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Heliopolis Rotary Open 2007
06-12 Jul, Cairo, Egypt, $41k |
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12-Jul, Final:
[1] Wael El Hindi (Egy) bt [2] Karim Darwish (Egy)
5/11, 11/7, 7/11, 11/5, 11/8 (84m)
 Wael
Wins Heliopolis Again
 Wael
El Hindi retained his Rotary Heliopolis Open title, coming from
2/1 down against Karim Darwish to clinch a third marathon victory
of the week. After being on
court 289 minutes the world number ten will be getting a
well-earned rest tonight ...
Marwan El Shorbagy
reports from Cairo ...
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Very Hard !!!
It was the final match of the tournament and it was a very
exciting match to watch.
The first game was very tough until they reached 5/5,
Darwish began to control the game and he was moving El Hindi
around the court so El Hindi made a lot
of mistakes and Darwish won the game 11/5 in 10m.
 Second
game similar, tough until 6/6 and after that El Hindi played well
to take the game 11/7 in 17m.
Third game El Hindi made a lot of mistakes that helped Darwish to
take the lead 6/1. El Hindi came back strongly to 4/6 but Darwish
took again the lead to 9/6 and finally he won the game 11/7 in
17m.
Darwish came down after the third game and began the fourth very
badly with a lot of unforced errors, giving El Hindi the
confidence to lead 7/2. Darwish came back again to 5/7 and from
that time El Hindi felt the dangerous of the match so he changed
the pace completely, he slowed it down and he succeeded to finish
it 11/5 in 11m.
The final game was the toughest and the most exciting.
At the beginning of the game El Hindi gave three gifts to Darwish
by hitting the tin but after that El Hindi was very patient and he
looked very tired, but Darwish took a bit of nap to allow El Hind
to take the lead 6/4.
Lots happened in the next few points - El Hindi started to talk
with the ref, Darwish came back to 7/7, El Hindi returned a serve
into the nick, Darwish played a very clever boast from the front
...
But it was Darwish who lost concentration and El Hindi used his
experience to end the next few points very quickly and won the
match and his second title.
 |
 "I
am very happy with my second title.
"The match was game by game and I had a lot of pressure because I
was seeded no.1 in this tournament, but I was getting better day
by day.
"And thank GOD for my win.
I want to thank Jonah Barrington, Gregory Gaultier, Emad Koretam,
Mohamed
Reda, Ahmed Said and my family."
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A Star is
Born
"Hi, my name is
xxx, I send you info from xxx tournament this week."
We've had many of these emails over the last few years, and more
often than not they don't come to anything. Sometimes we'll get
something for the first round and then it tails off, but hey, we
shouldn't complain, these are volunteers after all.
So
when said email arrived in advance of the Heliopolis Open, the
proverbial pinch of salt was applied, but my oh my, how wrong
can you be.
14-year-old Marwan El Shorbagy (little brother of
Mohammed, the two-time British Junior Open champion), sent in
the results of the first qualifying round, added a few photos
for the second round, then did the "full works" for final
qualifying with reports, quotes and photos.
Pretty good so far, but then he asked for my mobile number.
 So,
for the first round onward he's been texting the results after
each match, then dashing home to do the reports, quotes, photos.
The final report from the first round (my, that was a long day)
arrived after midnight UK time, so I'm sure it was well past his
bedtime!
So Marwan had spent all day at the venue, watching eight
consecutive matches, taking photos with his phone, talking to
the players, then spent five hours at home doing eight
comprehensive reports (in his second language).
I was impressed! I tried to reassure him that it would be easier
from now on, to which he replied "oh yeh that's sure but if it
will be hard anyway i will do my best". Blimey, what an answer,
real dedication too.
And come the final, the scores were arriving game by game.
Marwan's efforts here put virtually every tournament organiser
and squash journalist to shame, and if he doesn't follow his big
brother's example of becoming a star on court, there's no doubt
that he has a bright future in journalism, and probably anything
else he decides to put his mind to.
