Top Seeds Selby & Anjema Motor Into Stanford NetSuite Semis
from DailySquashReport.com
October 9, 2011 - Top seeds Daryl Selby of England and Laurens Jan Anjema of the Netherlands were straight-game winners in last night's $35,000 PSA NetSuite quarters in northern California, while Botswana’s Alister Walker overcame fourth seeded Wael El Hindi of Egypt in a crowd-pleasing 90-minute encounter.
In the remaining quarterfinal match, Canada’s top player Shahier Razik was beaten by #3 seed Omar Mosaad of Egypt in a four-gamer lasting 70 minutes.
Howard Harding Filed This Report:
Alister Walker produced the only upset on the second day of action in the inaugural NetSuite Open in the US state of California when he battled to a 90-minute win over fourth seed Wael El Hindi to reach the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour International 35 squash event at the Arillaga Center for Sports & Recreation at Stanford University.
Botswana-born Walker and El Hindi, from Egypt, are both based in New York. But Walker, a former England international but now a Motswana, took the early upper hand against the world No18 from Cairo to take a two-game lead.
El Hindi, however, regained control in the next two games to draw level, before Walker - ranked two places below - refocused in the decider to record his 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 9-11, 11-4 upset.
"It's great to come to Stanford and get the ball rolling this season," sad a delighted 29-year-old Walker after his win. "Tonight was a very tough match and I knew it would be as both Wael and I needed to find form and results this season.
"It got ugly after the third game but I managed to halt his comeback in the fifth and get the win."
Walker, who achieved a career-high world No12 ranking in 2009, now takes on second seed Laurens Jan Anjema, currently ranked 12 in the world.
The top-ranked Dutchman needed just 30 minutes to see off Mexican Arturo Salazar 11-2, 11-1, 11-4.
"LJ is looking strong, had a great start to this season and barely been on court an hour in his first two rounds here," added Walker of his next opponent. "Despite that backing up tomorrow is the main goal to continue going in the right direction this season.
"It's been a great atmosphere in the venue and the players are enjoying the town and campus. Despite being second fiddle in sporting terms to the college American football game today with the 50,000 capacity stadium we are all thoroughly enjoying the event."
The other semi-final will feature top seed Daryl Selby and Omar Mosaad, the No3 seed.
In an all-British clash, Englishman Selby, the world No11, beat Scot Alan Clyne 11-9, 11-4, 12-10, while Egyptian Mosaad recovered from a game behind to beat Canadian Shahier Razik 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-2 in 70 minutes.
RESULTS: PSA International 35 NetSuite Open, Stanford, California, USA
Quarter-finals:
Daryl Selby ENG Bt Alan Clyne SCO 11-9, 11-4, 12-10 48 mins
Omar Mossad EGY Bt Shahier Razik CAN 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-2 70 mins
Alister Walker BOT Bt Wael El Hindi EGY 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 9-11, 11-4 90 mins
Lauren Jan Anjema NED Bt Arturo Salazar MEX 11-2, 11-1, 11-4 30 mins
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [3] Omar Mosaad (EGY)
[2] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v Alister Walker (BOT)
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