AFP/London
Ramy Ashour, seeking to become the first Egyptian in nearly 50 years to win the British Open title, scored his 38th successive victory as he hurtled into the quarter-finals in little more than 20 minutes on Thursday. Ashour overcame Chris Simpson, a qualifier from England, 11-2 11-4 11-9 en route to what he hopes will be the eclipse of another Englishman, Nick Matthew, the defending champion whom he is seeded to meet in tomorrow’s final.
Ashour, who has already taken away Matthew’s world title and world number one ranking, revelled in the cold conditions at Hull’s football stadium, which placed an even greater premium on fast movement and early attack.
On the women’s side, world number one Nicol David had to deal with a weather-damaged programme, a difficult start, and a dangerously hard-hitting opponent before reaching the semi-finals in defence of her title. David also had to save a game ball in the first game of a 13-11 11-8 11-1 win over Joelle King, the tall sixth-seeded New Zealander, who had moments early on looked like she might be able to bully the champion into trouble.
The biggest influence on the match, however, was the fickle English rain and wind, which forced the day’s play away from the all-glass court erected outdoors on Hull City’s football pitch and into a nearby club with conventional plaster courts.
That required a third change of conditions in three matches, disrupting the players’ preparation and rhythm, which for a while appeared to place David under more pressure.