Meguid, Delierre Advance In Marathon Washington DC Quarters
by Howard Harding
11 January 2012 - Unseeded Omar Abdel Meguid upset fellow Egyptian Mohd Ali Anwar Reda in the quarter-finals of the Squash Revolution National Capital Open Presented by Oliver - but it took a two hour marathon to the separate pair and take the unheralded 24-year-old from Giza through to the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 squash event in Washington DC, USA.
"The first game had Reda marginally ahead throughout," said a spokesman for the event. "In the second, both players ran neck and neck till a couple of tins late in the game helped Omar close it out to equalise.
"Game three probably determined the outcome of the match: Reda had game balls at 10-6 up. A couple of nicks from Omar brought it to 10-8. Then the play got very muddy before Omar closed out the game 12-10 with a streak of six unanswered points."
Meguid saved two game-balls in the fourth before Reda, the No2 seed, finally drew level. The underdog raced to 10-4 in the decider and, after Reda saved three match-balls, it was Meguid who ultimately emerged triumphant 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7 in exactly 120 minutes.
Meguid, the world No54, now meets England's Adrian Waller for a place in the final. After winning the opener against Egypt's Mohamed Abouelghar, fourth seed Waller came back from 8-2 down in the second to take that game before closing out the match 11-8, 11-9, 11-7.
There was another marathon upset in the top half of the draw where Shawn Delierre beat third-seeded New Zealander Campbell Grayson 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 12-10 in 114 minutes to set up an all-Canadian semi with favourite Shahier Razik.
After the first two games were shared, unseeded Delierre charged ahead to 10-3, helped by the Kiwi's errors.
"In frustration (at game-ball), Grayson threw his racquet, for which he was penalised with a Conduct Stroke," said Andrew Strasfogel. "Game to Delierre 11-3."
Grayson twice led in the fourth, and had game-ball to force a decider. But Delierre held his nerve to secure his place in the last four.
The Canadian number two from Montreal now faces his country's number one, ranked just three places higher. Razik scored his second straight games win in a row, beating Pakistan's Yasir Ali Butt 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 in 35 minutes.
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 15 Squash Revolution National Capital Open, Washington DC, USA
Quarter-finals:
[1] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt Yasir Ali Butt (PAK) 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 (35m)
Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt [3] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 12-10 (114m)
[4] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 11-8, 11-9, 11-7
Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt [2] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7 (120m)
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Shahier Razik (CAN) v Shawn Delierre (CAN)
Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) v [4] Adrian Waller (ENG)
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