QSF 5 2023 gets underway
Doha: Day one of the QSF 5 2023 came to an end yesterday as 16 players looked to secure places in round two of the Challenger 30 event. France’s Maceo Levy scored the only seeding upset of the round as he overcame Egypt’s Khaled Labib in straight games.
The Frenchman has never met Labib before on the PSA World Tour but showed no signs of nerves in the opening two games as he was firing from the first point and established a 2-0 lead in no time, wining 11-4, 11-6. Labib started to wake up in game three and made life uncomfortable for the confident Frenchman. Despite the Labib comeback, Levy did enough to hang on as the game entered a tiebreak and won 14-12 to move into round two. He’ll now face top seed and local hero Abdulla Al Tamimi.
The successful Commonwealth Games doubles pair Declan James and James Willstrop were both in action in round one and both secured their spots in the second round. The returning Declan James needed to recover from a game down to defeat Hong Kong’s Matthew Lai, whereas Willstrop had no trouble in beating Belgium’s Joeri Hapers 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 in just 23 minutes. There were two further English winners on day one as James Peach and Finnlay Withington both won 3-0 against Qatari opposition.
Egyptian duo Seif El-Shenawy and Aly Hussein ensured they would be facing a top eight seed after they scored contrasting wins on the opening day. El-Shenawy had to battle hard against talented Malaysian Ong Sai Hung, battling back from a game down to clinch the final two games both 11-9. Hussein had no such trouble as he defeated one of two event wildcards Yousef Essam Farag 3-0.
Results: Round One
Macéo Lévy (FRA) bt [9/16] Khaled Labib (EGY) 11-4, 11-6, 14-12 (28m)
[9/16] Declan James (ENG) bt Matthew Lai (HKG) 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (42m)
[9/16] Seif El-Shenawy (EGY) bt Ong Sai Hung (MAS) 10-12, 11-2, 11-9, 11-9 (42m)
[9/16] Ivan Pérez Saavedra (ESP) bt Tomo Endo (JPN) 11-13, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 (51m)
[9/16] James Peach (ENG) bt Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT) 11-5, 12-10, 11-9 (30m)
[9/16] Finnlay Withington (ENG) bt [WC] Waleed Zaman (QAT) 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (22m)
[9/16] Aly Hussein (EGY) bt [WC] Yousef Essam Farag (QAT) 11-5, 11-1, 11-3 (34m)
[9/16] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Joeri Hapers (BEL) 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 (23m)
Draw: Round Two
[1] Abdulla Altamimi (QAT) v Macéo Lévy (FRA)
[8] Simon Herbert (ENG) v [9/16] Declan James (ENG)
[6] Bernat Jaume (ESP) v [9/16] Seif El-Shenawy (EGY)
[3] George Parker (ENG) v [9/16] Ivan Pérez Saavedra (ESP)
[4] Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) v [9/16] James Peach (ENG)
[7] Rui Soares (POR) v [9/16] Finnlay Withington (ENG)
[5] Lucas Serme (FRA) v [9/16] Aly Hussein (EGY)
[2] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) v [9/16] James Willstrop (ENG)
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