Day THREE : Round Two concludes
The 2024 VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open continued today with eight Round Two matches from the bottom half of the draws.
There was just one seeding upset as World Junior Champion Mohamed Zakaria ousted eighth seed Sebastien Bonmalais to reach his first PSA Gold quarter-final.
Check out the reports, reaction and photos from today’s matches below the results …
Women’s :
[6] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (Egy) 3-0 Grace Gear (Eng) 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (26m)
[4] Siva Subramaniam (Mas) 3-0 [9/16] Aifa Azman (Mas) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (26m)
[2] Nele Coll (Bel) 3-0 [9/16] Hollie Naughton (Can) 11-6, 7-3 rtd (25m)
[5] Amina Orfi (Egy) 3-0 [9/16] Georgia Adderley (Sco) 11-9, 13-11, 11-8 (51m)
Men’s :
[9/16] Mohamed Zakaria (Egy) 3-0 [8] Sebastien Bonmalais (Fra) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 (52m)
[3] Diego Elias (Per) 3-0 [9/16] Bernat Jaume (Esp) 11-4, 11-3, 14-12 (41m)
[2] Paul Coll (Nzl) 3-1 [9/16] Juan Camilo Vargas (Col) 9-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 (47m)
[7] Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 3-1 [9/16] Omar Mosaad (Egy) 11-8, 11-3, 10-12, 11-2 (41m)
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Ibrahim wins all-Egyptian match to complete QF lineups
[7] Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 3-1 [9/16] Omar Mosaad (Egy) 11-8, 11-3, 10-12, 11-2 (41m)
Egypt’s World #16 Youssef Ibrahim prevailed over compatriot Omar Mosaad in the final round two match.
The pair played out contrasting opening games, with Mosaad proving a stern competitor in the first game as Ibrahim narrowly edged ahead, before Ibrahim showcased his immaculate racket skills as he powered to victory in the second.
Mosaad regrouped and unsettled Ibrahim in the third to draw level. But the fourth game saw Ibrahim take control once more, with an outrageous winner at match ball drawing comparisons to the legendary Amr Shabana.
“I’m happy that shot at match ball went in!” said Ibrahim afterwards. “It’s going to be tough to hit winners tomorrow, but I’m happy I got a good run today.
“I was controlling the middle of the court for the majority of this match. I was in front of him and I thought I was playing well, but he pushed up the pace a little bit in the third. This court is extremely difficult to play on and you get rewarded if you hit a good shot at the back or the front.
“Omar was in the golden era, I grew up watching him. I gave him a sniff and he came back strongly, so I had to sharpen up mentally and get a good start in the fourth.”
Amina edges past Georgia in three close games
[5] Amina Orfi (Egy) 3-0 [9/16] Georgia Adderley (Sco) 11-9, 13-11, 11-8 (51m)
Egypt’s World #10 Amina Orfi earned her place in the quarter-finals after battling through a closely-contested match with Scotland’s Georgia Adderley.
The 3-0 scoreline belied the nature of the match, with all three games seeing Orfi by narrow margins. The 17-year-old won 11-9, 13-11, 11-8 in 51 minutes to earn her place in the last eight and continue her recent fine form after winning the Malaysia Cup last week.
“Anything can happen and this is my first time playing here on this court,” said Orfi.
“It took a little bit to get used to, but hopefully I’m going to ready for tomorrow.
“Since I was young I used to play solo a lot when I didn’t have training with my coaches, so relentless hitting has become habit and part of my training now.”
Coll recovers to join Nele in the quarters
[2] Paul Coll (Nzl) 3-1 [9/16] Juan Camilo Vargas (Col) 9-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 (47m)
New Zealand’s second seed Paul Coll got his tournament under way as he came from a game down to get the better of Colombia’s Juan Camilo Vargas.
Their only previous meeting had ended in a win for Coll and the World #.4 made it two on the bounce after completing the victory after 47 minutes of action.
Vargas had the better of the opening exchanges though as the World #38 took the initiative and was always looking to test Coll’s movement. Coll wasn’t finding his targets, and Vargas took full advantage to a game ahead.
The Kiwi responded though and hit with a lot more accuracy from the second game onwards, carving out opportunities and dragging Vargas around with the boast.
Coll was now in full flow and closed out the match game to earn his spot in the last eight.
Nele through as Hollie retires injured
[2] Nele Coll (Bel) 3-0 [9/16] Hollie Naughton (Can) 11-6, 7-3 rtd (25m)
Belgian second seed Nele Coll advanced to the quarter-finals after an ankle injury sustained by Canada’s Hollie Naughton brought their match to a premature end.
Naughton was a game behind and 7-3 down in the second when she rolled her ankle after chasing down a ball on her forehand side, leading her to concede the match.
