Barker Shocks Shabana In Qatar Classic Upset

England's Peter Barker scored the best win of his career when he defeated event favourite and world number one Amr Shabana in four games in the second round of the Qatar Classic in a major upset in the men's PSA Super Series Platinum event at the Khalifa Squash Complex in Doha.

It was the second Tour meeting between the two left-handers - but this time it was Barker, a recent recruit to the England team, who prevailed 11-7, 11-8, 2-11, 11-8 in 46 minutes, dramatically ending Shabana's bid to reach his fourth successive Super Series event final.

"It was a combination of a slow start by him and I really started well. It normally takes me a while to get comfortable at the front, but I knew I had to get there quickly today, I knew he probably wasn't 100% physically, and it just happened right from the start," explained the 23-year-old from Essex to www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards.

"My backhand was good again today, and we played most of the match down that side, hardly any rallies on the forehand. His forehand is such a weapon I was conscious of keeping it off that side.

"I haven't had a better win than that, that's right at the top of the pile."

Barker now faces English team-mate Nick Matthew for a place in his first Super Series semi-final: Matthew, the British Open champion, despatched Egyptian qualifier Omar Mosaad 11-8, 11-6, 11-9.

There was unexpected Egyptian success later when No10 seed Wael El Hindi twice came from behind to upset Australia's fourth seed Anthony Ricketts 3-11, 11-8, 10-11 (0-2), 11-4, 11-7 in 71 minutes. It was the second successive time that the Australian had failed to achieve his seeding since reaching the Tournament of Champions final in New York in March.

"That's my second quarter-final this week," said the 26-year-old from Cairo who goes on to meet England's Lee Beachill. "I lost the last one so we'll have to see how it goes. I've not played Beach for a while."

Egyptian Ramy Ashour, winner of last week's Kuwait Open, had to fight for almost an hour before reserving his place in the last eight in Doha. The 19-year-old third seed beat Finland's 15th seed Olli Tuominen 11-5, 10-11 (0-2), 11-4, 11-9 and will now face England's No6 seed James Willstrop.

"He's like a machine," said Ashour of the Finn. "He runs, he never stops, so you have to be a double machine against him. I haven't played a match at a really fast pace like that for a while so I was happy to be able to do that.

"Yesterday's match (against brother Hisham) affected me physically, I didn't have a quick takeoff and I was diving a lot to get to shots. Now I need good rest - good food and I'll come back tomorrow stronger!"

All top eight seeds progressed through to the quarter-finals of the women's WISPA World Tour Gold event - though not without incident: For only the third time this year in a winning match, Australia's Natalie Grinham dropped a game in her second round clash with England's Alison Waters.

However, the 29-year-old second seed from Queensland, finalist in her last six events, recovered from the first game loss to beat 11th seed Waters 4-9, 9-5, 9-4, 9-0 in 46 minutes.

Grinham goes on to face eighth seed Vanessa Atkinson, the former world champion from the Netherlands who beat Ireland's No9 seed Madeline Perry 9-2, 9-3, 9-5.

Interestingly, the women's event produced the longest match of the day for the second time in 24 hours: Omneya Abdel Kawy battled for 84 minutes before finally overcoming England's 10th seed Laura-Jane Lengthorn 10-8, 8-10, 5-9, 9-6, 9-3.

The eighth seed from Egypt now resumes her career-long rivalry with Malaysia's Nicol David. On course for her tenth successive international title success, the top seed and world number one from Penang beat Annelize Naude, from the Netherlands, 9-3, 9-0, 9-3.

Men's 2nd round:
[14] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [1] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-7, 11-8, 2-11, 11-8 (46m)
[5] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 (42m)
[3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [15] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-5, 10-11 (0-2), 11-4, 11-9 (53m)
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [12] Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 9-11, 11-6 (71m)
[8] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [Q] Alister Walker (ENG) 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (39m)
[10] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [4] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 3-11, 11-8, 10-11 (0-2), 11-4, 11-7 (71m)
[7] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 (30m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt [13] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 (45m)

Women's 2nd round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Annelize Naude (NED) 9-3, 9-0, 9-3 (28m)
[7] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [10] Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) 10-8, 8-10, 5-9, 9-6, 9-3 (84m)
[4] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [14] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 9-3, 9-7, 2-9, 9-3 (53m)
[5] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt [12] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-0, 9-4, 9-2 (33m)
[6] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [13] Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 9-4, 9-6, 9-2 (34m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [16] Kasey Brown (AUS) 9-2, 9-3, 9-0 (26m)
[8] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [9] Madeline Perry (IRL) 9-2, 9-3, 9-5 (40m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [11] Alison Waters (ENG) 4-9, 9-5, 9-4, 9-0 (46m)