Dessouki Upsets Seedings As Canary Wharf Classic Commences by Nathan Clarke photos squashpics.com
March 7, 2016
- 21-year-old Egyptian Fares Dessouki, the World No.21, stole the
headlines on the opening day of action at the 2016 Canary Wharf Classic
as he secured his first victory on the PSA World Tour since January by
defeating in-form World No.11 and tournament number four seed Marwan
ElShorbagy in a compelling 81 minute battle.
In front of a
capacity crowd inside London's East Wintergarden Dessouki showed
glimpses of the form that saw him reach the quarter-finals of the
British Open and US Open in 2014 as he battled through against
ElShorbagy to record a 4-11, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8 victory that sees
him through to face Spain's Borja Golan in the last eight.
"That was a very tough match," said Dessouki, who lost out in the quarter-final stage here 12 months ago.
"We
were both a bit nervous, I was nervous in the first game, and then he
got nervous in the second - but it was a high quality squash. Marwan is
a very good player and he is very smart on court. I had to be focused
and play at a high pace.
"I've struggled a lot over the last
three months and I have lost a lot of first round matches. This is my
first real win since last year so I am really, really happy."
Golan
secured his place in the last eight with a straight-games win over
wildcard Ben Coleman while tournament top seed and World No.4 Omar
Mosaad was given a stern test by England's Chris Simpson.
An
18-minute opening game set the tone as Mosaad, showing signs of minor
lethargy after his exploits in the recent Windy City Open and the
transatlantic time-zone shift, got off to a stuttering start with
Simpson playing composed and collected squash to maintain a slender
lead throughout the majority of the first game.
But the
powerful man from Cairo dug into his reserves to mount a comeback and
took a crucial rally at 11-11 to take it from under Simpson's nose and,
despite losing the third game, managed to do just enough to get past
the dogged World No.22 in four games.
"Of course I'm very
happy to win today - I came here from Chicago a few days ago and I am
feeling a little tired so I am happy to come through," said Mosaad.
"Chris
played very well today, especially in the first and third games. He is
a hard player. I need to get through as easy as I can to save energy
from Chicago and I tried hard to push so I'm really pleased to win and
reach the quarter-finals for the second time."
Home
favourite Daryl Selby rounded out the winners on day one of competition
as he dispatched compatriot Declan James in a highly competitive 3-1
encounter that saw the charismatic World No.16 hit one of the shots of
the year as he executed a between the legs winner in the third game.
"That
was a very tough start to the week," said Selby. "I knew it would be
tough because he came through qualifying with two solid performances
and he showed that he wasn't intimidated by the glass court.
"He's
one of the young up and coming English players - he's got great reach
and he punished me when I was loose. He played well and took the match
to me and he deserved the game he got but I'm very happy to come
through."
Results: First Round (Top Half) Canary Wharf Classic
