English hope Peter Barker became the biggest seeding casualty in the Allam British Open Squash Championshipsafter unseeded Egyptian Tarek Momen claimed a shock four-game victory over last year’s semi-finalist, the No7 seed, in today’s second round of the PSA World Series event at the KC Stadium in Hull in the English county of Yorkshire.<\/p>\n
On the cold open-air court sited on the turf of the soon-to-be Premier League football club, the pair (pictured in action below) were facing each other for the first time. Underdog Momen raced into a 6-1 lead to take the London-born left-hander by surprise.\n<\/p>\n
World No7 Barker managed to get back into the game, attempting to extend the rallies and keep the ball away from Momen’s dangerous volley.<\/p>\n
Barker clinched the opening game, but the 25-year-old from Cairo – who had never previously progressed beyond the event’s first round – started to be more adventurous with his shot choice, and it paid off.<\/p>\n
“I’m over the moon,” said the beaming Momen after his 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 upset in 43 minutes.<\/p>\n
“At crucial times I played well – my shots that usually go into the tin worked!” exclaimed the first-time quarter-finalist.<\/p>\n
Momen will now face former champion Gregory Gaultier after the fourth seed from France recorded a four-game victory over Indian number one Saurav Ghosal.<\/p>\n
It was far from straightforward for the 30-year-old from Aix-en-Provence who was up against the renowned speed and agility of the Kolkata-born, but Yorkshire-based, Ghosal. There were some entertaining rallies for the lively crowd with plenty of retrieval and both players looking to take the ball in short.<\/p>\n
“Playing Saurav in those conditions, with his touch, is a real nightmare,” said a relieved Gaultier after his 11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 11-0 win in 61 minutes. “He keeps retrieving everything, and made it difficult for me to get to the front corners.”<\/p>\n
Reigning champion Nick Matthew, the world No2 from Yorkshire, stormed through his second round match. England’s top-seeded player beat Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 in a masterful display of squash that lasted just 38 minutes.<\/p>\n
The victory takes the 32-year-old from Sheffield one step closer to winning his third consecutive British Open title and fourth in total.<\/p>\n
Matthew dominated from the start, never allowing his opponent to settle into his game. His aggressive approach forced Anjema into making a series of errors from which the world No17 could not recover.<\/p>\n
Speaking later, Matthew said the win had bolstered his confidence as he hadn’t been playing too well recently.<\/p>\n
“There’s not been too much pressure on me this week – people have been talking about the other players who have been in better form than me.<\/p>\n
“But as long as I can keep performing like that then hopefully I won’t be far off again this year.”<\/p>\n
Matthew will face Karim Darwish in the quarter-finals after the Egyptian beat England’s Daryl Selby 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 in the evening’s final match.<\/p>\n
2nd round (lower half of draw): English hope Peter Barker became the biggest seeding casualty in the Allam British Open Squash Championshipsafter unseeded Egyptian Tarek Momen claimed a shock four-game victory over last year’s semi-finalist, the No7 seed, in today’s second round of the PSA World Series event at the KC Stadium in Hull in the English county of Yorkshire.<\/p>\n On the cold open-air court sited on the turf of the soon-to-be Premier League football club, the pair (pictured in action below) were facing each other for the first time. Underdog Momen raced into a 6-1 lead to take the London-born left-hander by surprise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-others"],"yoast_head":"\n
RESULTS: PSA World Series Allam British Open, Hull, England<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/strong>
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 11-0 (61m)
Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [7] Peter Barker (ENG) 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 (43m)
[5] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Daryl Selby (ENG) 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 (33m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 (38m)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"