Tribune News Network
Doha
Egypt’s former World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad sent Qatari No.1 Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi out of his home event as he booked his spot in the quarter-finals of the QTerminals Qatar Classic.
Gawad, the 2016 Qatar Classic champion, was in fine form at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex as he took the opening game, but Al Tamimi grew into the match in the second to draw level, much to delight of the home crowd.
However, Gawad was quickly able to get back on top in the third and took the next two games without reply to earn his last eight spot winning the match 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 in 46 minutes.
"The Qatari audience is very aware of good shots,” said Gawad. "Abdulla was on fire today and he can hit winners out of nowhere, so it was hard to read him today. Thanks to the Qatari crowd who supported him but also cheered for my good shots.
"It will be a hard match, Mostafa is in good form and won the last two tournaments. I’m playing better squash now too and I’m moving better on court, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Gawad will play World No.2 Mostafa Asal next, with Asal making it 12 wins in a row after getting the better of World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria.
World No.2 Mostafa Asal made it 12 wins in a row on the PSA Squash Tour after he defeated World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria in the penultimate men’s match of the day.
Asal has been in red-hot form in the opening stages of the 2024-25 season, winning both the CIB Egyptian Open and Paris Squash.
Zakaria, making just his second appearance at a Platinum-level event, tested Asal in the opening stages of a lengthy first game, favouring rallies down the backhand wall in particular.
Asal is a master on that side of the court though and the 23-year-old possessed the superior accuracy to take the first game, with the second soon following.
Zakaria, the third youngest man to reach the top 50 of the PSA World Rankings, continued to make life difficult for Asal in the third, who had to work hard to get the ball past the 17-year-old as traffic issues began to creep in.
Welshman Joel Makin followed up his superb opening round victory over No.2 seed Paul Coll with a composed win against Frenchman Auguste Dussourd to earn his spot in the last eight.
Makin, who reached the semi-finals here last season, sent shockwaves through the men’s draw with his dismantling of Coll on Monday and he picked up where he left off to beat Dussourd 11-5, 11-6, 11-4.
The World No.9 extended the rallies and put a lot of work into the legs of Dussourd, who was doing the majority of the lunging in all four corners.
"It’s so important to pin someone behind you because the court opens up massively,” said Makin.
Weaver in cruise control
US No.1 Olivia Weaver scored a 3-0 win over World No.15 Fayrouz Aboelkheir to reach the women’s last eight of the Qatar Classic for the first time.
Weaver barely put a foot wrong in the first two games as she controlled the match and hit immaculate line and length. After dropping five points in the first game, Weaver was even more dominant in the second and prevented Aboelkheir from putting a single point on the scoreboard.
It was plain sailing in the third game too until, at 7-2 up, Weaver collided with the side wall after losing her balance. That looked to knock her off balance, with Aboelkheir storming back to force a tie-break.
The Egyptian saved two match balls and even held a match ball opportunity of her own. However, Weaver played the big points well and completed the win with her third match ball to set up a quarter-final match against Belgium’s Nele Coll.
"You never know what’s going to happen on a squash court,” said Weaver.
"You have to prepare for everything, but I knew the game plan I wanted to execute. She’s coming off an amazing week in Paris and she is extremely talented. I felt confident that I could take away some of her weapons and I’m pleased to get through that in three.”
Belgium’s World No.5 Nele Coll earned her spot in the quarter-finals after a routine win over Wales’ Emily Whitlock.
Coll had to come back from a game down to get the better of New Zealand’s Joelle King in the previous round, but looked more comfortable as she dominated proceedings in Doha to seal an 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 win after just 29 minutes of action.
"I had a very specific game plan and I’m very happy with my focus today,” said Gilis.
Seventeen-year-old Amina Orfi has reached the quarter-finals of the QTerminals Qatar Classic for the first time after beating England’s World No.20 Lucy Turmel in the day’s opening match.
Superb performances in both of the opening two games – coupled with a determined showing in the third – saw Orfi complete an 11-4, 11-4, 14-12 victory to set up a last eight meeting with World No.2 Nouran Gohar who beat World No.14 Nada Abbas 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 win in 35 minutes.