Matthew Into British Open Quarters by Scarlett Smith
photos squashpics.com
May 13, 2015 -
Three time World Champion Nick Matthew has reached the quarter finals
of the Allam British Open in Hull after a 7/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/7 win
against France’s Gregoire Marche.
The Englishman had a slow start against the World No.26, going 7-1 down
before losing the first game. With the support of the Yorkshire
crowd Matthew clawed his way back into the match, keeping the 34 year
old on track for a fourth British Open title.
Matthew said: “I’m still not moving as well as I’d like, but the
improvement in the last 48 hours in my ankle has been massive so I was
a lot more confident. I’m just trying to enjoy it and remember
what I do normally.
“I know it was always the right decision to play the tournament because
I had nothing to lose. I’m fit enough to give it a go and then it
just comes down to whether my squash is good enough and sharp enough
because clearly I haven’t had the preparation I would have liked in
terms of time on court.
“I guess England haven’t had the best British Open so far and I did
think about that slightly, that if I did go by the wayside then it
would be a bit of a shocker, so I did feel a bit of responsibility on
my shoulders! I think that creeps in when you’re not quite match
sharp but I’m hoping to get into that zone mentality in the next few
days as I get more matches under my belt,” concluded the Englishman.
World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy survived a scare in his second round
match after being taken to the wire by Spaniard Borja Golan. The
tournament favourite snuck through 4/11, 11/8, 11/6, 1/11, 11/7 in 67
minutes.
Germany’s Simon Rosner had a tough battle against Egypt’s Fares
Dessouki with the pair facing each other for the first time in World
Series event.
In a long and tense match full of video reviews the German number one
overcame the young Egyptian 11/9, 11/4, 12/14, 13/11 in a mammoth 91
minutes.
Rosner commented: “It was very tough and very intense as well, it was
going back and forth with a few referee decisions as well but that’s
just part of the game. We both wanted to win so badly because it
would mean a place in the quarter finals of the British Open, I’m very
lucky and happy to be through.”
In the women’s draw the 2012 finalist Nour El Sherbini cruised past
Siyoli Waters 11/2, 11/8, 11/5 to reach the last 16. Whilst
fellow Egyptian and World No.2 Raneem El Weleily looks to be in
excellent form as she controlled compatriot Yathreb Adel to also win
3-0.
“This is the British Open, it’s one of the best tournaments of the
year. Everyone had some time off before this event to start
again, get fresh and regroup and I’m pretty sure everyone had a tough
first round yesterday so I’m actually pleased to get through each
round,” said El Weleily.
Malaysia’s Delia Arnold reached her first ever World Series quarter
final after taking down another seed. The World No.29 described
her win against Hong Kong’s Annie Au as her ‘best ever’ result.
Camille Serme took out India’s Dipika Pallikal 11/5, 11/3, 11/2 and said she ‘would love to make the final’.
