8, a 'not let'
decision against Adrian riled him up. The Englishman engaged in
another heated discussion with the referee. The referee had enough
of his antics and gave him a conduct stroke; 10-8 to Omar.
"The Egyptian then fired a shot into deep and beyond Adrian's racket
to claim his first title of the year."
The 11-8, 4-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8 title triumph in 96 minutes marks
the ninth Tour title of Mosaad's career, but the 25-year-old from
Cairo's first for more than 18 months.
Mosaad & Grant Make Macau Final
England's unseeded Adrian Grant will face top-seeded Egyptian
Omar Mosaad in the final of the Macau Open after both
players survived four-game semi-finals of the PSA World Tour
International 50 squash event staged on an all-glass court at
the Complex Desportivo International do Cotai in Taipa,
Macau.
Londoner Grant (pictured above in Taipa action), ranked 24 in
the world, ended the brave run of qualifier Omar Abdel Meguid
- beating the 25-year-old Egyptian 11-4, 8-11, 11-2, 11-6 in 52
minutes to deny the event a second successive all-Egyptian final.
"Adrian ran riot and dominated the third," said event spokesman
Lim Chee Ming, the Macau National Head Coach. "Adrian was in no
mood to let it slip and maintained the pressure to quickly go 6-2 up
in the fourth.
"Omar managed to halve the gap at 5-7 but was only allowed to
collect another point before Adrian regained control and wrapped up
the game 11-6 to progress to the final."
Mosaad, the world No10 from Cairo also dropped the second game of
his match against top-ranked Indian Saurav Ghosal before
beating the No4 seed 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 in 81 minutes.
"Omar began strongly to lead the opening game 3-1, when a
contributed injury to Saurav stopped the game temporarily,"
explained Lim. "After a quick treatment, Saurav returned to the
court to level the score at 6-6. He was clearly still struggling
though, as Omar wrapped up the first set 11-8.
"Both players played with better variations in the second, exploring
all four corners of the court. The score was once again tied at
six-all, when Saurav injected more speed into his game to lead 10-8
and then won it at 11-9."
Mosaad (pictured above with Ghosal, foreground) regained the
lead after winning the third from eight-all.
"From three-all in the fourth, Omar moved ahead to a 9-6 lead after
a few amazing shots from the Egyptian and mistakes from his
opponent. Omar won the next two points to finally wrap up the match,
but not before he was made to run all over the court by Saurav,"
added Lim.
Both players are celebrating their second Tour finals of the year:
25-year-old Mosaad is marking the 21st of his career, while
33-year-old left-hander Grant is through to his 31st.
Meguid Marches On In Macau
Qualifier Omar Abdel Meguid scored his second successive
upset in the Macau Open when he despatched third-seeded South
African Stephen Coppinger in today's quarter-finals of the
PSA World Tour International 50 squash event in Taipa,
Macau.
Just 24 hours after knocking out higher-ranked Tom Richards,
the world No37 from Egypt defeated in-form Coppinger, ranked 19 in
the world, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 in 50 minutes to claim a surprise place
in the semi-finals.
Meguid, a tall 25-year-old from Giza (pictured above, left, with
Coppinger), now takes on Adrian Grant, the unseeded world
No24 who boasts a career-high world ranking of nine.
33-year-old Grant, a left-hander from London (pictured below,
left, with Au), ended qualifier Leo Au's run, beating the
23-year-old from Hong Kong 11-7, 14-12, 11-4 in 50 minutes.
By
contrast, the other semi-final will be the clash predicted by the
draw - between Egyptian favourite Omar Mosaad and Indian
number one Saurav Ghosal.
Mosaad, the world No10 from Cairo, beat Malaysian Ong Beng Hee
11-5, 11-9, 11-5, while fourth seed Ghosal defeated Hong Kong number
one Max Lee 12-10, 11-8, 11-5.
Meguid
& Au Oust Seeds In Macau
Qualifiers Omar Abdel Meguid and Leo Au
proved too strong for experienced opponents Tom Richards and
Cameron Pilley, respectively, in today's opening round of the
Macau Open as they marched confidently - yet unexpectedly -
into the quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour International 50
squash event celebrating its fifth year as one of the top events on
the international circuit in Taipa, Macau.
Meguid, the world No37 from Egypt (pictured above,
left, with Richards) beat Englishman Richards - ranked 15 places
higher - 11-5, 15-17, 11-7, 11-4 in 59 minutes and will now line up
against South African Stephen Coppinger for a place in the
last four.
Third seed Coppinger recovered from a game down to
beat England left-hander Jonathan Kemp 7-11, 14-12, 11-7,
11-2.
But Au, from nearby Hong Kong, claimed the biggest
scalp in his marathon victory over second seed Pilley. The
23-year-old world No46 survived a tense tie-break opening game
before Australian number one Pilley, ranked 13 in the world,
restored order to draw level.
The Hong Kong number two stuck to his guns however
and, after 78 minutes, celebrated his first meeting with the tall
Aussie by clinching a 16-14, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 win.
Top seed Omar Mosaad secured his anticipated
place in the last eight round - but the world No10 from Egypt was
taken to four games before nailing experienced Finn Olli Tuominen
11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4.
Mosaad (pictured above with Tuominen, right),
bidding to become the third successive Egyptian winner of the title,
now meets Malaysian number one Ong Beng Hee, winner of the
title in 2001.
