Ong Beng Hee in Upset Loss
Dec 28, 2004, by SquashTalk Staff; SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004;

Event Moves Forward Despite Regional Tragedy  [draw]

The 2004 Malaysian proceeded today despite the regional tragedy affecting surround countries and parts of Malaysia.

Ong Beng Hee's bid to end the year with his second Open title on home soil came to a dramatic end in today's (Tuesday) opening round of the Country View Malaysian Open Squash Championship when he was beaten by unseeded Frenchman Stephane Galifi in a marathon five-game battle at the National Squash Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Beng Hee, the top seed and for many years Malaysia's highest-ranked player, led after the first three games - but Galifi refused to give up against the local hero. The 26-year-old from Rouen, ranked 56 in the world - almost 40 places lower than the reigning Asian champion - forced the next two games into tie-breaks, winning the first 5-3 and the second 3-1 to claim a sensational 11-8 10-11 7-11 11-10 11-10 upset in 104 minutes.

Galifi will now face Egyptian qualifier Ramy Ashour in the next round after the 17-year-old world junior champion from Cairo sprung a further upset by beating Pakistan's eighth seed Majid Khan 6-11 11-7 11-5 11-6 in 32 minutes.

Local interest in the $20,000 PSA Tour event - the first staging of the Malaysian Open for three years - will now lie in the hands of Mohd Azlan Iskandar, the second seed from Sarawak who needed just 20 minutes to brush aside the challenge of Indian qualifier Saurav Ghosal 11-6 11-5 11-6.

It was a disappointing return to the singles arena for both Ghosal, the 18-year-old British Junior Open, and fellow qualifier Ritwik Bhattacharya. Ten days ago the pair fought their way through to the Men's Doubles final of the World Doubles Championships in Chennai, becoming the first Indians to contest a world squash championships final. In KL, Bhattacharya fell 11-5 11-9 11-9 in 34 minutes to Egypt's third seed Wael El Hindi.

RESULTS: Country View Malaysian Open Squash Championship, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

1st round:
Stephane Galifi (FRA) bt [1] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-8, 10-11 (2-4), 7-11, 11-10 (5-3), 11-10 (3-1) (104m)
[Q] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [8] Majid Khan (PAK) 6-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 (32m)
[3] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [Q] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (34m)
[6] Joey Barrington (ENG) bt [Q] Kashif Shuja (NZL) 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3 (78m)
[7] Mohamed Essam A Hafiz (EGY) bt Arshad Iqbal Burki (PAK) 10-11 (6-8), 4-11, 11-7, 11-0, 11-2 (54m)
[4] Shahid Zaman (PAK) bt Shahril Shahidan (MAS) 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (16m)
[5] Tommy Berden (NED) bt Cameron White (AUS) 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (43m)
[2] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [Q] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (20m)

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