Top seed Nouran Gohar moved into the last eight of the Hong Kong Open after she overcame England’s Jasmine Hutton in four games.
Gohar, the 2016 Hong Kong Open champion,played at an unrelenting pace and gave Hutton no time to settle in a one-sided first game. The English player fought back well, competing strongly in the second and just about holding on to an early lead in the third to pull a game back. A fired up Gohar took no prisoners in the fourth game though, quickly building up an unassailable lead and closing out the match.
Satomi Watanabe has become the first Japanese player in history to reach the quarter-finals of a PSA Platinum event after she produced an incredible performance to upset sixth seed Rowan Elaraby. The 23-year-old from Yokohama was sublime throughout and recorded a landmark victory to set up a mouthwatering last eight battle with top seed Nouran Gohar.
Peru’s Diego Elias and Egypt’s Youssef Soliman have booked their spots in the last eight courtesy of a convincing 3-0 victory over England’s Patrick Rooney and unseeded Frenchman Auguste Dussourd respectively.
Nour El Tayeb, who reached the final of the Hong Kong Open back in 2014, fought back from one game down to defeat her compatriot 16-year-old Fayrouz Aboelkheir to reach the last eight. Third seed Hania El Hammamy cruised into the quarter-finals as she swatted aside Aifa Azman 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-8).
Mazen Hesham battled back from a game down to produce a ruthless display to down Spain’s Iker Pajares. Mohamed ElShorbagy continued his hot streak as he made it ten wins in succession to progress to the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win against Ivan Yuen in just 23 minutes.
