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Max brightens hosts' day in HK
A day which started out with home interest in 23 out of 25 matches
ended with just five Hong Kong players making it through to
tomorrow's qualifying finals.
Star of the show was Max Lee, HK's former junior champion who
is now, aged 19, number four in the senior ranks. In front of a
packed audience he took the game to Sherif Kamel, taking two close
opening games to set up an upset, and although the Egyptian pulled a
game back the youngster held his nerve in the fourth, sealing the
win on his fifth match ball.
On the women's side Christina Mak, Joey Chan, Chiu Ka Kei
and Leung Shin Nga will join Lee in the qualifying
finals, but there was disappointment for HK number one Wong Wai
Hang, who went down in straight games to Germany's Simon Rosner.
The only other seeding upset on a day of comparatively
straightforward matches was Jesse Engelbrecht's defeat of
Christopher Gordon. Engelbrecht, who recently changed from Zimbabwe
to South African loyalty, was the 17th ranked player in the list of
qualifiers and the one the top 16 all wanted to avoid, and he duly
completed a 3/1 win of increasing authority over the American.
Another South African was involved in the day's most bizarre
scoreline – Adel Weir winning 9/0, 9/0, 8/10, 9/1 – "I went
on a bit of a panic in the third," was her explanation.
Qualifying finals start at 13.30 on Tuesday – four matches on
simultaneously for four sessions – followed by the official opening
at 17.00. Stay tuned … |
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"Rodney played here in Hong Kong a dozen or more times, beating
Jansher to win it in 1995 before going on to win the world title in
Malaysia.
"He was always a great supporter of the event and did a lot of work
with our juniors, he's done a lot for HK Squash over the years.
"He doesn't come back that often, but he's here for a bit of R&R so
it was great that it coincided with this year's event, it's
wonderful to see some of the old faces."
Heather Deayton |
Former HK and World Champion Rodney
Eyles
with Heather Deayton |
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Women's Qualifying
Round One:
Park Eun-Ok (Kor) bt Carmen Lee (Hkg)
9/4, 9/1, 9/0 (21m)
Christina Mak (Hkg) bt Szeto Ka-Hei (Hkg)
9/1, 9/4, 9/1 (14m)
Adel Weir (Rsa) bt Karla Chong (Hkg)
9/0, 9/0, 8/10, 9/1 (28m)
Suzie Pierrepont (Eng) bt Tong Tsz-Wing (Hkg)
9/3, 9/2, 9/1 (26m)
Chiu Ka Kei (Hkg) bt Emma Pike (Aus)
9/2, 9/2, 9/0 (16m)
Joey Chan (Hkg) bt Ko Sin-Ting (Hkg)
9/6, 9/0, 9/2 (21m)
Joshna Chinappa (Ind) bt Karman Siu (Hkg)
9//1, 9/4, 9/5 (19m)
Aisling Blake (Irl) bt Liu Tsz-Ling (Hkg)
9/1, 9/0, 9/2 (19m)
Leung Shin-nga (Hkg) bt Chan Wing-Hei (Hkg)
9/7, 9/0, 9/4 (25m)
Men's
Qualifying Round One:
Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) bt Roger Ngan (Hkg)
11/0, 11/6, 11/5 (18m)
Steve Finitsis (Aus) bt Wong King Ngo (Hkg)
11/2, 11/3, 11/4 (15m)
Mark Krajcsak (Hun) bt Fung Ngo Long (Hkg)
11/1, 11/3, 11/2 (18m)
Jan Koukal (Cze) bt Leo Au (Hkg)
11/7, 11/9, 11/1 (24m)
Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Choy Kit Lun (Hkg)
11/4, 11/3, 11/6 (18m)
Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa) bt Chris Gordon (Usa) 11/4,
8/11, 11/1, 11/4 (34m)
Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt Fung Ji Yang (Hkg)
11/4, 11/3, 11/4 (16m)
Max Lee (Hkg) bt Sherif Kamel (Hkg)
11/8, 11/9, 3/11, 15/13 (69m)
Bradley Hindle (Aus) bt Yip Tsun Yuen (Hkg)
11/4, 11/4, 11/3 (16m)
Aaron Frankcomb (Aus) bt Hwang Joong-Won (Kor) 11/3,
11/3, 11/0 (21m)
Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) bt Anson Kong (Hkg)
11/6, 11/8, 11/6 (27m)
Chris Simpson (Eng) bt Wong Hon Fung (Hkg)
11/3, 11/5, 11/7 (17m)
Simon Rosner (Ger) bt Wong Wai Hang (Hkg)
11/2, 11/9, 11/4 (34m)
Chris Ryder (Eng) bt Kwok Chun Lok (Hkg)
11/3, 11/3, 11/4 (19m)
Adil Maqbool (Pak) bt Nelson Chan (Hkg)
11/4, 11/7, 11/4 (22m)
Dylan Bennett (Ned) bt Chiu Ho Fai (Hkg)
11/4, 11/4, 11/2 (19m)
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 "This
year we have quite a lot of local players, including twelve women
and fourteen men, entered into this world-class event's qualifying
round, which provides a very good opportunity for our players,
especially valuable for our up-and-coming juniors to gain more
exposure in competing with the experienced overseas players.
