Day ONE : Round One at OCBC & Kallang
The 2024 Vitagen Singapore Squash Open got way today with sixteen Round One matches split between the OCBC Arena and Kallang Squash Centre – today’s winners taking on the seeded players in Round Two over the following two days.
There was no joy for the four Singapore wildcards today, but there were upset wins for Velavan Senthilkumar, Alex Lau and Grace Gear.
Glass Court
[9/16] Katie Malliff (Eng) 3-0 [wc] Wai Yhann Au Yeong (Sgp) 11-8, 11-3, 11-9 (27m)
[9/16] Aifa Azman (Mas) 3-0 Alicia Mead (Eng) 11-6, 11-4, 12-10 (25m)
[9/16] Mohamed Zakaria (Egy) 3-0 [wc] Samuel Kang (Sgp) 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 (23m)
[9/16] Curtis Malik (Eng) 3-0 Yahya Elnawasany (Egy) 11-2, 11-8, 11-4 (36m)
[9/16] Zeina Mickawy (Egy) 3-0 [wc] Cassandra Ong (Sgp) 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (19m)
[9/16] Hollie Naughton (Can) 3-2 Lee Ka Yi (Hkg) 11-5, 7-11, 3-11, 11-1, 11-6 (39m)
Alex Lau (Hkg) 3-0 [9/16] Ramit Tandon (Ind) 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 (32m)
[9/16] Omar Mosaad (Egy) 3-0 [wc] Jerome Aw (Sgp) 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 (29m)
Kallang SC
[9/16] Balasz Farkas (Hun) 3-1 Karim El Hammamy (Egy) 11-8, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9 (63m)
Velavan Senthilkumar (Ind) 3-0 [9/16] Leandro Romiglio (Arg) 11-7, 11-4, 11-2 (27m)
[9/16] Aira Azman (Mas) 3-0 Kenzy Ayman (Egy) 11-5, 11-6, 12-10 (28m)
[9/16] Salma Eltayeb (Egy) 3-0 Tong Tsz-Wing (Hkg) 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (26m)
[9/16] Bernat Jaume (Esp) 3-0 Rory Stewart (Sco) 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 (39m)
[9/16] Juan Camilo Vargas (Col) 3-2 Henry Leung (Hkg) 11-8, 7-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-7 (77m)
Grace Gear (Eng) 3-2 [9/16] Nadine Shahin (Egy) 9-11, 10-12, 13-11, 11-8, 11-8 (50m)
[9/16] Georgia Adderley (Sco) 3-1 Torrie Malik (Eng) 11-5, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 (37m)
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Round One Evening :
It was a similar story for the wildcards in the evening session – great experience for Cassandra Ong and Jerome Aw but Egyptian pair Zeina Mickawy and Omar Mosaad proved too strong as they advanced in straight games.
At the Arena Canada’s Hollie Naughton survived in five games against Lee Ka Yi, but there was Hong Kong success as Alex Lau upset Ramit Tandon in straight games.
At the Kallang Centre Bernat Jaume and Juan Camilo Vargas had contrasting with-the-seeding wins while Grace Gear staged a remarkable comeback from two games down against Nadine Shahin, saving match ball along the way. The round concluded with an all-British affair in which Georgia Adderley prevailed over Torrie Malik.
Round One Afternoon :
The afternoon session at the Kallang Centre started with a tough men’s match between Balasz Farkas and Karim El Hammamy, with many decisions required of the referee as the Hungarian squeezed home in 63 minutes.
“I’ve played him twice before but that was two and three years ago, we’ve both improved a lot since then. I don’t like playing matches like that where there’s a lot of contact [he actually said blocking] and decisions, so I’m pleased to get through that and happy to be playing on the Glass court next time.”
The next three matches were all quick, three games in under half an hour, with India’s Velavan Senthilkumar upsetting Argentinian Leandro Romiglio plus wins for Malaysia’s Aira Azman and Egypt’s Salma Elytayeb.
Over at the OCBC Arena the first three matches also finished in under an hour as Katie Malliff and Mohamed Zakaria ousted Singapore wildcards while Aifa Azman – Aira’s elder sister – beat Alicia Mead to set up a meeting with Malaysian #1 Siva Subramaniam.
Zakaria is enjoying his first visit to Singapore : “It’s my first time in Singapore and I love it already, it’s quite different from other countries in Asia. Samuel has done a lot in his life already, he went to Princeton, and I watched a couple of his matches before I came here because I needed to know how he plays. He has good length and I think he has won the nationals here eight times, so he’s doing some good work here. I played a good match, I was focused on trying to make him move and I think I did well.”
The session concluded with a straight games win for Curtis Malik – he’ll be watching his sister Torrie play tonight.
