RESULTS: Japan Pro Kansai Squash Open, Wakayama, Japan
Men’s 1st round:
[1] Karim AGA Samy (EGY) bt [Q] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) 11-5, 11-2, 11-6 (21m)
[4] Hon Fung Wong (HKG) bt Ken Okada (JPN) 7-11, 15-13, 11-9, 11-3 (39m)
[7] Cheng Yao Huang (TPE) bt [Q] Syo Miyakawa (JPN) 11-1, 17-15, 11-1 (24m)
[Q] Kobayashi Ryosei (JPN) bt [5] Maekawa Kosuke (JPN) 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 (37m)
Caspar Grauball Nielsen (DEN) bt [8] Shamsul Islam Khan (PAK) 11-13, 11-9, 11-2, 6-11, 11-4 (39m)
[3] Choong Kam Hing (MAS) bt Zahir Shah (PAK) 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 (29m)
[6] Tsukue Shinnosuke (JPN) bt [Q] Shimizu Takanori (JPN) 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6 (47m)
[2] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt Bumpei Kawano (JPN) 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 (31m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Karim AGA Samy (EGY) bt [4] Hon Fung Wong (HKG) 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 (22m)
[7] Cheng Yao Huang (TPE) bt [Q] Kobayashi Ryosei (JPN) 11-4, 11-5, 13-11 (24m)
[3] Choong Kam Hing (MAS) bt Caspar Grauball Nielsen (DEN) 11-5, 8-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-8 (49m)
[2] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt [6] Tsukue Shinnosuke (JPN) 13-11, 11-6, 12-10 (32m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Karim AGA Samy (EGY) bt [7] Cheng Yao Huang (TPE) 11-4, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5 (44m)
[2] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt [3] Choong Kam Hing (MAS) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (26m)
Final:
[2] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt [1] Karim AGA Samy (EGY) 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-1 (35m)
Women’s 1st round:
[5] Miwa Maekawa (JPN) bt Rieko Oshima (JPN) 11-2, 11-3, 11-1 (13m)
[3] Carmen Lee (HKG) bt Hiromi Matsumoto (JPN) 11-2, 11-9, 11-4 (13m)
[8] Sally Skaarenborg (DEN) bt Risa Sugimoto (JPN) 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (16m)
[7] Mayu Yamazaki (JPN) bt Yuko Nakata (JPN) 11-5, 11-0, 11-3 (12m)
[4] Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG) bt Izumi Iwaki (JPN) 11-1, 11-1, 11-6 (15m)
[6] Karman Siu (HKG) bt Kana Sakurai (JPN) 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 (12m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt [5] Miwa Maekawa (JPN) 11-9, 13-11, 11-7 (27m)
[8] Sally Skaarenborg (DEN) bt [3] Carmen Lee (HKG) 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 12-10 (45m)
[4] Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG) bt [7] Mayu Yamazaki (JPN) 10-12, 11-2, 11-9, 11-5 (27m)
[2] Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) bt [6] Karman Siu (HKG) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (24m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt [8] Sally Skaarenborg (DEN) 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (14m)
[2] Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) bt [4] Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG) 16-14, 11-8, 10-12, 8-11, 11-5 (52m)
Final:
[1] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt [2] Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 (21m)
Egyptian Omar Abdel Meguid and local star Misaki Kobayashi emerged victorious in the Japan Pro Kansai Squash Open in the first year of a joint men’s and women’s event at the XIST Sports Club in Wakayama, Japan.
It was an all-Japan final that brought the maiden women’s $4,000 WISPA World Tour event to a climax.
While top-seeded Tokyo-born Misaki Kobayashi reached the second Tour final of her career without dropping a game, her experienced opponent Chinatsu Matsui, the No2 seed, battled for five games in her semi-final against Hong Kong’s fourth seed Liu Tsz-Ling before surviving in 52 minutes.
But 20-year-old Kobayashi maintained her straight games run in the event by recording her first Tour triumph over her 33-year-old compatriot, beating Matsui 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 in just 21 minutes to earn the second title of her short career.
The final of the men’s $4,000 PSA World Tour event was also a battle between two fellow countrymen.
But second seed Omar Abdel Meguid was the underdog – facing favourite Karim AGA Samy.
Despite ranked exactly 50 places below 21-year-old Samy, 22-year-old Meguid recovered from a game down to upset his Cairo compatriot 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-1 to secure the third Tour title of his career.