Doha: World No.17 Youssef Ibrahim stunned top seed and World No. 2 Mohamed ElShorbagy on day two of the Qatar QTerminals Classic to advance to the third round of the PSA World Tour event at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Monday.
This is the second year in succession that Ibrahim has sent ‘The Beast’ to an early exit from Qatar.
Ibrahim stunned the three-time Qatar Classic champion last November when he took ElShorbagy out with a 3-2 victory in their first ever PSA meeting and the win went his way once again as he completed an 11-3, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9 triumph in 47 minutes.
Ibrahim is among the eight Egyptians players who have made it to the last sixteen stage of the tournament.
Ibrahim will take on compatriot Mazen Hesham next for a place in the quarter finals. Mohamme’s younger brother Marwan along with Tarek Momen, Mazen Hesham, Youssef Soliman, Mostafa Asal, Mohamed Abouelghar all made it to the next stage.
Joining the Egyptians into the round of 16 were Welshman Joel Makin, Raphael Kandra of Germany, Patrick Rooney, Adrian Waller and Tom Richards all of England, Diego Elias of Peru and Frenchmen Gregoire Marche, Baptiste Masotti besides British Open winner Paul Coll.
Earlier, No.4 seed Marwan ElShorbagy came back from 2-1 down to avoid a surprise defeat against Spanish veteran Borja Golan, winning the tie at 11-9, 10-12, 11-13, 11-7, 11-6 .
Marwan will play Kandra in the next encounter.
The German defeated India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar 11-7, 7-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11- 4 to move into the last 16 in Doha.
Kandra recovered from a deficit in the fourth before coming back to take the victory and book his place in the next round.
Another Egyptian Mostafa Asal also made it to the next round but not before surviving a few scares from India’s Saurav Ghosal.
The US Open champion will take on fellow Egyptian Youssef Soliman, in the next round, who won the all-Egyptian clash against Omar Mosaad. Soliman won 11-2, 6-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-8 to move into the next round.
In yet another all-Egyptian clash, Abouelghar beat compatriot and No.5 seed Karim Abdel Gawad to proceed to a third-round tie against Adrian Waller.
A walkover was awarded to Waller in the second round as Egypt’s Mohamed ElSherbini pulled out of the round two fixture due to a fractured rib.
Momen also made it to the next round with a straight game win over England’s James Willstrop. He won 11-5, 119,11-9 and will take on Richards who got his revenge over Lucas Serme in Doha, having lost to the Frenchman at the same stage of the competition twelve months earlier.
Richards won 12-10, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9 to advance into the next round.
Among the non-Egyptians, Peruvian World No.6 seed Elias made it to the next round after facing hiccups against England’s Declan James.
Elias will take on Marche of France in the next round match. The Frenchman won the all-French battle against compatriot Sebastien Bonmalais11-7, 11-9, 11-4 to put him into the third round.
Also making into the round of 16 were England’s Rooney, who scripted a rapid-fire win over India’s Ramit Tandon.
The Englishman won 11-9, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6 and will square to Makin, the Welshman defeated Iker Pajares Bernabeu of Spain 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 to set up the third round clash with Rooney.
In the last side court match of this year’s event, Frenchman Baptiste Masotti got the better of Swiss No.1 Nicolas Mueller 11-2, 14-12, 11-1 to book his place in the third round.
Masotti will take on No.2 seed New Zealander Coll, who defeated Portugal’s Rui Soares 11-4, 11-3, 11-5.
Source: Qatar Olympic Committee