Thanks Marwan, thanks a million ...
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Exhibition:
Amr Shabana v Ramy Ashour 11/6, 10/12 (30m)
Before the final the world's top two players fought out an
honourable draw -
it was a good match to watch with plenty good-humoured arguments
and great shots.
Marwan had a word with the top two ...
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Question: |
Ramy Ashour |
Amr Shabana |
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How is your injury? |
My ankle is getting better and
I am putting a bandage on it. |
I am having physio sessions for
my wrist and it's getting better. |
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What are your future plans? |
Next the Super Series in
Manchester and I am training with Shabana and Karim then the
British Open. |
My next tournament is a Super
Series in Manchester and then all the tournaments begin from
September. |
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Who is the hardest to play? |
Any player I play against |
Any player from the top 50 |
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11-Jul, Semis:
Thu 12th: Shabana v Ramy exhibition, followed by final at
19.30
[1] Wael El Hindi (Egy) bt [3] Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
8/11, 11/6, 11/5, 9/11, 11/6 (90m)
[2] Karim Darwish (Egy) bt [6] Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/9, 11/3, 11/4 (32m)
Top Two to contest Heliopolis final
Wael El Hindi and Karim Darwish, the top seeds, will contest the
final of the Rotary
Heliopolis Open after two contrasting semi-finals at the National
Stadium in Cairo.
Defending champion El Hindi
survived a marathon 90-minute battle with
Mohammed Abbas while Darwish
eased through in just over half an hour
against Hisham Ashour, elder brother of world number two Ramy.
Marwan El Shorbagy
reports from Cairo ...
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[1] Wael El Hindi
(Egy) bt [3] Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
8/11, 11/6, 11/5, 9/11, 11/6 (90m)
El Hindi on fire ...
First on court for the semi-finals were top seed Wael El Hindi and
Mohammed Abbas.
 The
first game was the longest and the toughest of the day - El Hindi
started well and took the lead 4/1 but Abbas came back strongly to
5/4. It was really tough at 7/7 but Abbas took the lead 10/7 and
he won the game 11/8 in 23 minutes.
El Hindi started the second game well and, volleying from every
position he could, and he took the lead 3/0 and moved out to 9/4
before winning the 17 minute game 11/6.
 El
Hindi was controlled the third game, playing well, but Abbas got
the better of a fourth game that was close all the way to 8-all.
The top seed regained control in the fifth, winning it 11/6 in 17
minutes to reach his second consecutive Heliopolis final.
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"Today
I was better again than yesterday, and I am now really getting
used to the court and the atmosphere.
"Abbas was playing well, Hard Luck to him.
"Yesterday I said I had two matches to go but today I have one
match to go.
"I want to thank Jonah Barrington and Gregory Gaultier, and I am
looking forward to playing Darwish tomorrow."
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[2] Karim Darwish
(Egy) bt [6] Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/9, 11/3, 11/4 (32m)
Darwish is ready!!!
In the second semi-final Karim Darwish was in good form to beat
Hisham Ashour in straight games.
Darwish took a 5/2 lead in the first game, but then Ashour made
two nicks after each other and the game became very tough for both
players. Ashour took the lead 9/8 but Darwish came back strongly
to win the game 11/9 in 10m.
Darwish controlled the second game as Ashour made many mistakes,
and it was the same story in the third as Ashour looked tired from
his match yesterday.
It's the second final in this tournament for Darwish, who lost in
the final two years ago.
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"Ashour was tired
from his match with Borja yesterday, so it was quite an easy match
for me today.
"I am very happy with my win and my fitness and my squash is very
good. I haven't lost a game yet, I am ready and fresh for
tomorrow's match."
"Tired, tired, tired, tired that was me today. I wanted to feel
strong today, but he didn't give me the chance. Against a player
like Karim I need to be
100% to fire.
"I want to wish Karim good luck for tomorrow, it will be a good
final."
