Second seed Karim Abdel Gawad has to dig deep as the top four seeds in the men’s and women’s draws reach the semi-finals
Women’s Quarters :
[1] Siva Subramaniam (Mas) 3-0 [6] Rachel Arnold (Mas) 13-11, 11-8, 12-10 (29m)
[4] Melissa Alves (Fra) 3-0 Chan Sin Yuk (Hkg) 11-7, 11-1, 11-3 (24m)
[3] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (Egy) w/o [8] Aira Azman (Mas) Aira w/d injured
[2] Amanda Sobhy (Usa) 3-1 [5] Sana Ibrahim (Egy) 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 4-0 rtd (41m)
[1] Joel Makin (Wal) 3-0 Dimitri Steinmann (Sui) 11-7, 11-5, 11-2 (45m)
[3] Victor Crouin (Fra) 3-1 [6] Aly Abou Eleinen (Egy) 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (78m)
[4] Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 3-1 [8] Fares Dessouky (Egy) 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (47m)
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) 3-2 [7] Eain Yow Ng (Mas) 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8 (69m)
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Gawad survives as top seeds win through to the semis
Quarter-Finals night at HKFC began with a minute’s silence in respect for the ongoing loss and suffering caused by the tower block fires in the Tai Po district.
The opening match featured the last remaining HK player, but Chan Sin Yuk’s run came to an end as France’s fourth seed Melissa Alves put in a ruthless performance to reach the semis in three quick games. She’ll face top seed and defending champion Siva Subramaniam, who won her all-Malaysian clash with Rachel Arnold in straight games, although two of those went to extra points.
In the opening pair of men’s matches top seed Joel Makin put in a clinical performance to end the run of Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann in straight games, while France’s third seed Victor Crouin had to dig deep to see off defending champion Aly Abou Eleinen, coming from a game down to eventually win 11-9 in the fourth after 78 minutes of quality, often brutal, squash.
After the withdrawal of Malaysia’s Aira Azman with injury, Egypt’s Fayrouz Aboelkheir was able to watch to determine her semi-final opponent, in which second seeded American Amanda Sobhy came from a game down to beat Sana Ibrahim, who retired early in the fourth.
The final men’s matches were both tough affairs – Youssef Ibrahim coming from a game down to beat fellow Egyptian Fares Dessouky in four well-contested games, second seed Karim Abdel Gawad going two game up before having to dig deep in the fifth to deny Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng a big upset.
The upshot is that the top four seeds will contest tomorrow’s women’s and men’s semi-finals, which start at 17.30, all played on Court 7.
Quarter-Final Photo Highlights … lots more in the Galleries
