Selby Survives Thriller At Canary Wharf Classic by Nathan Clarke
photo courtesy Squashpics.com
March 25, 2014
- England’s Daryl Selby survived an epic scare in the first round of
the 2014 Canary Wharf Classic, fighting from 2-0 down to overturn
Jonathan Kemp in a 5-11, 14-16, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 thriller. Selby, the World
ranked No.10, was stunned by World No.47 Kemp who raced into a quick
one game lead and then showed his nerve to see out a tense tie-break in
the second game and put the Essex-man under severe pressure. But Selby showed his
tenacity and determination to fight back and earn the victory in a
77-minute contest in front of a packed house at London’s East
Wintergarden. “It was an extremely
tough match,” said Selby. “Jonathan is extremely relaxed when he’s
playing now and that makes him a very dangerous opponent. “I had to dig in and
scrap it out a bit but I think it was a good match. I had to be
attacking when I had my chances but I’m just happy to get the win. “Going into the third
game I relaxed a bit mentally as I though I’d probably lost. Against
someone like him you expect he’ll take one out of three games but I got
a good start in the last three games and just keep him at bay. “Playing here is
fantastic,” he added. “The crowd are very fair, they give you stick
when you deserve it and they applaud when you hit good shots. “They love their
squash here and are very knowledgeable and it’s always great to see the
seats full because as a player it’s a great feeling to see a packed
house.” World No.5 James
Willstrop kept his hopes of collecting a fifth Canary Wharf Classic
title alive by seeing off Adrian Waller 3-0 in their first round
match-up. Willstrop cut a
relaxed figure as he proved too much for his younger compatriot, taking
just 35 minutes to record the 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 win. “Adrian and I had a tough 3-0 match at the British Nationals so I was ready for him and very focused today,” said Willstrop. “I was able to snuff
his threats well and quickly and I was quite happy with that and
retrospectively it’s great to get off quickly so you have energy in the
tank for hopefully three more days.” Elsewhere Peter Barker
looked back to his aggressive best as he dispatched Saurav Ghosal 3-0
and German champion Simon Rosner saw off Egyptian qualifier Ali Anwar
Reda 3-0. Canary Wharf Classic - First Round Results, Bottom Half [3] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-4 [37 mins] [6] Simon Rosner (GER) bt [Q] Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-9 [39 mins] [5] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 3-2: 5-11, 14-16, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 [77 mins] [2] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 [35 mins] Canary Wharf Classic – Quarter-final Draw
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [7] Omar Mosaad (EGY) [8] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v [Q] Max Lee (HKG) [3] Peter Barker (ENG) v [6] Simon Rosner (GER) [5] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [2] James Willstrop (ENG)