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10-Jul, Quarters:
[1] Wael El Hindi (Egy) bt [Q] Omar Elborolossy (Egy)
11/6, 11/3, 11/6 (33m)
[3] Mohammed Abbas (Egy) bt [8] Omar Mosaad (Egy)
11/2, 11/8, 3/11, 11/4 (49m)
[6] Hisham Ashour (Egy) bt [4] Borja Golan (Esp)
8/11, 15/13, 5/11, 11/7, 11/5 (86m)
[2] Karim Darwish (Egy) bt [5] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned)
13/11, 11/5, 11/3 (40m) |
10-Jul, Quarters
An Egyptian winner ... guaranteed
We're only at the semi-final stage, but already a home winner is
guaranteed after today's quarter-finals at the National Stadium in
Cairo.
Top
seed Wael El Hindi and third seed Mohammed Abbas both won their
all-Egyptian quarter-finals and will meet for a place in the
final, while Karim Darwish and Hisham Ashour put out the last two
foreigners in the bottom half of the draw.
Marwan El Shorbagy
reports from Cairo
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[6] Hisham Ashour
(Egy) bt [4] Borja Golan (Esp)
8/11, 15/13, 5/11, 11/7, 11/5 (86m)
The Amazing Ashour!!!
This was the second match today, and it was the toughest and the
most exciting, with Golan diving all over the court to reach the
ball.
In the first game Borja was playing well, he took every
volley and took the lead 9/5. Ashour came back strongly to 8/9 but
finally Golan took the game 11/8 in 17 minutes.
 The
second was the best game of the day, it was really very tough as
they reached 9/9. Golan took the lead first to 10/9 but Ashour
came back to 10/10. Another game ball to Golan at 11/10 but he
lost it again. At 12/11 Ashour lost his first game ball, then
Golan lost his third at 13/12 but finally Hisham won the game
15/13 in 24 minutes, the longest
game of the day.
At the start of the third game Golan needed a new sock, so Dylan
Bennett was kind enough to lend him one! After that Golan
was controlling all the rallies and Ashour made a lot of mistakes
that helped Golan to take the game 11/5 in 8 minutes.
It was the other way round in the fourth as Golan made the
mistakes. Ashour was in control 8/4 but Golan came back strongly
to 7/8 before Ashour moved ahead again to win it 11/7, in
15inutes.
The final game was easy for Ashour as he controlled all the
rallies and reached his first semi-final in this tournament. |
 "Actually
yesterday I did more than I thought, and I haven't played any
exhibition
matches for a while so it was a tough match.
"Borja is a very tough player and he was diving right until to the
last point, and he is a good runner too.
"Today I took every volley to the back and thank GOD for my win,
it was a strong match, but I think I will be tired tomorrow.
"Tomorrow it will be a tough match with Darwish.
"Thank you Marwan."
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[1] Wael El Hindi
(Egy) bt [Q] Omar Elborolossy (Egy)
11/6, 11/3, 11/6 (33m)
Wael ends Elborolossy's run
In the last match of the day defending champion Wael El Hindi
started really well, taking the first game 11/6.in 14m.
The pattern continued in the second and third games, with Omar
looking tired from yesterday's match.
"Today
I was better than yesterday.
"I am now getting used to the atmosphere and the court and I
am looking forward to tomorrow."
|
 "I
played well today but I was making a lot of mistakes. I haven't
been playing
matches for a long time now but I happy with how I played even if
my winners weren't coming off.
"After some more tournaments I will be ok ..."
