Stage Set for Interesting Event      

2007 Hyder First-Round: Top Seeds All Advance 

Defending champion Shahier Razik and top seed Wael El Hindi both scored convincing victories last night in the first round of the Quentin Hyder Invitational, whose pro flight will be hosted this year at the Eastern Athletic Club in Brooklyn Heights. Razik, who rallied from two games to love down in last year’s final with his Canadian compatriot Graham Ryding, began his bid for his third Hyder trophy (also ’03, when he defeated Peter Genever in the final) by out-playing Taiwo Kuti, while El Hindi did the same to Ahmed Oweida.

The only other former Hyder champion in the draw, Damien Mudge, who won this event five years ago at the final-round expense of Julian Wellings, overpowered John Fulham last night and will now face Ahmed Hamza, who sharp-shot his way to victory over Joe Russell. They are in the top half, as is Francis Odeh, who survived the only five-game match of the round of 16 when he out-lasted Ben Oliner and thus qualified for tonight’s quarterfinal tilt against El Hindi.

Down below, fresh off his title-taking exploits at the Skill Level Nationals pro division in late February, Stefan Castelyn quickly dismissed Dylan Patterson and will now face Eric Christiansen, beneficiary of a default from Jude Odeh. This will be the final New York tournament appearance for Castelyn, who has been based at the Heights Casino Club for the past year but is planning to return to Los Angeles later this summer. The winner of the Castelyn-Christiansen quarter will then face whoever wins between Razik and Richard Chin, who triumphed over Ben Howell yesterday evening.

The quarterfinals begin at 6:15 this evening, with the semis scheduled to start at 6:30 on Saturday and the final to take place at noon on Sunday.