English Quartet March On In Manchester Grand Prix by Nathan Clarke
Golan v Waller
December 5, 2014 -
Sheffield's three-time World Champion Nick Matthew led a quartet of
home hopes, including surprise victor Adrian Waller, into the
quarter-finals of the AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix at the National
Squash Centre in Manchester earlier today.
2014 Commonwealth Games Gold Medal winner Matthew easily saw off the
challenge of rising Scottish talent Greg Lobban while Enfield-based
26-year-old Waller pulled off the biggest win of the day to get past
World No.7 Borja Golan from Spain.
Just two months after defeating Golan in the opening round of the
Delaware Investments US Open, Waller pulled off a repeat 3-2
performance, using all his skill, strength and stamina to complete a
dramatic 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6 victory after a mammoth
95-minutes on court.
"I knew what to expect from Borja today but he knew what to expect from
me as well and it meant that it took something different to win the
match," said Waller.
"It was another long and tough match and it was even closer than at the
US Open so it took everything I had to keep in the rallies. I
definitely had more belief in my game after beating him in the US and
that played a part, because sometimes against the top players that
belief can be key.
"I had to re-group towards the end of the fourth game when he came back
to level it up and I just managed to keep in there to win it and I'm
really pleased to come through, especially here in Manchester as this
is a place the English guys all know well and feel comfortable at."
Elsewhere Essex duo Daryl Selby and Peter Barker also progressed to the
quarter-finals with impressive victories over dangerous Egyptian Fares
Dessouki and fellow Englishman Chris Simpson, respectively, to complete
the quartet while World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy and World No.2 Gregory
Gaultier came through their opening encounters along with Colombian
Miguel Angel Rodriguez and Mathieu Castagnet of France.
Results: First Round - AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [WC] Richie Fallows (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-3 [39m]
[5] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Chris Simpson (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 [52m]
[6] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Fares Dessouki (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-9 [56m]
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Greg Lobban 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-7 [39m]
Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [4] Borja Golan (ESP) 3-2: 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6 [95m]
[7] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-1: 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 [59m]
[8] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [Q] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 [48m]
[2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [Q] Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10 [44m]
Quarter-final Draw - To Be Played Saturday, December 6:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [5] Peter Barker (ENG)
[6] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [3] Nick Matthew (ENG)
Adrian Waller (ENG) v [7] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
[8] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY)
