Twelve meetings, 12 defeats. That was the head-to-head record between England’s Daryl Selby and his world No 3 compatriot James Willstrop on the PSA Tour since 2007.

So just before going into their 13th clash, in the second round of the Qatar Classic at the Khalifa Tennis & Squash Complex here yesterday, the first thing Selby did was to take out that forgettable 0-12 scoreline from his mind. What followed was 89 minutes of unforgettable squash from the 32-year-old from Essex, ranked 11th in the world. At the end of it all, a dazed and drained Willstrop sat in one corner, still coming to grips with his 2-3 (8-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-13) shock loss. Who said 13 is an unlucky number? Selby, for sure, would never subscribe to that.

Selby unsettled Willstrop, seeded second, with his offensive pace from the very start. He was virtually unstoppable in the first two games, volleying and slicing to perfection and making Willstrop run all over. The big upset loomed on the horizon. But the second seed was not ready to go down so easily. Willstrop came into his own in the third game, and with errors suddenly creeping into Selby’s game, he managed to take the next two games to force a deciding fifth.

Selby took a 5-0 lead in the decider, but Willstrop fought back, taking the next eight points. A Willstrop error at that point gave Selby the chance to come back and he seized the opportunity with both hands, forcing a tie-break and sealing the win with a between-the-legs winner, Rafael Nadal-style.

“Phew, that was a win! I’ve been playing James since I was a seven, I have been playing against him for 23 years, and this is my first ever win in any competition. It’s a very emotional moment for me,” gushed Selby soon after what he called “my biggest win ever”.

On his between-the-legs winner, Selby said he loves playing that shot. “James had been playing it down the middle a fair bit, and I’d hit a few shots between my legs or behind my back, and although one of them went out I’d found a pretty good length with most of them. When he did it again on match ball I thought I’d try to keep it a bit lower and I was lucky it ended up being a winner!” Selby will play Egypt’s Mohamed Elshorbagy in the quarter-finals.

Earlier, Egypt’s Karim Abdel Gawad had scored the first upset of the day when he stunned countrymate and good friend Tarek Momen 3-2 in a gruelling 82-minute clash (11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10). It was a clash of equals, and closely fought till the last game tie-breaker. Gawad will face another countrymate, world No 5 Karim Darwish in today’s quarter-finals.

“We are really good friends, and we play at the same club (Gazira Club) in Cairo. As we train together, we know each other’s game very well. We have a pretty similar game, but I think he is little faster than me. Today I set up my mind not on winning, but on playing as best as I could. I stayed calm and I think it helped,” Gawad said.

Momen felt a couple of decisions went against him. “I feel a bit hard done with a couple of reviews, but it’s just bad luck in the end. It was simply his day today, and I sincerely wish him good luck for the quarters,” the world No 12 said.

Three more Egyptians — Elshorbagy, Amr Shabana and Darwish — too made it to the quarterfinals, where they were joined by Spain’s Borja Golan and top-seeded Frenchman Gregory Gaultier.

 

Results (Round 2): 5-Mohamed Elshorbagy (Egypt) bt 18-Laurens Jan Anjema (Netherlands) 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-8); 6-Amr Shabana (Egypt) bt 17-Stephen Coppinger (SA) 3-0 (11-3, 11-4, 11-5); 7-Borja Golan (Spain) bt 22-Tom Richards (England) 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 12-10); 20-Karim Abdel Gawad (Egypt) bt 8-Tarek Momen (Egypt) 3-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10); 13-Daryl Selby (England) bt 2-James Willstrop (England) 3-2 (11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 9-11, 13-11); 4-Karim Darwish (Egypt) bt 11-Omar Mosaad (Egypt) 3-1 (11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-5); 1-Gregory Gaultier (France) bt 14-Cameron Pilley (Australia) 11-9, 11-6, 11-4

Quarterfinal Line-Up: 5-Mohamed Elshorbagy (Egypt) vs 13-Daryl Selby (England); 20-Karim Abdel Gawad (Egypt) vs 4-Karim Darwish; 7-Borja Golan (Spain) vs 1-Gregory Gaultier (France)