Unseeded Miguel Rodriguez of Colombia knocked out top seed Ali Farag of Egypt 3-2 (13-11, 5-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8 to enter the quarter-finals of the QTerminals Qatar Classic squash tournament at the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday. 
The 36-year-old Colombian took the first game after Farag was unable to convert a key opportunity to go in front, and the Colombian swooped to take the early lead. Farag found his groove to find himself 2-1 ahead, but the tenacious Rodriguez swatted aside a fightback from the No. 1 seed to draw level in the fourth.
Rodriguez continued to play at a high level that proved problematic for Farag, as the 36-year-old delivered the knockout blow to advance to the last eight.
“What I achieved today is amazing for me. I’ve had a difficult week, my head is not the best, but apart from that, I played without any pressure and I believe I’ve played a lot of tournaments this year. The more I stay competitive, my body responds better,” Rodriguez said.
“I know I don’t have too much time to continue on the tour but it’s amazing to be here again. I think this is my second quarter-finals here, this is my favourite tournament and I want to say thank you to the crowd!,” the World No. 17 said.
Rodriguez will take on England’s Mohamed ElShorbagy, who defeated Egypt’s Youssef Soliman in straight sets, in quarter-finals. World No. 5 ElShorbagy made short work of the Egyptian, better utilising the court conditions in an ultimately comfortable 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 win in just 38 minutes. “I wasn’t very happy with my performance in the first match (against Eain Yow Ng),” ElShorbagy said.
“Sometimes when you play your first match of the season you’re too emotional or excited and you think with your emotions rather than your head. Greg (Gaultier, ElShorbagy’s coach) was telling me that it’s all out of the way now. 
“Today’s a new day and you’ve got to make sure you hit your corners, play with accuracy and play good squash. He got me back positive before the match today. I think after I won the match yesterday I told Greg we shouldn’t take (Soliman) lightly. He just won a bronze-level event in Egypt. I know how talented he is and he’s playing with confidence. I needed to start very well and I think we did a good job and I’m happy to be through to the quarters,” the former champion said.
Talking about his opponent in the quarter-final, ElShorbagy said: “Miguel’s an amazing player and has been on tour for a long time. He has so much experience. He’s not going to be easy to beat. Ali will be aware of that. It’s funny, Ali and I were talking a few days ago and were saying that if we both reach the quarters it will be the first time we meet in a round other than a final since 2017! We’ve only been playing in finals over the past five years, which shows the great rivalry we have with each other.”
In the first match of the day, No. 8 seed Marwan ElShorbagy rallied to beat the USA’s Shahjahan Khan. Khan, who played one of the best matches of his career, was excellent throughout and deservedly took a one game lead with an 11-8 win.
ElShorbagy, though, was able to counter, finding his mark at the front with increasing frequency to move into the lead with an 11-7 and an 11-9 win.
Khan came back well to save three match balls before levelling with a 14-12 win in the fourth game, before World No.9 ElShorbagy brought an entertaining 80-minute match to an end with an 11-7 win in the fifth game. “Shahjahan played very well of course. I’m very happy to get the win at the end. It’s the start of the season and I’m very happy to be back competing again and looking forward to the day off tomorrow,” ElShorbagy said.
World No.3 Mostafa Asal also wasted not much time as he stormed into the quarter-finals with a straight-set win (11-9, 11-6, 11-7) over compatriot Fares Dessouky. The 21-year-old faces fellow Egyptian Marwan ElShorbagy, who eliminated USA’s Shahjahan Khan 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-14, 11-7, for a place in the semi-finals tomorrow.


MAIN RESULTS
[3] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt. Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-7) (55m)
Miguel Rodriguez (COL) bt [1] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-2 (13-11, 5-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8) (72m)
[5] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt Youssef Soliman (EGY) 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-5) (37m)
[8] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt Shahjahan Khan (USA) 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-14, 11-7) (80m)