Adrian Waller and George Parker meet superstars Ali Farag and Tarek Momen in El Gouna
By ALAN THATCHER and SEAN REUTHE

Greg Lobban overcame fellow Scot Alan Clyne on the opening day of the El Gouna International in Egypt.

World No.33 Lobban took 98 minutes to wear down Clyne in this PSA World Tour Platinum event – and it didn’t go to five! Lobban won 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 to book a place against No.7 seed Marwan ElShorbagy in the next round.

Lobban said: “I feel I didn’t play like I wanted to, but I just had to grind it away and make sure I won the last point, and that’s what I did.

“I’m facing Marwan next, and it’s always tough when you make it to the second round in these events.

“I know he is playing well, but for those guys that played the quarters and semis of the World Champs, it’s really tough to back it up, so I know I’ve got a chance.”

There were solid wins for English trio Adrian Waller, Patrick Rooney and George Parker. Waller saw off Auguste Dussourd of France 11-9, 11-2, 11-1 in just 30 minutes and meets three-times world champion Ali Farag in the second round.

Rooney was two minutes quicker as he put in an excellent performance to beat Malaysia’s tricky Ivan Yuen 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 and set up a second round tie with France’s Baptiste Masotti.

Parker played tight, aggressive squash top beat the USA’s Faraz Khan 11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6 in 51 minutes. Parker now faces Egypt’s former world champion Tarek Momen, seeded sixth, who is enjoying a run of outstanding form.

There was a major shock on day one as wildcard Aly Abou Eleinen claimed the biggest win of his career as he beat former World No.3 Omar Mosaad to reach the second round of a Platinum event for the first time.

The World No.76’s only previous appearance at a Platinum event came at this event last year when he narrowly went down to World No.16 Youssef Soliman after 80 minutes of action, but this time he achieved victory over World No.26 Mosaad with a 12-10, 15-13, 9-11, 11-8 scoreline at the El Gouna Squash Complex.

Eleinen said: “I had the expectation that Omar was going to be a class act.

“He is so experienced, and he was three in the world not that long ago. He doesn’t just play at the back of the court, if you open the court he is going to take the opportunity.

“I had to match his experience with my physicality. So when I saw I had Omar in the draw, I trained so hard physically. Especially as I had a little shoulder injury and couldn’t train my squash as I would have liked.

“It’s such a pleasure to play somebody like Omar. He is super respectful on court, and he was very nice to me. I’m just over the moon right now.”

Eleinen will line up against India’s Saurav Ghosal in the top quarter of the draw in the next round.

It was great to see Spain’s 39-year-old Borja Golan still going strong by beating Karim El Hammamy (Egypt) 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-3 in 82 minutes.

Borja faces 35-year-old youngster Miguel Rodriguez in the next round.

Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng overcame Qatar’s Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi to set up a fixture with Fares Dessouky, while Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller dispatched India’s Ramit Tandon to ensure he will play USA’s Todd Harrity next.

In the women’s event, World No.28 Nour El Tayeb continued her fine form as she overcame the higher ranked Farida Mohamed in four games.

El Tayeb, who reached the semi finals of the CIB PSA World Championships last week, is appearing at the El Gouna International for the first time since 2019 and put in an assured display to complete an 11-3, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5 victory over the World No.19. El Tayeb will go up against No.8 seed Rowan Elaraby for a place in the third round.

“Mentally, I was trying to prepare myself for a non-structured kind of game because she doesn’t play with structure,” El Tayeb said.

“Sometimes when she gets in a round of points, it’s not easy to get back into the game and play my game. At the moment, she is not playing at her best, there were a few errors here and there and that played an important role, as in the second and third at times I was under a lot of pressure.”

Hong Kong’s Ka Yi Lee booked her spot in the second round of the El Gouna International for the first time after she came back from two games down to upset France’s Melissa Alves.

World No.56 Lee had to weather an early storm as Alves, the World No.30 controlled the rallies. Ka Yi responded brilliantly as she slowed the pace of the match down to nullify her opponent, and the 28-year-old won the next three games to claim a fine win.

