OBH ready for Egyptian onslaught
ONG Beng Hee is braced for an Egyptian onslaught as he re-launches his bid to break into the world's top-10 at the Hurghada International in Egypt on Monday.
World No 12 Beng Hee hopes to rebound from the disappointment of his quarter-final exit in his last outing at the COAS International in Islamabad earlier this month when he was laid low by a stomach bug.
Now fully recovered, the sixth seeded Malaysian will likely have to do battle with a succession of Egyptians if he hopes to lift the title at the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.
Beng Hee opens his campaign against Mohamed El Shorbagy but it could all end in the next round when he comes up against World No 1 Amr Shabana in the last eight.
It will be a big task for Beng Hee to beat Shabana, who has won all five of their meetings on the PSA Tour with the Malaysian never winning more than one game against the Egyptian.
If he manages to upset the form book, awaiting Beng Hee in the semi-finals should be third seed Karim Darwish Egpytian Ramy Ashour, the World No 2, is expected to reach the final from the bottom half of the draw.
Beng Hee, the National No 1, had won the Kuala Lumpur Open this year to go along with final appearances at the Kolkata International and the Asian Championships.
Sharon Wee spearheads the Malaysian challenge in the women's draw, where World No 3 Rachael Grinham of Australia is the top seed, Sharon, the Malaysianl No 2 plays a qualifier in the opening round.
Fifth seed Sharon then faces a tricky encounter with second seed Jenny Duncalf of England and a win will put her in the last four for a meeting with either fourth seed Engy Kheirallah or world junior champion Raneem El Weleily, both of Egypt.
Eighth seed Tricia Chuah, meanwhile, hopes to prove the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia wrong for omitting her from the national team for the Asian Championships.
Tricia plays a qualifier in the first round and gets her chance to claim a scalp in the last eight where third seed Omneya Abdel Kawi will be her likely opponent.