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 Heliopolis
Rotary Open 2007
06-12 Jul, Cairo, Egypt, $41k |
Round One
09 Jul |
Quarters
10 Jul |
Semis
11 Jul |
Final
12 Jul |
[1] Wael El Hindi (Egy)
12/10, 13/11, 8/11, 9/11, 11/5 (83m)
[Q] Mohd AA Reda (Egy) |
Wael El Hindi
11/6, 11/3, 11/6 (33m)
Omar Elborolossy |
Wael El Hindi8/11, 11/6,
11/5, 9/11, 11/6 (90m)
Mohammed Abbas |
Wael El Hindi
5/11, 11/7, 7/11, 11/5, 11/8 (84m)
Karim Darwish |
[7] Davide Bianchetti (Ita)
11/6, 7/11, 11/5, 11/8 (85m)
[Q] Omar Elborolossy (Egy) |
[3] Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
11/6, 11/8, 8/11, 11/8 (37m)
Saurav Ghosal (Ind) |
Mohammed Abbas
11/2, 11/8, 3/11, 11/4 (49m)
Omar Mosaad |
[8] Omar Mosaad (Egy)
11/6, 11/7, 2/11, 11/6 (39m)
[Q] John Rooney (Irl) |
Stacey Ross (Eng)
11/6, 11/9, 11/6 (41m)
[6] Hisham Ashour (Egy) |
Hisham Ashour
8/11, 15/13, 5/11, 11/7, 11/5 (86m)
Borja Golan |
Hisham Ashour
11/9, 11/3, 11/4 (32m)
Karim Darwish |
[Q] Tarek Momen (Egy)
11/6, 11/13, 11/3, 11/2 (54m)
[4] Borja Golan (Spa) |
Dylan Bennett (Ned)
11/5, 11/2, 11/1 (40m)
[5] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) |
Laurens Jan Anjema
13/11, 11/5, 11/3 (40m)
Karim Darwish |
Wael Farag (Egy)
12/10, 11/2, 11/2 (28m)
[2] Karim Darwish (Egy) |
Qualifying Finals. 08-Jul:
Mohamed Ali bt Amr Swelim
5/11, 6/11, 11/7, 13/11 11/8 (70m)
Omar El Borolossy bt Abdullah Mezayen (Kuw) 11/4, 11/5, 11/8
(36m)
Tarek Momen bt Omar Abd El Megiud
11/8, 11/2, 11/1 (15m)
John Rooney (Irl) bt Sherif Kamel
11/9, 6/11, 11/9, 5/11, 16/14 (89m)
Round Two, 07-Jul:
Mohamed Ali bt Omar Abd El Aziz
13/11, 11/5, 6/11, 6/11, 6/11 (100m)
Amr Swelim bt Mohamed El Shorbagy
11/7, 11/8, 11/4 (26m)
Omar El Borolossy bt Ahmed El Swaify
9/4 (rtd)
Abdullah Mezayen (Kuw) bt Simon Rosner (Ger) 5/11, 11/7, 11/7,
10/11, 11/4 (70m)
Tarek Momen bt Mohamed El Keiy
11/3, 11/4, 11/8 (22m)
Omar Abd El Megiud bt Yasser El Halaby
11/8, 11/4, 4/11, 11/8 (43m)
Sherif Kamel bt Badr Abdel Aziz (Swe)
11/9, 11/8, 11/7 (29m)
John Rooney (Irl) bt Amr Mansi
11/7, 11/7, 11/4 (38m)
Round One, 06-Jul:
Omar Abd El Aziz
bye
Mohamed Ali bt Khaled Youssef
11/7, 11/7, 11/7 (20m)
Amr Swelim bt Abdel Fattah Yehia
11/5, 11/9, 11/6 (21m)
Mohamed El Shorbagy bt Omar Tarek
11/5, 11/3, 10/12, 6/11, 11/9 (61m)
Omar El Borolossy
bye
Ahmed El Swaify bt Bassem Makram
9/11, 11/5, 11/6, 12/10 (30m)
Simon Rosner (Ger) bt Islam El Fiki
11/3, 11/7, 12/10 (31m)
Abdullah El Mezayen (Kuw) bt Kwaja Adil Maqbool (Pak) 12/10, 11/7,
11/6 (45m)
Mohamed El Keiy bt Ali Miski
11/2, 11/6, 11/3
Tarek Momen bt Mohamed Hatem
3/0
Yasser El Halaby
bye
Omar Abd El Megiud bt Ahmed Khalil
11/5, 7/11, 11/4, 11/9
Sherif Kamel bt Haitham Ashoush
11/7, 11/6, 11/8
Badr Abdel Aziz (Swe) bt Mohamed Farid 11/9, 11/9,
11/5
John Rooney (Irl) bt Omar El Kasheef
11/5, 11/4, 11/7
Amr Mansi
bye
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09-Jul, Round One:
Good day for Egyptians in Cairo
 With
the eight first round matches following each other on the glass
court at the National Stadium, a long day was in prospect in
Cairo.
