Le Renard Égyptien has done it again, shocking 4-time champion Pedro Piedrabuena with a convincing 25 to 17 win. When it was over, the crowd stood on its feet and gave Khalil Diab a rousing round of applause. Some in the crowd were heard to whisper the nickname Diab had earned (so it was rumored) in the smoky, back alley balkline clubs of Cairo in the 1960s: Le Renard (the Fox). With the win, Diab secured a spot in the semi-finals. Whether he wins his flight and secures one of the top seeds in the next round remains to be seen.
Twenty players will advance to the semi-finals, where they will be placed in flights of 5. The players will be seeded based on their performance in the preliminaries. Even with the blemish on his record, Piedrabuena may still be one of the top seeds in the semi-finals if Diab falters against always-dangerous Gary Cohen. Sonny Cho earned one of the top seeds when he defeated Hugo Patino 25 to 17. Unless upsets occur in their last match of the preliminaries, other likely top seeds in the semis will be Jae Cho, Miguel Torres and Thanh Vu. Other seeds are up for grabs.
The semi-finals will be played tomorrow, and the finals will start and finish on Thursday.
More later.
