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QSF No.3
Men's Draw
20 - 24 May
Doha, Qatar, $20k |
ROUND TWO
20 MAY |
QUARTERS
21 MAY |
SEMIS
22 MAY |
FINAL
24 MAY |
[1] Karim El Hammamy (EGY)
11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-2 (53m)
[9/16] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) |
Karim El Hammamy
6-11, 11-3, 12-10, 11-3 (58m)
Leandro Romiglio |
Leandro Romiglio
11-8, 14-12, 11-6 (39m)
Abdulla Al-Tamimi |
Abdulla Al-Tamimi
11-2, 11-6, 11-9 (28m)
Leonel Cardenas
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Leandro Romiglio (ARG)
11-4, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5 (49m)
[5] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) |
[9/16] Emyr Evans (WAL)
11-8, 11-8, 11-8 (38m)
[8] Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) |
Emyr Evans
11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9 (44m)
Abdulla Al-Tamimi |
[3] Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT)
6-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5 (64m)
[9/16] Charlie Lee (ENG) |
[4] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY)
8-11, 11-5, 13-11, 12-10 (38m)
Noor Zaman (PAK) |
Yahya Elnawasany
14-12, 12-10, 11-4 (42m)
Mazen Gamal |
Yahya Elnawasany
11-5, 14-12, 11-6 (38m)
Leonel Cardenas |
[6] Mazen Gamal (EGY)
11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (42m)
Miles Jenkins (ENG) |
[7] Rui Soares (POR)
11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 11-3 (39m)
Ammar Altamimi (KUW) |
Rui Soares
11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (36m)
Leonel Cardenas |
[9/16] Balázs Farkas (HUN)
13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7 (70m)
[2] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) |
[1] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) bye
[9/16] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) bt [WC] Ahmad Mohammad Altamimi (QAT) 11-8,
11-7, 11-6 (21m)
Leandro Romiglio (ARG) bt [9/16] Darren Pragasam (MAS) 6-11, 10-12,
11-3, 11-8, 11-5 (57m)
[5] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) bye
[8] Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) bye
[9/16] Emyr Evans (WAL) bt [WC] Waleed Zaman (QAT) 11-3, 11-4, 11-2
(18m)
[9/16] Charlie Lee (ENG) bt Khaled Labib (EGY) 11-3, 12-10, 11-4 (28m)
[3] Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) bye
[4] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bye
Noor Zaman (PAK) bt [9/16] Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT) 12-10, 11-4, 11-5
(25m)
Miles Jenkins (ENG) bt [9/16] Robert Downer (ENG) 11-8, 11-2, 11-2 (24m)
[6] Mazen Gamal (EGY) bye
[7] Rui Soares (POR) bye
Ammar Altamimi (KUW) bt [9/16] Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 13-11, 5-11,
11-7, 6-11, 11-6 (32m)
[9/16] Balázs Farkas (HUN) bt Alireza Shameli (IRI) 11-7, 11-5, 11-8
(55m)
[2] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bye |
Al
Tamimi Takes Victory On Home Soil
World No.48 Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi secured his second title of the
2021-2022 season with a win on home soil at the QSF 3, as he beat
Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas in the final at the Khalifa International
Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar.
The Qatari No.1 has struggled with injuries this season, seeing his
ranking drop out of the world’s top 50 at one point, but following a win
at the Life Time Atlanta Open, and making it to the second round of the
CIB PSA World Championships Cairo, he came back to his home nation in
some good form.
Al Tamimi came into the tournament as the No.3 seed, and after receiving
a bye through to the second round, he came up against England’s Charlie
Lee. The Qatari found himself 2-1 down, but fought back to win in five,
winning both of the last two games 11-5, to advance through to the
quarter finals of the competition.
In the last eight, the World No.48 overcame Emyr Evans in four games,
winning the first two games, before having to regroup after the Welshman
took the third. He then got the better of Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio,
who had downed three seeded players en route to the last four, in
straight games.
Al Tamimi then took on Leonel Cardenas, the World No.37, in the final,
and the Qatari was in complete control throughout the match. Playing in
front of his home crowd, he won the first two games comfortably.
Although the Mexican tried to fight back, it was Al Tamimi that took the
victory, to claim his second title this season, and first in from of his
adoring home crowd since 2017.
