Upsets of the Challenger Season: Hana Ramadan & Marwan Tarek

Hana Ramadan wins the Indian Tour – Mumbai Leg

Final
[7] Hana Ramadan
3-1 [2] Lucy Turmel (Eng)           11-8, 6-11, 11-4, 11-3 (51m)

22-year-old Hana Ramadan went into the Mumbai Leg of the Indian Tour as the No.7 seed, and projected to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament, but she downed three players seeded above her in the event to lift the title, the fifth of her short career.

After defeating fellow Egyptian  Nour Aboulmakarim, in the second round, Ramadan started her run of upsets en route to the title, beginning with the biggest scalp of them all, the tournaments No.1 seed as she needed just 21 minutes to overcome Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold in that quarter-final.

Then she got the better of the No.6 seed, India’s Tanvi Khanna. The young Egyptian then defeated No.2 seed Lucy Turmel in the final to claim the title, restricting the Englishwoman to just seven points in the final two games of their clash.

Marwan Tarek winning the CIB Egyptian Tour #3

Final:
[5] Marwan Tarek 3-1 [2] Yahya Elnawasany        11-8, 1-11, 11-7, 11-8 (60m)

To claim your first title as a professional is special, but to down the top three seeds en route to winning your first title, that’s even better! That’s exactly what Marwan Tarek did at the CIB Egyptian Tour 3 in late December.

After a bye through the first round, and a comfortable victory over Ahmed Abualela in just 20 minutes in the second, No.5 seed Tarek was then faced with the toughest test, a clash against the tournament’s top seed, Ahmed Hosny,  the Egyptian overcoming his higher-ranked opponent inside half an hour, before winning in almost the exact same time against No.3 seed Khaled Labib.

The final was tougher, but Tarek got the better of No.2 seed Yahya Elnawasany, who sat more than 130 places higher in the World Rankings, to take the victory, and his maiden PSA Tour title.

CIB Egyptian Tour #3 2019 – Finals