Double Delight For Egypt At Men's British Open by Nathan Clarke
photos courtesy squashpics.com
May 15, 2014 -
Four-time squash World Champion Amr Shabana and two-time World Champion
Ramy Ashour completed a delightful double for Egypt during the second
round of the 2014 Allam British Squash Open today.
Shabana, who has never
won the prestigious 'Wimbledon of Squash', was in sublime form as he
overcame Frenchman Gregoire Marche 3-1 while defending British Open
champion Ashour came through a tough encounter against Dutch national
champion Laurens Jan Anjema, also winning 3-1.
The duo's success
means that there will be an Egyptian presence in all four of tomorrow's
(Friday May 16) quarter-finals, as they are joined in the final eight
by World No.3 Mohamed Elshorbagy and 19-year-old qualifier Fares
Dessouki, who faces the mammoth challenge of taking on English World
Champion Nick Matthew.
"It's been a long
season for all of us but I'm just happy to be in these matches and
competing and to get through to the quarter-finals," said 34-year-old
Shabana, who takes on World No.1 Gregory Gaultier in his last eight
match-up.
"Hopefully I can just come back tomorrow and produce some more squash like I did today."
Ashour will have to
get the better of England's James Willstrop, the World No.6, in order
to keep his hopes of becoming the first Egyptian in 50 years to
successfully defend the British Open crown.
"It's always good to play in England," said Ashour.
"The crowd here are
very knowledgable and they're getting engaged with all the decisions
which makes it exciting, and hopefully I can see more of that this week.
"James is a big guy
and I've had some great battles with him in the past so it is
definitely going to be an interesting match to watch tomorrow."
2014 Allam British Open - Second Round, Bottom Half Results: [3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 3-1: 9-11, 11-1, 11-9, 11-4 [51m] [7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-1: 11-5, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 [55m] [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 [48m] [5] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 13-11, 9-11, 11-4 [90m]
2014 Allam British Open - Quarter-final Draw: May 16 [1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Q] Fares Dessouki (EGY) Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [4] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [7] Amr Shabana (EGY) [3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [5] James Willstrop (ENG)
