By Sports Reporter/Doha
Egypt’s Omar Abdel Meguid stormed into the semi-finals of the Qatar Circuit II squash tournament yesterday, the last PSA Tour event of 2015 being played at the Khalifa Tennis & Squash Complex here.
The top-seed, ranked 35 in the world, blitzed past fellow countryman Youssef Soliman 3-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-6) in just 39 minutes to book a last four clash with Spanish qualifier Iker Pajares Bernabeu, who kept his giant-killing run going with another big scalp, third seed Danish Atlas Khan from Pakistan.
Meguid has nine PSA World Tour titles to his name but has failed to lift a silverware so far this fear, and this is be his last chance to prevent this year from being a barren one. The 27-year-old reached three finals in the past 12 months but faltered at the final hurdle all three times.
He won’t have it easy against Bernabeu though. The rising Spaniard, who staged a superb comeback to dispatch local favourite and Qatar No. 1 Abdulla Mohd al-Tamimi in the opening round on Sunday, produced another spirited showing in quelling the challenge of the talented Pakistani.
Danish, the nephew of Pakistan legend Jahangir Khan, has been in good form this year with a victory in the Chicago Open being his biggest win of the year. But yesterday, he was up against an opponent who was playing as if his life depended on it. Bernabeu won the first game 11-7 before Danish fought back to take the second 11-5 and level the scores. It was a similar pattern in the next two games, the Spaniard winning the third 11-5 and the Pakistani drawing level again in the fourth by the same scoreline. The decider was a see-saw affair, till a mistake at a crucial stage let Danish down to end the 64-minute clash. Bernabeu won 11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8.
The other semi-final will be fought between Germany’s Jens Schoor, who rallied superbly after losing a marathon first game to down fourth-seeded Martin Knight from New Zealand 3-1 (14-16 11-7 11-3 11-6). The German fifth seed will meet feisty Malaysian and second seed Ivan Yuen, who had to dig deep into his resources to escape the relentless attack of spirited Abdullah al-Muzayen of Kuwait 3-2.
Results
Quarter-finals
1-Omar Abdel Meguid (Egypt) bt Youssef Soliman (Egypt) 3-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-6); Iker Pajares Bernabeu (Spain) bt 3-Danish Atlas Khan (Pakistan) 3-2 (11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8); 5-Jens Schoor (Germany) bt 4-Martin Knight (New Zealand) 3-1 (14-16, 11-7, 11-3, 11-6); 2-Ivan Yuen (Malaysia) bt Abdullah al-Muzayen (Kuwait) 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8)
Today’s schedule
Semi-finals (5pm onwards)
1-Omar Abdel Meguid (Egypt) vs Iker Pajares Bernabeu (Spain)
5-Jens Schoor (Germany) vs 2-Ivan Yuen (Malaysia)