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Romiglio And Evans Cause Second Round Upsets
Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio continued his impressive run going at the
QSF 3 in Doha, Qatar, as he downed a higher-seeded player for the second
day in succession, with Welshman Emyr Evans also taking out a seed to
reach the last eight of the competition.
The Challenger 20 level tournament, which is being held at the Khalifa
International Tennis and Squash Complex in the Qatari capital, saw the
seeded players come into the draw on Saturday, but two of those fell by
the wayside in their opening match of the event.
Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio put pay to one of those, just 24 hours
after having already exceeding his seeding expectation. He got the
better of No.5 sed Muhammad Asim Khan in the second round, winning in
four games. The Argentinian, who featured at the PSA World Championships
after winning the Val de Reuil Normandie earlier this year, won the
first two games comfortably, and after losing the third, he regrouped to
win the fourth and claim the match. He will now face top seed Karim El
Hammamy in the quarter finals.
The other man to cause a seeding upset on the second day of the
competition was Welshman Emyr Evans, who overcame No.8 seed Mohammad
Syafiq Kamal in straight games. It was not easy for the World No.97, who
took each game by a score line of 11-8, to book his spot in the last
eight, where he will play home favourite, and No.3 seed, Abdulla Mohd Al
Tamimi.
Al Tamimi had to fight to make his way into the quarter finals on home
soil at the Khalifa International Complex, coming from behind twice in
his match-up with England’s Charlie Lee. The Qatari No.1 lost both the
first and third games of the match, but fought back to level on both
occasions, before going on to win the fifth game 11-5 to advance to the
last eight.
In the bottom half of the draw, all the seeded players were victorious,
with Egypt’s Mazen Gamal and Yahya Elnawasany setting up a quarter final
contest. No.2 seed Leonel Cardenas took down Hungary’s Balazs Farkas in
the longest match of the day, winning 3-1 in 70 minutes. He will now
face Portuguese No.1, and the No.7 seed, Rui Soares in the last eight.
The quarter finals of the QSF 3 will take place on Sunday, May 22 at the
Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, with the last eight
aiming to reach the semis of the Challenger 20 level tournament. |
Cardenas Focussing On Maintaining Ranking
The final event of the week on the Challenger Tour this week will be the
QSF 3, which will take place from Friday, May 20 to Tuesday, May 24 at
the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha.
The Challenger 20 level tournament will feature a 24-strong field, the
majority of which will be inside the top 100 of the World Rankings.
Egypt’s Karim El Hammamy will be the top seed for the competition, with
Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas and home favourite Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi as
the nearest contenders for the crown.
Egypt’s Yahya Elnawasany and Mazen Gamal, along with Pakistani Muhammad
Asim Khan, Portuguese No.1 Rui Soares and Malaysia’s Mohammad Syafiq
Kamal, make up the rest of the top eight seeds for the tournament.
There will be four Qataris in action in total, with Syed Azlan Amjad and
the wildcard duo of Ahmad Mohammad Altamimi and Waleed Zaman will all
feature at the Challenger 20 level tournament.
We spoke to Cardenas prior to the tournament getting underway, with the
Mexican having just come off the back of a first match-up with World
No.2 Ali Farag, along with beating former World No.1 James Willstrop at
the Manchester Open last month.
“[It was a] great experience for me, it’s the highest ranked player I
have ever played and I think this match will help me learn a lot,” the
Mexican explained.
“I take as much experience as possible from this match [against Farag].
The glass court was a bit different for me since it is outdoors and it
was very windy but in the end I enjoyed playing there.
“It felt good to give that performance [in Manchester] against a player
like James Willstrop. I was training hard and it helped me a lot to
arrive well prepared for that match.”
Cardenas currently occupies the World No.37 spot in the rankings, his
highest ever position, and although he is happy with where he has got
to, he knows that he still has to work hard to maintain that spot in the
rankings.
“I am happy with my ranking and I hope to be able to improve it in these
last tournaments that I will play this season,” he said.
“It has been difficult for me to arrive at this World Rankings and I
know that in order to maintain it and improve it, I must continue to
focus and work even more.” |
For more information on the event, visit the tournament website or
follow the PSA World Tour on Twitter or Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok
and
SQUASHTV. |
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