"Today most of our local players performed very satisfactorily, but
in particular I am very pleased to see Max Lee perform exceptionally
well to upset Egyptian Sherif Kamel 3/1. In total we had five
players getting through to tomorrow's final qualifying, Max plus
four women players, Christina Mak, Joey Chan, Chiu Ka Kei and Leung
Shin Nga.
"Hopefully they can all keep up their good works tomorrow …
Tony Choi
Tournament Director |
Heather calls the numbers ... |
... up they go |
Main-draw
Kashif is stress-free |
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Max Lee (Hkg) bt Sherif Kamel (Hkg)
11/8, 11/9,
3/11, 15/13 (69m)
 "It's
the fourth time I've played in the event but I haven't won a game
before this time. I wasn't happy with my draw, it was a really tough
one for me, but I just relaxed, played my game and it worked out for
me.
"Last week in Malaysia I lost in the first round of qualifying so I
was determined to do better here this week, I improved a lot from
then.
"I made a good start, but then in the third I made too many errors.
In the fourth I tried to push again and keep the ball tighter.
"I play another Egyptian tomorrow – I saw him play many times in
Malaysia, but I haven't played him before. I'm tired and hungry now,
so I'll have a good rest and then go for it tomorrow …"
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Steve Finitsis (Aus) bt Wong
King Ngo (Hkg)
11/2, 11/3, 11/4 (15m)
 "It
was a good introduction to the tournament. It would be nice if all
qualifying matches were as easy, but I'm sure it will be much
tougher tomorrow.
"I've been on the tour since 2002, but played mainly on the
Australian and New Zealand circuit. I've branched out in the last
couple of years, playing a few events in the US and Canada, and I'm
thinking of basing myself in Europe next year so that I can get good
hits with some of the top guys week in, week out."
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Mark Krajcsak (Hun) bt Fung Ngo Long (Hkg)
11/1, 11/3, 11/2 (18m)
 "I've
been here for a week already, I couldn't get my visa sorted out for
Qatar, so I've really been waiting to get some action at last. Today
was ok, but it will be really tough tomorrow against Jan.
"We play each other a lot, but I beat him 3/0 last time so I hope I
can do that again. I really, really want to qualify here, I'm
starting to play the bigger tournaments now and I'd like to score
some good points …"
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Adel Weir (Rsa) bt Karla Chong (Hkg)
9/0, 9/0, 8/10, 9/1 (28m)
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 "The
first two were so easy I just relaxed, stopped attacking, and
instead of being on the T I was everywhere else and she just used
it.
"I could see everyone watching, thinking 'what's going on?' and I
went into a bit of a panic. "Fortunately I managed to get it back
together in the fourth.
"We only arrived late yesterday, so what I need now is sleep!"
Adel Weir |
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 "It
was a bit frustrating to be at number 17 in the list. There were a
few players I wanted to avoid and a few I fancied getting, but
whoever drew me was always going to be disappointed with the others
all being locals.
"I went out very quick in the first, I wanted to do that and get on
the scoreboard early, but I went too fast in the second, looking to
finish it too quickly.
"Adel told me to slow it down for the third, which I did and it
worked a treat. After that I would play slow for five or six shots
then fire in a fast one which broke his rhythm.
"We only got in last night so it's good to get on early and get it
out of the way so I can get prepared for tomorrow …"
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Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa) bt
Chris Gordon (Usa)
11/4,
8/11, 11/1, 11/4 (34m)
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Two words, starting with H and K ... |
A shocker for the World Champ |
Cameron's secret is out ??? |
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