October 31, the second day of the China Squash Open, was full of excitement, in sharp contrast to the gloomy typhoon weather outside. On the one hand, the top seeds made great strides and "controlled" their opponents. On the other hand, the low-ranked players did not flinch and staged a vigorous counterattack with their calm minds and beautiful performances.

The top seeds of men and women are in hot form and have locked in the quarterfinals.

In the first women's competition, the top seed, currently ranked eighth in the world, Rowan Elaraby made her debut in this China Squash Open, and her opponent was her Egyptian compatriot Nour Aboulmakarim.

The two sides used stalemate balls to test each other at the beginning. The experienced top seed quickly took the lead 3:0, and then firmly controlled the rhythm on the court, making it difficult for the opponent to find a good opportunity, and won the first game 11:2. Afterwards, she continued to control the game with superb skills and clever tactics, and soon locked the second game 11:1, showing her ability to "control" her opponent. In the third game, Nour Aboulmakarim gave it her all and fought with Elaraby, but the absolute difference in strength prevented her from turning the tide. Elaraby won the third game 11:7 and secured a place in the quarterfinals with 3:0.

The top seed of the men's singles and two-time China Open champion (2016, 2019), Mohamed ElShorbag, who appeared next, ushered in his first defense battle in Shanghai after five years. His opponent was the Egyptian star Omar Mosaad, who was once ranked third in the world and eliminated the Chinese player Zhou Penglin last night. 

The match was tense, but the top seed, who had occupied the world's No. 1 throne for 50 months, always had the advantage with frequent tactical adjustments and changing routes, making it difficult for the opponent to find adequate offensive opportunities to score continuously. The top seed won two games in a row with 11:6 and 11:8. Mossad, who was forced into a desperate situation, launched a desperate counterattack in the third game, while ElShorbag's attention declined and made consecutive mistakes in the front court. The Egyptian star seized the opportunity to win back a game with 11:7. The top seed then cheered up and used extremely offensive shots to suppress the opponent constantly, forcing the opponent to the limit of physical strength. In the end, he won the fourth game at 11:8, took the lead in entering the men's singles quarterfinals with 3:1, and successfully started the road to defending the title.

The most surprising match today occurred between Lau Tze-Kwan, the top player in Hong Kong, China, currently ranked 49th in the world, and Nicolas Mueller, the sixth seed of Switzerland. Mueller is ranked 21st in the world. He is tall and called the "Swiss Rocket" by fans because of his strength and speed.

Facing such a strong opponent, Lau Tze-Kwan played his flexible and changeable technical and tactical characteristics, fully utilized the space of the field to rally with Mueller, and scored the winning points through a steady defensive counterattack, winning the first game at 12:10. The "Swiss Rocket" then began to speed up, repeatedly scoring with his frontcourt interceptions, winning two games in a row with 11:7 and 13:11. In the crucial fourth game, Lau Tze-Kwan adjusted his mentality, re-played his flexible and changeable characteristics, frequently mobilized his opponent, and finally won the fourth game 12:10. The two sides then entered the final match. The "Swiss Rocket," who had consumed a lot of energy and strength, could no longer maintain a tight defense, and his error rate began to increase. Lau Tze-Kwan fought harder and harder, winning the game at 11:7, thus achieving a big comeback with a score of 3:2 and becoming the first Chinese player to enter the quarterfinals of this tournament.

Egyptian teenager Mohammed Zakaria, the youngest PSA Tour champion in history, played the role of a dark horse today. Facing the fifth seed, Dimiter Steinmann, currently ranked 22nd in the world, won in three straight games, delivering another upset in today's game.

Zakaria took the initiative from the beginning of the game, giving full play to the Egyptian style's iconic fast, accurate, and ruthless style of play, using drop shots in the front court and backcourt shots to mobilize the opponent, and quickly won the first game with 11:7. In the second game, Steinmann adjusted his strategy and gradually adapted to Zakaria's style of play. The game between the two sides was once in a stalemate, but the Egyptian teenager relied on more comprehensive skills to lock in the second game with 3 points after the 8:8 tie. In the third game, the young and energetic Zakaria frequently used his physical advantage to score brilliant winning points. On the other hand, his opponent was physically exhausted and could not form an effective counterattack. He had no choice but to watch Zakaria win the ticket to the top 8 of this China Open with a score of 3:0. Tomorrow, the young Egyptian player will face the Asian Games champion Wu Enyou from Malaysia. This game is worth looking forward to.

In other matches, the second-seed female player, Sivasangari Subramaniam, defeated Aina Armani from Malaysia with a score of 3:0 and successfully won the ticket to the top 8. Tomorrow, she will play against the seventh seed Georgia Adlay from Scotland. Let's wait and see.

After a day of fierce competition, China Open's men's and women's quarterfinals were officially born.

England's Mohamed El-Shorbagy and Marwan El-Shorbagy , Hong Kong China's Lau Tze-Kwan, Spain's Iker Pajares, Egypt's Fares Dessouky and Mohamed Zakaria,
Mohamed Abouelghar and Malaysia's Eain Yow Ng made it to the men's quarterfinals.

In the women's category, Egypt's Rowan Elaraby, Farida Mohamed, Sana Ibrahim, Malaysia's Sivasangari  Subramaniam, Rachel Arnold, Aira Azman, Hong Kong China's Tomato Ho, and Scotland's Georgia Adderley made it to the women's quarterfinals.