POSTED: Tuesday November 18th 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SQUASH - Shabana & David In Bids For Hong Kong Hat-Tricks

PSA/WISPA TOUR EVENT NEWS

RESULTS:      Cathay     Pacific Hong Kong Open Squash Championships, Hong     Kong

Men’s qualifying finals:

Tom Richards (ENG) bt Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-3, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7     (50m)

Julian Illingworth (USA) bt Julien Balbo (FRA) 11-7, 8-11, 11-6,     11-5 (67m)

Chris Ryder (ENG) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-9, 11-5, 2-11, 11-3     (38m)

Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-8, 11-8, 11-9     (54m)

Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Yasir Butt (PAK) 12-10, 11-5, 11-4     (34m)

Scott Arnold (AUS) bt Jonathan Kemp (ENG)     w/o

Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Campbell Grayson (NZL) 10-12, 11-2, 11-7,     11-3 (45m)

Farhan Mehboob (PAK) bt Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 9-11, 11-4,     11-3, 11-6 (43m)

Women’s qualifying finals:

Joey Chan (HKG) bt Latasha Khan (USA) 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-3     (49m)

Elise Ng (HKG) bt Kylie Lindsay (NZL) 11-6, 11-8, 3-11, 6-11, 18-16     (56m)

Lisa Camilleri (AUS) bt Liu Tsz Ling (HKG) 11-5, 11-7, 14-16, 11-2     (32m)

Delia Arnold (MAS) bt Joelle King (NZL) 11-6, 11-7, 11-6     (28m)

Suzie Pierrepont (ENG) bt Song Sun-Mi (KOR) 11-5, 11-7, 11-6     (26m)

Lauren Selby (ENG) bt Sarah Kippax (ENG) 11-5, 5-11, 11-9, 11-3     (33m)

Emma Beddoes (ENG) bt Dipika Pallikal (IND) 11-8, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9     (33m)

Donna Urquhart (AUS) bt Mami Nishio (JPN) 11-7, 11-6, 11-9     (18m)

Shabana     & David In Bids For Hong Kong Hat-Tricks

Amr     Shabana     and Nicol David, from Egypt and Malaysia, respectively, are both     seeded to win their third successive titles in the Cathay Pacific Hong     Kong Open Squash Championships in Hong Kong, where the     long-established Tour event celebrates its 23rd consecutive     year of sponsorship by the country’s world-renowned     airline.

Shabana will make his 11th successive appearance in the     $145,000 PSA Super Series Platinum event and will face compatriot     Omar Mosaad in tomorrow’s (Wednesday) first round en-route to an     anticipated place in the final on Sunday.

Two former men’s champions are also in the men’s draw – France’s     2004 winner Thierry Lincou is seeded to reach the     quarter-finals for the fifth time, and David Palmer, the fifth seed     from Australia, is looking for his sixth successive semi-final berth since     winning the trophy in 2001.

Lincou’s first round opponent is India’s Saurav Ghosal – one     of three Asians to make it through today’s qualifying finals – while     Palmer takes on Chris Ryder, one of two Englishmen to     qualify.

Nicol David is only making her fourth appearance in the women’s     $104,000 WISPA World Tour Platinum championship.  With 11 successive Tour titles     under her belt since November 2007, David has notched up 48 WISPA matches     without defeat – and will be looking to chalk up her half-century in the     second round.  The 25-year-old     from Penang faces New Zealand’s Jaclyn Hawkes in the opening     round.

But David will face stiff opposition from a number of quarters –     led by the Australian-born sisters Rachael and Natalie     Grinham, seeded two and three, respectively, and Natalie     Grainger, the fourth seed from the USA.

Hong Kong celebrated two notable victories in the women’s     qualifying finals when Joey Chan beat top qualifying seed     Latasha Khan 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-3, and Elise Ng     battled to a 56-minute 11-6, 11-8, 3-11, 6-11, 18-16 win over New     Zealander Kylie Lindsay.

Chan and Ng join Annie Au, Christina Mak and     13th seed Rebecca Chiu to provide the biggest ever local     main draw entry in the history of the women’s     event.

Updated Men’s 1st     round draw:

[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) v Omar Mosaad     (EGY)

[16] Stewart Boswell (AUS) v Hisham Mohd Ashour     (EGY)

[6] Karim Darwish (EGY) v [Q] Julian Illingworth     (USA)

[11] Peter Barker (ENG) v [Q] Farhan Mehboob     (PAK)

[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [Q] Scott Arnold     (AUS)

[14] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v Alister Walker     (ENG)

[8] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v [Q] Saurav Ghosal     (IND)

[15] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v Borja Golan     (ESP)

[9] Wael El Hindi (EGY) v Cameron Pilley     (AUS)

[7] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Q] Aaron Frankcomb     (AUS)

[10] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v Dick Lau     (HKG)

[3] James Willstrop (ENG) v Mohammed Abbas     (EGY)

[13] Adrian Grant (ENG) v [Q] Tom Richards     (ENG)

[5] David Palmer (AUS) v [Q] Chris Ryder     (ENG)

[12] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) v [Q] Aamir Atlas Khan     (PAK)

[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Joey Barrington     (ENG)

Updated Women’s     1st round draw:

[1] Nicol David (MAS) v Jaclyn Hawkes     (NZL)

[13] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) v Line Hansen     (DEN)

[7] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) v [Q] Elise Ng     (HKG)

[16] Samantha Teran (MEX) v [Q] Donna Urquhart     (AUS)

[4] Natalie Grainger (USA) v [Q] Lauren Selby     (ENG)

[10] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) v Raneem El Weleily     (EGY)

[6] Alison Waters (ENG) v [Q] Lisa Camilleri     (AUS)

[9] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) v Annie Au     (HKG)

[14] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) v [Q] Suzie Pierrepont     (ENG)

[8] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) v [Q] Emma Beddoes     (ENG)

[12] Kasey Brown (AUS) v [Q] Joey Chan     (HKG)

[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v Christina Mak     (HKG)

[11] Tania Bailey (ENG) v Lauren Briggs     (ENG)

[5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) v Engy Kheirallah     (EGY)

[15] Madeline Perry (IRL) v Sharon Wee     (MAS)

[2] Natalie Grinham (NED) v [Q] Delia Arnold     (MAS)

Follow     the action from the PSA and WISPA World Tours live on WWW.PSALIVE.TV - the webstreaming     service of both the Professional Squash Association and Women\‘s     International Squash Players\’ Association.  Enjoy live action, replays,     download archive matches and exclusive Live & Uncut     DVDs

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Keywords · Squash · Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open Squash Championships · Amr Shabana · Nicol David

Name: Howard Harding
Organization: PSA/WISPA/WSF/ESF
Email:
Phone: +(44) 1737-243333

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