Ka Yi, who will play England No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry next, said: “She was in control but gradually I tried to slow down the pace and play my shots. And the most important thing was that I hung in there.

“I’ve never played SJ before, but I need to prepare myself for a lot of running and a physical session.

“But I will definitely enjoy the match, and it’s always a great chance to get to play against a top player. Hopefully, I can have a good match.”

2022 El Gouna International, El Gouna, Egypt.

Men’s First Round:
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-5 (30m)
Todd Harrity (USA) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-1: 11-7, 4-11, 11-6, 11-3 (45m)
[WC] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-1: 12-10, 15-13, 9-11, 11-8 (62m)
George Parker (ENG) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 3-1: 11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6 (51m)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 (35m)
Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt Ivan Yuen (MAS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 (28m)
Borja Golan (ESP) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-2: 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-3 (82m)
Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-2: 11-7, 13-15, 12-10, 1-11, 15-13 (75m)
Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) bt [WC] Mohamed Nasser (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 13-11 (30m)
Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) bt Zahed Salem (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9 (65m)
Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) bt Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-7, 11-0, 11-4 (25m)
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-1: 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 (98m)
Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 (50m)
Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Mazen Gamal (EGY) 3-1: 10-12, 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 (56m)
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-2: 11-3, 6-11, 11-2, 7-11, 11-7 (57m)
Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-2, 11-1 (30m) 

Men’s Second Round (May 28):
[1] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Mazen Hesham (EGY)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v Todd Harrity (USA)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [WC] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY)
George Parker (ENG) v [6] Tarek Momen (EGY)
[8] Fares Dessouky (EGY) v Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
Baptiste Masotti (FRA) v Patrick Rooney (ENG)
Borja Golan (ESP) v Miguel Rodriguez (COL)
Cesar Salazar (MEX) v [3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v Moustafa El Sirty (EGY)
Joel Makin (WAL) v Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA)
Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)
Youssef Soliman (EGY) v [5] Diego Elias (PER)
[7] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v Greg Lobban (SCO)
Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) v Lucas Serme (FRA)
Raphael Kandra (GER) v Youssef Ibrahim (EGY)
Adrian Waller (EGY) v [2] Ali Farag (EGY)

Women’s First Round:
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-1: 11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8 (35m)
Aifa Azman (MAS) bt Jana Shiha (EGY) 3-1: 7-11, 16-14, 11-6, 11-8 (43m)
Lisa Aitken (SCO) bt Enora Villard (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 (30m)
Ka Yi Lee (HKG) bt Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-2: 4-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 (41m)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt Farida Mohamed (EGY) 3-1: 11-3, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5 (31m)
Alexandra Fuller (RSA) bt Anna Serme (CZE) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-0 (21m)
Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Cristina Gomez (ESP) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-3 (22m)
Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 (27m)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt [WC] Haya Ali (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-3 (30m)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 3-1: 11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 (37m)
Danielle Letourneau (CAN) bt Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 3-1: 14-12, 11-3, 8-11, 11-8 (41m)
Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-2: 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 3-11, 14-12 (53m)
Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt Yathreb Adel (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 10-4 retired (12m)
Donna Lobban (AUS) bt Emilia Soini (FIN) 3-2: 4-11, 11-2, 12-14, 11-1, 11-6 (41m)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Cindy Merlo (SUI) 3-0: 11-1, 11-7, 11-5 (23m)
Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt [WC] Zeina Zein (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (27m)

Women’s Second Round (May 28):
[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v Hollie Naughton (CAN)
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v Aifa Azman (MAS)
Lisa Aitken (SCO) v Emily Whitlock (WAL)
Ka Yi Lee (HKG) v [6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[8] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) v Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
Sabrina Sobhy (USA) v Nada Abbas (EGY)
Tinne Gilis (BEL) v [4] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v Hana Ramadan (EGY)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) v Danielle Letourneau (CAN)
Nadine Shahin (MAS) v Olivia Fiechter (USA)
Sana Ibrahim (EGY) v [5] Joelle King (NZL)
[7] Salma Hany (EGY) v Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
Olivia Clyne (USA) v Donna Lobban (AUS)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) v Nele Gilis (BEL)
Mariam Metwally (EGY) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)

Pictures courtesy of PSA World Tour