29/11/2004
Shabana Survives Opening Round
Mark Chaloner makes World Champion Amr Shabana battle for five games
Shaken
Shabana Survives World Open
Defence In Qatar
Qatar Men's World Open
Squash Championship, Doha, Qatar
Amr
Shabana, the 25-year-old from Cairo who twelve months ago became Egypt's first
world champion, survived a tough challenge in his defence of the title on the
opening day of action in the Qatar Men's World Open Squash Championship in the
Qatar capital Doha.
Unseeded Mark Chaloner, a former England captain, led the left-hander by two
games to one before sixth seed Shabana eventually asserted his authority on the
match to win 11-4 8-11 3-11 11-7 11-5 in 51 minutes.
The Egyptian's next hurdle is compatriot Mohammed Abbas, the 16th seed who
triumphed 11-5 11-4 11-2 in an all-Egyptian clash against qualifier Wael El
Hindi in 27 minutes.
Favourite Lee Beachill, seeded to become the first Englishman to win the title
in the 28-year-old history of the event, was stretched for 51 minutes by
unseeded Davide Bianchetti before prevailing 11-4 11-5 11-10. It was a
year ago that the Italian pulled off one of the tournament's biggest shocks
when he beat Beachill's compatriot Peter Nicol, a former champion, in the
second round in Pakistan.
Beachill next faces Australian Joseph Kneipp after the tenth seed despatched
Malaysian qualifier Mohd Azlan Iskandar 11-9 11-7 11-6 in 36 minutes.
The qualifying finals of the Women's Qatar Classic produced no surprises,
though Australia's Amelia Pittock was pushed to the limit by Canada's Runa Reta
before winning 9-3 9-4 4-9 7-9 9-5 in 70 minutes. Her reward is the
highest seed matched up with a qualifier - England's No2 seed, a former world
champion, Cassie Jackman.
1st round:
[1] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-4, 11-5, 11-10
(5-3) (51m)
[10] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) bt [Q] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-9,
11-7, 11-6 (36m)
[8] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Simon Parke (ENG) 8-11, 11-9,
11-8, 11-7 (56m)
[12] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Rodney Durbach (RSA) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5
(44m)
[4] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Tommy Berden (NED) 11-9, 11-9,
11-6 (37m)
[13] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 (46m)
[6] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Mark Chaloner (ENG) 11-4, 8-11,
3-11, 11-7, 11-5 (51m)
[16] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt [Q] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-5,
11-4, 11-2 (27m)
Women's
Qatar Classic, Doha, Qatar
Qualifying finals:
Alison Waters (ENG) bt Ellen Petersen (DEN) 9-2, 9-4,
9-1 (33m)
Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt Runa Reta (CAN) 9-3, 9-4, 4-9,
7-9, 9-5 (70m)
Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) bt Rebecca Botwright (ENG) 9-10, 9-0, 9-4, 9-2 (48m)
Melissa Martin (AUS) bt Eman El Amir (EGY) 7-9, 9-2, 7-9, 9-4, 9-3 (40m)
Sharon Wee (MAS) bt Heidi Mather (AUS) 9-4, 6-9, 9-2, 9-5 (43m)
Engy Kheirallah (EGY) bt Dianne Desira (AUS) 9-6, 9-0, 7-9,
10-8 (50m)
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 9-7, 9-0, 9-2
(36m)
Tegwen Malik (WAL) bt Katie Patrick (CAN) 9-3, 9-2, 9-5 (27m)
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