Dessouki Dispatches Dark Prince In British Open Upset by Nathan Clarke May 15, 2014
- Egyptian qualifier Fares Dessouki will compete in the quarter-finals
of a PSA World Series event for the first time in his career after he
pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the tournament so far to take
out World No.9 Karim Darwish 3-2 at the 2014 Allam British Squash Open.
Dessouki, the
19-year-old World No.55, was a late entry into the competition as the
beneficiary of Tom Richards's withdrawal due to injury but the
youngster showed no sign of nerves as stunned his experienced
compatriot, racing into an early 2-0 lead before holding on to eek out
a win despite a late surge from the former World No.1.
Dessouki will now face
three-time British Open champion and current World Champion Nick
Matthew in Friday's quarter-finals after the Englishman came through a
testing encounter with compatriot Daryl Selby.
"This is the biggest win in my career," said Dessouki.
"To beat a legend like
Karim Darwish is huge. I dreamed of these moments when I was young and
I'm very happy that it has happened.
"My focus was up and
down in the fifth game and I was very lucky because he is a player who
can finish a match from any situation so I'm very happy with this win."
Matthew, who disposed
another Englishman, Joe Lee, in the first round on Monday remains on
course to win the prestigious 'Wimbledon of Squash' for the fourth
time, a win which would see him equal the record of David Palmer, Azam
Khan and Mahmoud Karim.
"It was a huge relief to get the win tonight," said Matthew following the 76-minute battle.
"It was a bit of a
topsy turvey match. We normally have very attritional matches but it
was a dead court today and we both adapted and fortunately I got the
better start in the fifth game and just saw it through."
2014 Allam British Open - Second Round, Top Half Results:
2014 Allam British Open - Second Round, Bottom Half Schedule: May 15 [3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [5] James Willstrop (ENG) [7] Amr Shabana (EGY) v [Q] Gregoire Marche (FRA) Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
