Egypt’s Karim Abdel Gawad (right), ranked 10th in the world, in action against Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng yesterday.
DOHA: Sixth seed Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt yesterday experienced a few hiccups on his way to a fighting 3-2 win over Malaysian Eain Yow Ng while in-form Joel Makin of Wales stunned fifth seed Miguel Rodriguez of Colombia in day three action of the 2018 Qatar Classic.
Also making it to the next round were former world no.1 James Willstrop of England and compatriot Declan James. Joining the English duo into the next round were Mathieu Castagnet of France, Egyptian third seed Tarek Momen and Saurav Ghosal of India.
At the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex, Gawad lost the first two games but made a splendid recovery to down the relatively inexperienced 20-year-old former world junior champion in an dual which went on for a hour.
Eain Yow, who defeated Qatar’s Abdullah Al Tamimi in the first round seemed to have started from where he left off from the last match. Gawad kept his cool in the face of the early onslaught and rallied back to win the next three games.
The 2016 Qatar Classic Champion won 9-11, 11-13, 11-3, 11-4, 11-4.
Gawad will meet England’s James, who eased past Egypt’s Karim Ali Fathi in three.
“It was a very tough battle for me, coming back from 2-0 down. I didn’t have a positive start. It was harder for me today, as he had nothing to lose, the pressure was on me,” Gawad said after the match.
“I used my experience today, like when I was his age, it’s the likes of Nick Matthew, Amr Shabana and so many others that taught me how to be tough on court, how to win those matches when you just cannot find your game. I learnt a lot from them, and I was trying today to maybe pass on to him what they taught me,” he added.
The Makin-Rodriguez clash was another one which went to the wire with the Welshman winning the battle against the seasoned pro in 106-minute marathon.
Makin followed up his win over Mohamed El Shorbagy in the recent Channel VAS Champs with another massive upset, beating the British Open Champion.
Makin meets Frenchman Castagnet, who squeezed past Cameron Pilley after taking a mammoth first game.
On the other hand, last year’s runner-up Momen had it relatively easy, registering a straight-games win over Nicolas Mueller of Switzerland, taking just 27 minutes to finish off the Swiss challenge.
Momen blitzed past Mueller, setting up a match with 2005 Champion Willstrop, who beat Hong Kong’s Max Lee in four even games.
India’s Ghosal also advanced with a 3-0 win over Leo Au of Hong Kong, thereby avenging his loss to Leo in this year’s Asian Games.
