IQUW Squash Championships Quarter-Finals
The Bermuda Squash Racquets Association Club played host to a night of quarter-final action at the IQUW Bermuda Open Squash Championships, with four of the matches going the full distance.
England’s Nick Wall, who battled through a five-set thriller in the previous round against Matias Knudsen, was unfortunately forced to withdraw from his quarter-final match due to injury. This meant a direct passage to the semi-finals for India’s Veer Chotrani.
In the Women’s draw, top seed Aira Azman from Malaysia survived a major scare against Egypt’s fifth seed Nour Heikal. After falling two sets behind, Azman showed incredible resilience to claw her way back and clinch a 3-2 victory. The 42-minute contest saw Azman win 6-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-4 in a hard-fought battle.
The second-seeded Egyptian, Hana Moataz, also had to dig deep to secure her place in the semi-finals. She faced her compatriot, the sixth seed Haya Ali, in a tight 36-minute encounter that also went the distance. Moataz eventually prevailed 3-2 with scores of 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 6-11, 11-4.
The upsets continued in the Women’s division as eighth seed Amina El Rihany of Egypt stunned her higher-ranked compatriot, the third seed Salma Eltayeb. Their 45-minute battle was a rollercoaster, eventually seeing El Rihany emerge victorious 3-2 with scores of 5-11, 11-7, 12-10, 5-11, 11-6.
The Men’s draw also witnessed an upset as seventh seed Karim El Hammamy of Egypt overcame the third seed Timothy Brownell from the USA in a marathon 69-minute clash. Hammamy battled back after losing the first game convincingly to secure a 3-2 victory with scores of 3-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6.
Men’s Division Quarter-Finals
- 07 11 11 11 Miguel Rodriguez [COL] defeated
- 11 08 09 08 Simon Herbert [ENG]
- 11 06 11 11 Karim El Hammamy [EGY] defeated
- 08 11 09 06 Timothy Brownell [USA]
- 18 11 11 Mohamad Zakaria [EGY] defeated
- 16 01 03 Moustafa Elsirty [EGY]
Women’s Division Quarter-Finals
- 06 08 13 11 11 Aira Azman [MAS] defeated
- 11 11 11 06 04 Nour Heikal [EGY]
- 11 11 07 06 11 Hana Moataz [EGY] defeated
- 07 04 11 11 04 Haya Ali [EGY]
- 11 11 11 Aifa Azman [MAS] defeated
- 03 01 05 Alex Haydon [AUS]
- 05 11 12 05 11 Amina El Rihany [EGY] defeated
- 11 07 10 11 06 Salma Eltayeb [EGY]
