Three Hong Kong players
in World Open Qualifying
Three Hong Kong players will compete in the qualifying draw of the Credit Suisse Privilege Women's World Open for a chance to join Hong Kong Number 1 Rebecca Chiu in the main draw.
Hong Kong Number 2 Christina Mak will play English player Becky Botwright, who is currently ranked Number 44 in the world. National coach Tony Choi predicted a tough match for Mak.
"It will be a tough match but Christina is in good form at the moment and she got into the draw on the strength of her previous results. I believe she will have a good game," Choi said.
Mak took a game off World No 9 Rebecca Macree of England in the first round of the recently held Buler Squash Challenge and is confident she can build on that performance.
Elise Ng has been drawn to play Kate Roe of England, who is ranked one below Mak at Number 52 in the world. Fifteen year-old Hong Kong U19 Junior Champion Chiu Ka Kei will play Tamsyn Leevey of New Zealand.
"Elise played quite well against Heidi Mather (world-ranked 33) at the Qatar Squash Classic in Doha, losing 1-3, so I expect her to put up a good fight against Kate," Choi says. "Tamsyn reached the second round of the Buler challenge here so she is a good player. The main thing for Ka Kei is the exposure. The more she plays against world-class players the better she'll be."
The main draw of the Credit Suisse Privilege Women's World Open will see a re-match between Rebecca Chiu and Macree, who met in the semi-final of the Buler Squash Challenge and fought out a tight five-game match.
"The experience was good for me," says Chiu, who is currently ranked No 17 in the world. "It was a very physical game, but I know her strengths and weaknesses better now so I think I have a good chance of beating her this time."
Rebecca Chiu
The Credit Suisse Privilege Women's World
Open will be held on December 7-13.
The early rounds will be played at the Hong Kong Squash Centre; the
semi-finals and final will be contested on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront,
outside the Cultural Centre.
Tickets are available from the Hong Kong Squash Centre or the
ticketing hotline 2869 0060.
Qualifying Draw:
Carla Khan (Pak) v Sara Badr (Egy)
Kate Roe (Eng) v Elise Ng (Hkg)
Amelia Pittock (Aus) v Milja Dorenbos (Ned)
Laura Lengthorn (Eng) v Sarah Kippax (Eng)
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng) v Runa Reta (Can)
Vicky Lankester (Eng) v Magriet Huisman (Ned)
Alison Waters (Egy) v Raneem El Weilily (Egy)
Line Hansen (Den) v Maha Zein (Egy)
Kim Hannes-Teunen (Bel) v Amnah El Trabolsy (Egy)
Heidi Mather (Aus) v reserve TBC
Tamsyn Leevey (Nzl) v Chiu Ka Kei (Hkg)
Tegwen Malik (Wal) v Frania Gillen-Buchert (Sco)
Becky Botwright (Eng) v Christina Mak (Hkg)
Engy Kheirallah (Egy) v reserve TBC
Karen Kronemeyer (Ned) v Eman El Amir (Egy)
Wendy Maitland (Sco) v Katline Cauwels (Bel)