Lee & Hany Upset Qatar Classic Seedings
11 Sep 2023
England's Charlie Lee downed France's Gregoire Marche to win the first Platinum-level match of his career, while Salma Hany conquered fifth-seeded Egyptian compatriot Nour El Tayeb on day two of the QTerminals Qatar Classic in the Qatari capital Doha.
On the glass court at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex, world No.45 Lee reached 20 places up the PSA World Rankings to overcome world No.25 Marche in an impressive straight games victory.
The 25-year-old Englishman looked confident against the out-of-sorts former world No.11 and took the first game 11-3.
Marche threatened to fight back when he saved five game balls at 10-5 down in game two, but Lee eventually took that game, and the next, 12-10 to seal his spot in the second round, where he faces England No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy.
World No.13 Hany, meanwhile, came through a tense five-game affair with world No.6 El Tayeb.
Hany took a tight first game 12-10 before being pegged back 7-11 in game two. Hany took the lead once more in game three only for El Tayeb to fight back again in the fourth. In game five, however, Hany managed to get over the line with a well-earned 11-4 win.
Hany faces Canada's Hollie Naughton for a place in the women's quarter-finals.
In the final match of the day, Qatar's Abdulla Al Tamimi impressed the home crowd with a 3/0 win over Lucas Serme to earn a second round clash with Egypt's Omar Mosaad.