Qatar’s Abdulla Mohamed al-Tamimi stormed into the final of the Qatar Circuit III yesterday, being played at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. The third-seeded al-Tamimi had too much power and guile for his seventh-seeded Egyptian opponent, Mazen Gamal, winning 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-2) in just 26 minutes.
Another Egyptian lies in wait for the Qatari in the final today. Top seed Karim Ali Fathi beat rising Malaysian Ivan Yuen, seeded fifth, in a hard-fought 3-2 scoreline. After taking the first game via tie-break 12-10, Fathi saw a spirited counter-attack from the Malaysian, who took the next two games 4-11, 8-11. But it was all Fathi thereafter, as he took the next two games 11-6, 11-9 to end the one-hour 34-minute energy-sapping battle and set up a title clash with home favourite al-Tamimi.
Results (Semi-finals)
1-Karim Ali Fathi (Egypt) beat 5-Ivan Yuen (Malaysia) 3-2 (12-10, 4-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9)
3-Abdulla Mohd al-Tamimi (Qatar) beat 7-Mazen Gamal (Egypt) 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-2)
Abdulla Mohamed al-Tamimi
