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Defending champion Nick Matthew of England defeated Zac Alexander of Australia in four games 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the Qatar PSA World Championship here at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday. |
The 32-year-old Englishman overcame his early blips and fought his way methodically and finished strongly in a contest that lasted for 48 minutes against the World No 49.
Matthew after losing the first game, gradually regained his touch and this forced Alexander more often into leaving the ball short or in the middle. Matthew then unfolded some of the relentless aggression to keep accumulating points with ease in the remaining games.
Matthew, who is aiming to complete a hat-trick of world titles, now have a last-16 meeting with Tarek Momen, the Egyptian who beat him on this court in the Qatar Open last year. Momen overcame Ryan Cuskelly of Australia 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 in 37 minutes last night.
The third-seed Gregory Gaultier of France, fifth-seed Ram Ashour and former champion Amr Shabana of Egypt also breezed through to the pre-quarterfinals from the tough bottom half of the draw.
Gaultier, who have graced the three finals of the championship, overcame Miguel Rodriguez 11-9 11-7, 11-9 in 50 minutes, while crowd favourite Ashour’s quelled Adrian Grant of England in straight games 11-6, 11-2, 11-9 in just half an hour. Ashour took an early lead, dominate the second game, and then won the third with a two-point lead. Ashour will next meet his compatriot and the 10th seed Omar Mosaad.
“Adrian is the king of come back, so you’ve got to play each point as it’s the last one, otherwise he’ll turn things around, and you’ll lose. Last time we played was in El Gouna, on a different court, and it was a tougher match. So today I don’t know if it’s because the court suited me better, or I learned a few things from last time. Or maybe he was not 100% today,” said Ashour after the match.
“You know that’s the most difficult thing about this job, it’s to be 100%, or 90% every time, everyday, and being ready. I still have bad days and good days, but I’m more consistent in my good days now. Tomorrow, I have to play Omar, he is extremely dangerous, he is explosive and he surprises you with his shots. I’ll have to be ready,” the Egyptian added.
Gaultier will now meet Chris Simpson, the World No 34 from England, who stunned the ninth-seeded Laurens Jan Anjema 11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 in a 71-minute long match. After easily winning first game Simpson lost second and fourth but came back hard to win the decider after losing a 5-0 lead.
Former world champion Amr Shabana put up another superb show yesterday as he defeated England’s Joe Lee in straight games 11-5, 11-2, 11-4. However, Lee gave whatever he could to the legend. He even managed to put the Egyptian under enough pressure to do a few unforced errors. The score really doesn’t reflect the hard work of Lee.
“Everybody is training nowadays. If you don’t train 100%, you have no chance, and if you want to compete with those athletes, you have no choice. I’m happy with the four World Titles, of course, winning five is the dream but I’m just happy to be here. This tournament is great, the venue, the people who run it are fantastic, it’s just easy to play squash here, and I hope we’ll have big crowds as well,” Shabana said.
In an all-African affair 12th seed Alister Walker of Botwana easily defeated qualifier Shaun Le Roux of South Africa 11-9, 11-6, 11-5.
RESULTS
Chris Simpson (Eng) bt (9) Lauren Jan Anjema (Ned) 11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 (71 minutes); (10) Omar Mosaad (Egy) bt Max Lee (HKG) 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 (30 minutes); (3) Gregory bt Gaultier (Fra) bt Miguel Rodriguez (Col) 11-9 11-7, 11-9 (50 minutes); (5) Ram Ashour (Egy) bt Adrian Grant (Eng) 11-6, 11-2, 11-9 (30 minutes); Amr Shabana (Egy) bt Joe Lee (Eng) 11-5, 11-2, 11-4 (31 minutes); (12) Alister Walker (Bot) bt (Q) Shaun Le Roux (RSA) 11-9, 11-6, 11-5; (2) Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Zac Alexander (Aus) 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 (48 minutes); (13) Tarek Momen (Egy) bt Ryan Cuskelly (Aus) 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 (37 minutes)
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
James Willstrop (Eng) vs Saurav Ghosal (Ind) at 2.00pm; [15] Borja Golan (Esp)vs [6] Peter Barker (Eng) at 12noon; [8] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) vs [16] Cameron Pilley (Aus) at 1.00pm; [4] Karim Darwish (Egy) vs [11] Daryl Selby (Eng) at 3.00pm; Chris Simpson (Eng) vs [3] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) at 5.30pm; [5] Ramy Ashour (Egy)vs vs [10] Omar Mosaad (Egy) at 6.30pm; [7] Amr Shabana vs [12] Alister Walker (Bot) at 7.30pm; [2] Nick Matthew (Eng) vs [13] Tarek Momen (Egy) at 8.30pm.