“No player ever wants to win like that,” said Coll.
“As a player, having to pull out of a match injured is the worst thing that can possibly happen to you because you train so hard, day in and day out, all year round. I feel really bad for her, and it’s not the way I want to win at all.
“I was starting to find my range again on court and I love competing. I’m sad for her that she had to stop but also for myself because I wanted to keep playing as well. I really enjoy this court and I’m looking forward to getting more time on it tomorrow.”
Elias opens account to reach quarters
[3] Diego Elias (Per) 3-0 [9/16] Bernat Jaume (Esp) 11-4, 11-3, 14-12 (41m)
World Champion Diego Elias moved into the quarter-finals after he began his tournament with a 3-0 win over Spain’s Bernat Jaume. Elias was electric in the opening two games as his impeccable racket skills and fleet of foot caused World £43 Jaume no end of problems.
Jaume went up a level in the third game though and made Elias work hard for the win as the tenacious Spaniard pushed the World £3 to a tie-break.
However, Elias kept his composure to record an 11-4, 11-3, 14-12 victory which will see him play World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria next.
“Bernat is a very good player and he has lots of shots,” said Elias afterwards.
“He had to get a bit more loose in his body and I knew he could play good squash. I’m happy to see him play well and that last game was good for me for the rest of the tournament.
“We’re good friends and we’ve known each other for a long time. We’re almost the same age, we’ve both played the juniors together and we both speak Spanish, so we were having fun there.”
Siva wins all-Malaysian matchup
[4] Siva Subramaniam (Mas) 3-0 [9/16] Aifa Azman (Mas) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (26m)
Malaysia’s World #9 Sivasangari Subramaniam earned her spot in the last eight after a comfortable win over compatriot and World #37 Aifa Azman.
Their previous four matches had gone the way of Sivasangari, with an average match time of just 20 minutes. Today’s match was slightly longer at 26 minutes, but the end result was the same as the higher ranked Malaysian completed an 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 victory.
Sivasangari is rewarded with a quarter-final match against sixth seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir.
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“It’s my first match on this court and it’s a bit tricky, the ball dies off,” Sivasangari said afterwards.
“In the second she had a big lead, but I managed to find my length towards the mid stage and in the third I went in too quickly and hit too low. I stayed as composed as I could and I’m glad to finish in three.
“We know each other’s games pretty well and we just played last week. It was fresh in my mind and I knew she wanted her revenge. I tried to stay calm, there is more pressure on me, but I had to do my work out there.”
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Zakaria battles though to the quarters
[9/16] Mohamed Zakaria (Egy) 3-0 [8] Sebastien Bonmalais (Fra) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 (52m)
17-year-old Egyptian Mohamad Zakaria will appear in the quarter-finals of a PSA Gold event for the first time after he produced a stunning performance to nullify Frenchman Sebastien Bonmalais.
Zakaria – who won his first World Events title at the Nash Cup in September – is appearing in his maiden Gold-level tournament this week and followed up an opening day win against wildcard Samuel Kang with an 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 triumph over Bonmalais.
The World #34 – who is ranked 13 spots below Bonmalais in the PSA World Rankings – was the underdog coming into today’s encounter but was in spell-binding form as he pulled his opponent into all areas of the court.
The teenager held his nerve at the crucial points in both of the opening games – pushing ahead from 9-9 to win each game – and held Bonmalais at arm’s length in the third as he stroked the ball beautifully around the court and punished Bonmalais with his hold and lobbing ability.
“It’s a great win for me, I’m a calculated guy, so I knew how important this win was for me,” said Zakaria.
“I came very prepared and I watched him multiple times to be sure of what I was going to see, I didn’t want to be surprised. I read the game very well, but I took time to adapt to the court. My length wasn’t top at the beginning and the ball was very short, towards the end it started to get better and I had some good lines on the backhand too.
“I hate long games and the first game was not part of what I wanted to do. I told myself that I needed to find my length and not repeat what I did in the first game. I was aware of what was going on and that helped me a lot.
“I put a lot of blood, sweat and effort on court and I truly deserve to be here. I’ve made it to the quarters of every event apart from the Platinums now.”
Fayrouz through to the Quarters
[6] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (Egy) 3-0 Grace Gear (Eng) 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (26m)
Egyptian junior Fayrouz Aboelkheir was the first victor on Day Three, defeating England’s unseeded Grace Gear in three games. The scoreline looks close, but the Egyptian took and maintained the lead throughout the match.
“I think my shots weren’t very accurate today, but at least I got the win, so I’m happy about that part,” said Aboelkheir afterwards.
“I’m very happy to beat her in three today. Two days ago she played against another player and that player was leading, so I had to keep mentally tough, especially when I was leading because she came back from 2-0 down.”
