Second seed beats Indian No.1 11-6 6-11 11-5 12-10 to enter quarterfinals.
Second seed Amr Shabana beat Indian No.1 Saurav Ghosal 11-6 6-11 11-5 12-10 to enter the quarterfinals of the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters at the Bombay Gymkhana on Monday.
Shabana, the four-time world open champion, got off to a quick start and had the first set in the bag in nine minutes. In the second set, Saurav came back strongly as he clinched the set 11-6. The third set saw Shabana racing to a 5-0 lead and Saurav was left to play catch up. He lost the set 11-5.
The final set was an enthralling one. Saurav had his chances and was leading 6-4 at one stage but Shabana evened it out at 9-9. The Indian had a game ball at 10-9 in the fourth but he hit the tin leaving the scores tied at 10-10.
The next point was controversially handed as a stroke to Shabana giving him an 11-10 lead. The Egyptian closed out the game on the next point to win in 48 minutes. The match was filled with gestures of sportsmanship with both players giving a point to their opponent when the call was wrong.
After the match, Shabana said, “It was a strong match and it’s nice to beat him. I was fortunate to get a stroke on 10-10; the referee gave me a few good calls. There is a very fine line between a let and a stroke and it was unfortunate that it was given as a stroke at a crucial point.”
Saurav was disappointed but happy with his game. He said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t win today. Hopefully I will next year.”
Over the call that went against him, he said: “The last call was a little tragic but then again he took all his opportunities and I was up at 10-9 in the fourth. I’m disappointed that I didn’t win the fourth. I’m glad that the crowd got to watch a match of good quality squash.”
The crowd missed two exciting matches that were played on Court 1. In an upset, sixth seed James Willstrop was beaten by 18-year-old Egyptian Mohammad El- Shorbagy 7-11 11-5 11-4 5-11 13-11. Another five setter saw Thierry Lincou emerging victorious over Ong Beng Hee 11-5 8-11 11-6 13-15 13-11.
Results:
2-Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-6 6-11 11-5 12-10, (12) Mohammad El- Shorbagy (EGY) bt 6-James Willstrop (ENG) 7-11 11-5 11-4 5-11 13-11, 5-David Palmer (AUS) bt Omar Masood (EGY) 11-9 11-9 11-5, 7-Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt 16-Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-5 8-11 11-6 13-15 13-11, 8-Peter Barker (ENG) bt 10-Alister Walker (ENG) 7-11 11-9 11-5 11-7, 3-Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt 14-Stewart Boswell (AUS) 11-9 11-7 11-7, 4-Nick Matthew (ENG) bt 9-Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-3 11-5 11-7
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