The first five matches all went the way of the hosts, although top
seed and defending champion Wael El Hindi was sorely tested in a
five-game marathon against qualifier Mohd AA Reda, and Omar
Elborolossy took even longer to quell the challenge of Italy's
Davide Bianchetti.
Mohammed Abbas and Omar Mosaad both won in four games to
guarantee an Egyptian finalist from the top half, and Hisham
Ashour soon joined his compatriots in the quarters.
The
first 'foreigner' in the last eight was Spain's Borja Golan, and
with two matches to play the last eight was guaranteed to be
completed by a Dutchman and a sixth Egyptian in LJ Anjema and
Karim Darwish.
Marwan El Shorbagy
reports from Cairo
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Wael El Hindi
(Egy) bt Mohamed Ali Anwar (Egy)
12/10, 13/11, 8/11, 9/11, 11/5 (83m)
Unexpected
tussle
It was the first match of the day and it was so close.
 In
the first game Anwar was leading 9/7 then El Hindi came back
strongly to 10/9, then Anwar back again to 10/10 and finally El
Hindi took the game 12/10 in 19 minutes.
The second game it was very tough at 9/9 but Wael took the lead to
10/9 then Anwar had a game ball at 11/10 but El Hindi came back
once more to win 13/11 in 17m.
Third game was again very tough at 5/5 but a lot of errors from El
Hindi gave the lead to Anwar at 9/5, and although El Hindi came
back to 8/9 Anwar won the game 11/8 in 15m.
 The
fourth game saw Wael continuing his errors and Anwar was playing
well.Anwar was 10/6 up, and finally closed it out 11/9 in 16m.
In the final game El Hindi managed to take control, was playing
really well again, and won it 11/5 in 10m.
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"It was my first match on this court
and the atmosphere was so hot. Anyway it's good to get your
problems out of the way in the first mach, and after this I will
be better and hopefully play well."
"In the first two games I didn't believe that I could win,
when I was leading he was stealing the game. In the final game he
really started to play well and he took it from me.
"Anyway, I am very happy with my results in this tournament and I
played well today."
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Omar El Borolossy
(Egy) bt Davide Bianchetti (Ita)
11/6, 7/11, 11/5, 11/8 (85m)
A brilliant
match !
 In
the second match of the day Italian Davide Bianchetti took a 5/3
lead before suffering from a nosebleed, after which Omar
Elborolossy came back to take the first 11/6.
The second was tight, but from 5-all errors from Elborolossy
allowed the Italian to level. The Egyptian controlled much
of the third, Bianchetti receiving two conducts warnings for
arguing and an Italian expletive, and Elborolossy took it 11/5.
Omar maintained his control in the fourth, closing out the match
11/8 to set up a meeting with top seed El Hindi.
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"The
court is so hot, you can't kill the ball and every rally is 20
shots.
"The first game was so long, after I won it it gave me confidence
and he seemed to be tired.
"In the second game I relaxed at 5-all and didn't play like
before, he controlled the court.
"After that I concentrated and I learned from the last game, I
upped the pace as he seemed to be tiring.
"The same happened in the final game, I started to kill the ball
and although it tired me, mentally and physically, I felt this was
the best I've played since I made my comeback."
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Mohammed Abbas( Egy)
bt Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
11/6, 11/8, 8/11, 11/8 (37m)
Abbas in
control
Another close match, with Abbas in control in the first, pulling
away from 7/7 in the second to take a 2/0 lead.
