Simpson Shocks Shabana in El Gouna, Ashour Advances by Nathan Clarke
photos PSA
6TH APR 2015
- Egyptian four-time World Champion Amr Shabana suffered a shock first
round exit during the second day of action at the 2015 El Gouna
International PSA World Series event, falling to England’s Chris
Simpson 3-2 in a topsy-turvy 57-minute encounter.
The former World No.1 had cruised to an early two-game lead against
Simpson, the World No.22, and looked odds on to seal a straight-forward
victory but the 34-year-old then appeared to self-destruct, recording a
catalogue of errors as Simpson fought back and levelled the match.
The 28-year-old then held his nerve to complete the 5-11, 7-11, 11-5,
11-4, 11-5 triumph and inflict Shabana’s first PSA World Series first
round defeat since the 2011 Qatar Classic.
“After the second game I thought that was going to be one of my worst ever defeats to him,” said Simpson.
“But I’m not sure what even happened after that. I managed to get some
long rallies in and he seemed to lose a bit of interest which worked in
my favour and I’m incredibly happy to win that match.
“Amr has been my idol since I first started playing and it’s very hard
to get over the respect you have for someone like that and be
competitive but I managed to do that and it’s a strange feeling for me
to get a win over him.”
Simpson will now face James Willstrop, another former World No.1, in
the his second round encounter after the man from Pontefract came from
one-game down to see off South African Stephen Coppinger.
“James and I train together a lot and he’s been No.1 before as well so
it’s two classy players one after the other for me,” added Simpson.
“I’m going to recover tonight and do my best for tomorrow.”
Elsewhere on day two of action defending El Gouna International
champion Ramy Ashour, the 2014 World Champion, survived a double scare
against Marwan Elshorbagy, losing the opening game and suffering an
initially potentially troublesome knee injury before surging through to
a 3-1 win.
Ashour hasn’t competed on the PSA World Tour since winning the World
Championship in November but he’ll be hoping to return to winning ways
again in his home country.
“It’s great to be here and playing in Egypt again,” said Ashour. “It’s
a big deal for us and we’re proud to have such a world class event
taking place here and it’s a just a privilege to be competing.
“Marwan is doing well at the minute and I knew it would be tough match.
He gave me a hard game and I’m happy he pushed me that way.
“I was a little off at the start of the match. I’m coming back from a
brutal period in my life with injuries and I’m fighting every day with
myself and the injuries but I have been doing this all of my life and I
will keep on pushing.”
Draw – Second Round:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v [Q] Mazen Hesham (EGY)
Max Lee (HKG) v [8] Peter Barker (ENG)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [3] Nick Matthew (ENG)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v Fares Dessouki (EGY)
James Willstrop (ENG) v James Willstrop (ENG)
[6] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v Daryl Selby (ENG)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
