Shocks Shatter Second Super Series Finals Session In Manchester

In a dramatic second day's play in the ATCO Super Series Finals, all four matches in the flagship PSA Tour event at the National Squash Centre in Manchester went against the seedings - with Egypt's Ramy Ashour emerging as the only unbeaten player!

Ashour, the teenager from Cairo who has taken the squash world by storm with his rapid rise to No2 in the world rankings, faced Australia's David Palmer, the reigning World Open champion and one of only two players in the draw to have won this prestigious title before.

But Ashour, the seventh seed, battled to an 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3 victory in 55 minutes over the second seed from New South Wales to become the clear leader in the Manchester Group with two wins out of two matches.

"He played well in the second, but apart from that I played a perfect game," the confident 19-year-old told the event's official website www.superseriesfinals.net. "I tried to make it a high-paced match, but you can't play at that pace all the time on this court, but I couldn't afford to get into the hard-hitting rallies David likes."

Palmer, a former world number one with 20 PSA Tour titles to his credit, had no excuses: "He was just too good. It would be easy to make excuses, but I was just too flat tonight."

There was Egyptian success in the other match in the group when eighth seed Karim Darwish beat former champion Thierry Lincou, the No4 seed, 11-3, 11-10 (4-2), 11-8. The win opened up chances in the group for the 25-year-old from Cairo, but ended Frenchman Lincou's hopes of a further Super Series crown.

Frenchman Gregory Gaultier pulled off a significant upset in the ATCO Group by beating Egypt's world No1 Amr Shabana 8-11, 11-4, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-5 in 63 minutes. The earlier win by sixth seed Nick Matthew in the all-English clash with fifth seed James Willstrop leaves the chances of success in the group completely open - with all four players sharing the same statistic of 'played one; won one'.

Gaultier was delighted to have made amends for his defeat by Willstrop the night before: "I was out injured for two or three months, so I'm happy to be back. I can't expect to reach my peak straight away, but I'm happy with how it's going and I'm glad to have won today.

"Amr was probably a bit tired from his five-setter last night which is probably why I won!"

The longest clash of the night saw Sheffield's British Open champion Nick Matthew recover from a game down to beat Yorkshire rival James Willstrop 7-11, 11-10 (4-2), 11-8, 11-8 in 79 minutes.

"I had a few words with myself last night about not being despondent about losing from 2/0 up, but tonight I knew that it was important not to go 2/0 down, so I really fought hard for that second," said Matthew.

"It's always hard when we play - we play so often, but as much as you know James' game you can never know it enough, he's got so many little flicks, shots that can catch you out."

2nd pool round:
ATCO Group
[6] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [5] James Willstrop (ENG) 7-11, 11-10 (4-2), 11-8, 11-8 (79m)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [1] Amr Shabana (EGY) 8-11, 11-4, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-5 (63m)
Manchester Group
[8] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [4] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-3, 11-10 (4-2), 11-8 (43m)
[7] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [2] David Palmer (AUS) 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3 (55m)