Ghosal started the third game well to pull one back, but Abbas
finally won an exciting and close fourth game 11/8.
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 "That's
the first time I played him, he's a good young player.
I played well in first two games but after that I relaxed and then
he played well. It's good to get the first match out of the way
..."
"I'm glad it was a close match, he's number fourteen in the world,
he's a good player. I had my chances in the match but I wish I had
taken more of them, it would have been interesting if we'd played
a final game ... "
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Omar Mosaad (Egy) bt
John Rooney (Irl)
11/6, 11/7, 2/11, 11/6 (39m)
Mosaad ends
Rooney run
Mosaad started strongly, controlling the rallies, with Rooney -
clearly tired from his previous matches - suffering with cramps in
his hamstrings.
The Egyptian took the first game quickly, but Rooney played better
in the second, Mosaad needing some lovely shots to pull clear from
7/7.
Errors from the Egyptian allowed Rooney to take the third game,
but Mosaad regained his concentration to close the match out in
the fourth in just 7 minutes. |
 "In
the first two games I was playing well and I was in control, but
in the third
I lost my concentration and I made lots of mistakes.
"I came back better in the fourth and overall I thought I played
well.
"Tomorrow I will try to beat Abbas ..."
"I was struggling from yesterday's match, but he played really
well."
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Hisham Ashour (Egy)
bt Stacey Ross (Eng)
11/6, 11/9, 11/7 (41m)
Hisham back
in style
 Hisham
started off playing well, controlling the 13-minute first game. He
pulled clear from 4/4 in the second, hitting some good nicks to
reach 10/7, taking it 11/9 in 11 minutes.
Stacey fought well in the third, but from 7/7 he tired as Ashour
took the game to reach the quarter-finals.
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 "The
court was so hot, I think Stacey liked it at first and I had no
plan. I just started to play tight and volley to the back, keeping
the pressure on all time and I felt strong.
"Stacey is a very good player and you can't give him any chances,
you have to keep the pressure on all the time.
"I've been playing exhibition matches for a while after my injury
in Kuwait, so I came back fitter and I want to thank Ahmed Massano
because he helped me a lot with my injury."
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Borja Golan( Esp) bt
Tarek Momen (Egy)
11/6, 11/13, 11/3, 11/2 (54m)
Golan - one for
Spain
Tarek made a good start to go 6/3 up in the first, but then made
too many errors to allow Borja to take the lead.
In the second the tables were turned as Borja was up 7/3 but then
Tarek hits lots of winners with some nice drop shots to reach
10/9. Borja recovered to get a game ball, but Tarek held on to
take the game.
That was the end of the Egyptian's challenge though as Borja took
the third and fourth comfortably.
 |
 "The
match today was very hard for me, I was concentrating to
play a good length with a high pace because he is too good in the
front of the court and he is very fast.
"Tarek is a very good player and has a great future.
"I am happy to go through and I am looking forward to playing
Hisham tomorrow ..."
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Laurens Jan Anjema
(Ned) bt Dylan Bennett (Ned)
11/5, 11/2, 11/1 (40m)
Easy for
Anjema
Today it was an all-Dutch match, Laurens Jan Anjema against his
compatriot Dylan Bennett.
Laurens clearly knew how to play his opponent and was in control
throughout the match as he won in straight games to reach the
quarter-finals.
|
"I think I played
well today.
"It's always difficult playing someone from your own country,
Dylan and I travel and train together, so I was a bit nervous
about the match.
"I had a good tournament here last year, I beat Karim then so I'm
looking forward to playing him again tomorrow ..."
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Karim Darwish( Egy)
bt Wael Farag( Egy)
12/10, 11/2, 11/2 (28m)
An easy throw
for Darwish
In the final match of the day wildcard Wael Farag took on second
seed Karim Darwish, and played well enough in the first game to
earn a game ball.
