Balance Restored On Day Three Of PSA Hong Kong Open from PSA Media August 28, 2014
- Following two days of upsets and shock defeats, balance was restored
during the second round of the 2014 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai
Financial Hong Kong Squash Open as all six remaining seeds booked their
places in Friday's quarter-finals.
World No.1 and
tournament favourite Gregory Gaultier led the charge as he continued
his dominant form, easily dispatching Egyptian talent Fares Dessouki
3-0, while number two seed Mohamed Elshorbagy was equally as
comprehensive as he saw off Guernsey's Chris Simpson 3-0 in a dominant
performance.
World No.7 and 2013
Hong Kong Open runner-up Borja Golan survived a tough and testing
encounter against Mohamed Abouelghar, the 20-year-old Egyptian World
No.42, eventually coming through an 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 3-11, 11-4 winner.
It was Golan's first
match of the tournament following first round opponent Lauren Jans
Anjema's withdrawal due to injury but he showed no signs of rustiness
as he recored a second victory over the talented Abouelghar inside a
week.
"I played against
Mohamed last week (in the Malaysian Open) and beat him 3-1 in a really
close match and I knew he would be tough again today so I'm very happy
to have won," said the 31-year-old Spanish star.
"It was my first match
of the tournament and I was maybe guilty of losing my concentration at
times but all credit to him as he was playing really well. He gave away
a few mistakes in the end and I think experience was important at that
stage.
"It's always better to
have a match in the bag because you move with more confidence but
perhaps if I had played yesterday I would have lost so I just focused
on starting well and playing well today.
"I'm in the quarter-finals now and I'm going to enjoy the match and try my best to make the semis."
Egyptian World No.12
Tarek Momen backed up his impressive first round victory over 2011 Hong
Kong Open champion and number three seed James Willstrop with a solid
performance against qualifier Shaun Le Roux.
The powerful South
African made it difficult for the deceptive Momen, forcing the
27-year-old to work for every point and forcing two games into
tie-break situations but despite dropping the second game it was Momen
who triumphed 12-10, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6.
Elsewhere German Simon
Rösner ended the run of surprise package Alfredo Avila, the young
Mexican who knocked out Marwan Elshorbagy in round one, while English
pairing Daryl Selby and Peter Barker join Nicolas Mueller in the last
eight, after the Swiss national champion came through an epic 69-minute
thriller against Gregoire Marche, coming from 2-0 down to mount a
dramatic comeback and steal an 8-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-8 victory.
Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Squash Open 2014 - Quarter-final Draw: [1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [7] Daryl Selby (ENG) [8] Simon Rösner (GER) v Tarek Momen (EGY) [4] Borja Golan (ESP) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI) [5] Peter Barker (ENG) v [2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY)
