It was a case of 13th time lucky for Daryl Selby today in the Qatari capital Doha where the world No 11 toppled England team-mate James Willstrop in the second round of the Qatar Classic to claim his first ever win over the world No 3.<\/p>\n
The upset, which takes Selby into the quarter-finals of the seventh PSA World Series squash event of the year at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex, follows 12 successive Tour defeats by former world No 1 Willstrop since January 2007 – and further losses harking back to the final of the British Junior U-12 Championship in October 1994 when Selby mustered just two points!<\/p>\n
“It’s an amazing win for me,” exclaimed the 31-year-old from Essex (pictured above, right, with Willstrop) after his 11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 9-11, 13-11 over the event’s second seed in 89 minutes. “I’ve lost 12 times on PSA against James and about 100 times in other competitions – so I’m ecstatic to win.\n<\/p>\n
“I’ve come close before and thought I’ve done it, so it’s a massive weight off my shoulders.<\/p>\n
“It’s a big confidence-boost, especially coming off making the quarters of the worlds last week. I want to keep going with the momentum and see where it takes me. Tomorrow will be another tough day but I’ll re-group and go forward.<\/p>\n
“There are so few opportunities at this event, the guys behind the top eight are like a pack of wolves itching to get into those spots and take the opportunities when they appear.”<\/p>\n
Selby clinched match-ball with an incredible winner hit from behind his back!<\/p>\n
“I’ve had big win but not been able to follow them up before. I’ve only made one semi-final in one of these big tournaments before but hopefully I can keep progressing and see where tomorrow takes me.”<\/p>\n
Unseeded Selby will now face fifth seed Mohamed Elshorbagy for a place in the semi-finals after the world No 6 from Egypt beat Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema, ranked 12 places lower, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8.<\/p>\n
“I like playing on this court but I can’t get over confident and I have to make sure that I focus on what I have to do on court,” said the 22-year-old from Alexandria, who was a surprise finalist in last year’s PSA World Championship at the same venue.<\/p>\n
“I was really happy that I kept my plan going and I was really happy to finish in three today – as, after a five-game match yesterday, I knew I needed to have a quick game to be in with a chance of going all through the week.<\/p>\n
“Hopefully I can keep that momentum going now. I knew my body wasn’t going to be 100 per cent ready in the first round but I was fully there mentally. I was expecting myself to be a little off key and the longer the game went on the more accurate and I got and I was pleased that I managed to push myself mentally that way and I’m proud of pushing myself through that and I certainly feel up for it now.”<\/p>\n
There was another significant upset earlier in the day when unseeded Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad pulled off a shock 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10 victory over eighth-seeded compatriot Tarek Momen.
<\/p>\n
“I’m very pleased with my performance,” said the world No 22 (pictured above, right, with Momen) after his 82-minute win, his first over former world No 10 Momen. “I was expecting a very tough match – we have played many times in practice over the years and he is a top 10 player in the world so to win is very pleasing.<\/p>\n
“This is I think my first win over a top 10 player and I hope to be in the top 10 myself soon so to beat a player like Tarek is a great achievement for me,” added the 22-year-old from Cairo.<\/p>\n
Gawad will now face a further fellow countryman in the quarter-finals: Fourth seed Karim Darwish, twice winner of the title, beat compatriot Omar Mosaad 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-5.<\/p>\n
There will also be Egyptian interest in the other half of the draw where sixth seed Amr Shabana takes on England’s No 3 seed Nick Matthew in a mouth-watering quarter-final between two former world number ones.<\/p>\n
Shabana, the 2007 champion from Cairo, took just 28 minutes to subdue South African Stephen Coppinger 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 – while 2009 champion Matthew, winner of a third World Championship crown last week, defeated Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez 11-6, 11-7, 13-11 in 54 minutes.<\/p>\n
Event favourite Gregory Gaultier also progressed after a straight games win – beating top Australian Cameron Pilley 11-9, 11-6, 11-4.<\/p>\n
The world No 2 from France will now do battle with top-ranked Spaniard Borja Golan, the seventh seed who beat England’s Tom Richards 11-6, 11-7, 12-10.<\/p>\n
2nd round: It was a case of 13th time lucky for Daryl Selby today in the Qatari capital Doha where the world No 11 toppled England team-mate James Willstrop in the second round of the Qatar Classic to claim his first ever win over the world No 3.<\/p>\n The upset, which takes Selby into the quarter-finals of the seventh PSA World Series squash event of the year at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex, follows 12 successive Tour defeats by former world No 1 Willstrop since January 2007 – and further losses harking back to the final of the British Junior U-12 Championship in October 1994 when Selby mustered just two points!<\/p>\n “It’s an amazing win for me,” exclaimed the 31-year-old from Essex (pictured above, right, with Willstrop) after his 11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 9-11, 13-11 over the event’s second seed in 89 minutes. “I’ve lost 12 times on PSA against James and about 100 times in other competitions – so I’m ecstatic to win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-others"],"yoast_head":"\n
RESULTS: PSA World Series Qatar Classic, Doha, Qatar<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/strong>
Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [2] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 9-11, 13-11 (89m)
[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 (37m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [8] Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10 (82m)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-5 (55m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 11-6, 11-7, 13-11 (54m)
[6] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 (28m)
[7] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Tom Richards (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 (56m)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-9, 11-6, 11-4 (40m)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"