Darwish saved that, then went on to take the game and control the
rest of the match as Farag tired.
|
 "Wael
was playing well in the first game but after that he was so tired
and it was
easy for me.
"Tomorrow I play Laurens. He beat me last year, but this time I am
ready to beat him ..."
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08-Jul, Qualifying
Finals:
Rooney denies Egyptian clean sweep
The final qualifying round for
the Rotary Heliopolis Open in Cairo saw Ireland's John Rooney dent
the host nation a clean sweep.
Mohd AA Reda - recovering from two games down - Omar Elborolossy
and Tarek Momen boosted Egyptian representation in the main draw
before Rooney survived a brutal encounter with Sherif Kamel,
finally prevailing 16/14 in the fifth after 89 minutes. Reda's
reward is a match against top seed and defending champion Wael El
Hindi while Elborolossy and Momen face Davide Bianchetti and Borja
Golan, respectively.
Rooney now faces a fourth consecutive Egyptian opponent in Omar
Mosaad, the eighth seed.
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Mohamed Ali Anwar (Egy)
bt Amr Swelam( Egy)
5/11, 6/11, 11/7, 13/11, 11/8 (70m) plays El Hindi
Mohamed Ali the hero
of the qualification
Marwan
El Shorbagy reports from Cairo
This was the first match of the day. In the first two games Amr
was controlling all the rallies and played really well and after
two games we thought that the match was finished. But Ali came
back strongly, like he did yesterday, yesterday to win the match.
Omar El Borolossy (Egy)
bt Abdullah El Mezayen (Kuw)
11/4, 11/5, 11/8 (36m) plays Bianchetti
El Borolossy stops Abdullah's
run
In the second match of the day the experienced El Borolossy was in
control in each game and took advantage of El Mezayen's tiredness
from yesterday's match.
Tarek Momen (Egy) bt
Omar El Azabawy (Egy)
11/8, 11/2, 11/1 (15m) plays Golan
Tarek completes his run
The third match was between two players from the same club who
know each other's game very well. Tarek was able to take the lead
in each game and he was controlling most of the rallies.
In the first game Tarek took the lead 9/1 but after that he lost
his concentration and Azabawy although came back to 8/9 Tarek won
it strongly 11/8. After that Azabawy was very tired and Tarek won
the next two games easily.
John Rooney (Irl) bt
Sherif Kamel (Egy)
11/9, 6/11, 11/9, 5/11, 16/14 (89m) plays
Mosaad
Rooney wins a marathon
The last, longest and most exciting match of the day saw such a
crowd shouting for Sherif, but Rooney fought until the the very
end.
Rooney was in control but Sherif was getting everything back,
Rooney was slowing the pace, as he did yesterday,
playing with some nice lobs and drop shots on the back hand.
In the final game both of them were trying to not make any
mistakes so they had very long rallies until they were 6/6.
Sherif went up to 10/8 match ball but Rooney wouldn't give up and
he played with his experience and he came back strongly to level
10/10. Finally Rooney won it 16/14
so tomorrow he will play Omar Mosaad, and that will be his fourth
match against an Egyptian.
 |
 "In
the first two games he was controlling all the rallies, my shots
were loose and he was going for his shots. In the third I managed
to play my game
and I started to get him to the back then go for my shots and it
worked well. All credit to Amr he also played really well.
 "Today
the match was very tough and I lost 3/0 but I had a good game with
Omar.
"He is one of the good squash players, he is fast on court. It's
nice to play him and I hope next time I play better than today.
"Overall I am very happy about my results in this tournament."
 "I
felt I could have won in three but had lapses of concentration .He
fought
very hard. GOOD GAME!
 |
Heliopolis Qualifying -
Round two
Marwan El Shorbagy reports from Cairo
Mohamed Ali Anwar (Egy) bt Omar Abd
El Aziz( Egy)
11/13, 5/11, 11/6, 11/6, 11/6 (100m)
This was the first match of the
day and the longest. The first game Mohamed Ali was up 9/6 and
then Omar came back to 9/9 and then Mohamed Ali had a game ball at
10/9 but Omar came back strongly and won it 13/11 in 33 minutes.
The second game Mohamed made a lot of mistakes. After that we
thought that the match was finished but Mohamed came back very
strongly and won the next 3 games 11/6.
Amr Sweilam (Egy) bt
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy)
11/7, 11/8, 11/4 (26m)
The second match we thought that
it would be a tough match but Amr Sweilam was playing with a very
fast pace for Mohamed with lots of good winners and Mohamed seemed
little bit tired from yesterday.
Omar El Borolossy (Egy)
bt Ahmed Swaify (Egy)
9/4 ret. (5min)
Swaify had an injury in his knee
from yesterday match so he retired from the match.
Abdullah El Mezayen
(Kuw) bt Simon Rosner (Ger)
5/11, 11/7, 11/7, 10/12, 11/4 (70m)
This was the match of the day. The
first game Rosner was in control and he won the first game easily.
The second game both of them played lots of cross court and it was
really very tough until 6/6 and then Rosner his lost his
concentration and Abdullah won the game.
The Third game was a very good game to watch, El Mezayen hits lots
of winners and he hits some amazing nicks and Rosner was just
surprised and smiling. In the fourth game Abdullah was up 6/1 so
we thought that El Mezayen was going to win the match but Rosner
came back very strongly 12/10.
The final game Rosner seemed very tired and El Mezayen played with
a very fast pace and he won the match.
Tarek Momen (Egy) bt
Mohamed El Keiy (Egy)
11/5, 11/4, 11/8 (22m)
Tarek was in control in all the
rallies of the match and he was finishing his ball with some nice
drop-shots.
Omar El Azabawy (Egy)
bt Yasser El Halaby (Egy)
11/8, 11/4, 4/11, 11/8 (43m)
That was the biggest shock of the
day we thought that El Halaby was going to win it easy but Azabawy
was playing very well and he was just very strong today and El
Halaby couldn't play against him.
Sherif Kamel (Egy)
bt Badr Abd El Aziz (Swe)
11/8, 11/9, 11/6 (45m)
The first game Sherif was in
control. In the second Sherif was up 9/4 and Badr came back
strongly to 9/9 and then they had couples of let and finally
Sherif won the next two points.
The third game Badr came down after the second and Sherif was too
strong and he won the third but during the match they were
talking to the ref. But I think that the ref had all his decisions
right and they were playing with lots of blocking.
John Rooney (Irl) bt
Amr Mansi (Egy)
11/7, 11/4, 11/7 (38m)
This was a very interesting match
to watch. In the first game Mansi was up 7/5 and then from that
point Rooney was slowing the pace and he was very clever doing
that and then Mansi came down and after that Rooney was
controlling all the match but Rooney was just playing very well
today and hitting some lovely drop-shots from the backhand and
Mansi seemed very tired from the second game. A very good win for
Rooney.
|
Cairo Stadium
court
Victory for Anwar
Swelim & Shorbagy
El Mezayen & Rosner
Momen too strong
Azabawy & El Halaby
Mansi & Rooney
Shorbagy advises Rooney |
Wael hopes for Heliopolis repeat
Wael El Hindi, the defending champion, is top seed for the 2007
Heliopolis Open, and is expected to meet compatriot Karim Darwish,
runner-up in the 2005 event, in the final.
In all there are six Egyptians in the main draw, a number that is
likely to be bolstered by the three-round qualifying competition
which gets under way on Jul 6th.
|
2006 Event |
|
The
first game was very tough, Darwish stayed ahead to reach
10/7 but Anjema came back strongly to 10/10 before finally Darwish
won the game 13/11 in 23m.
"I
was ready for this match today because he beat me last year 3/2 in
a long match, so I was concentrating to finish the match quickly
because he is a very good player and he's beaten many good players
in the top ten. 
"The
pace was high. I played well in first game, hitting good length.
