Darwish Dashes Ashour's Qatar Hopes

Ramy Ashour, the 20-year-old Egyptian who had reached at least the semi-finals in all nine PSA Tour events in which he had competed so far this year, crashed out of the Qatar Classic after retiring injured in the second round of the $120,000 Super Series Platinum squash event in Doha, Qatar.

The second seed was stretched to a lengthy tie-break in the first game, then only managed two points in the second against compatriot Karim Darwish, the No9 seed.

Already carrying a minor wrist injury, Ashour crashed to the floor midway through the third game clutching his left ankle - immediately taking off his shoe and clearly in considerable pain.

"The match is over!" screamed the world number two, who was later taken to hospital for an X-ray, reports www.squashsite.co.uk

Darwish's 11-10 (5-3), 11-2, 5-4 (ret.) victory takes the 26-year-old from Cairo into a quarter-final against fifth seed Thierry Lincou after the Frenchman beat England's Joey Barrington 11-4, 11-5, 11-7.

Ong Beng Hee maintained his giant-killing Doha run by beating Egypt's No8 seed Wael El Hindi 11-8, 7-11, 11-10 (2-0), 9-11, 11-10 (4-2) in a 112-minute marathon. The unseeded Malaysian had earlier upset 10th seed Stewart Boswell to reach the last sixteen.

"This was my lucky day today, I was match ball down, and I win," Beng Hee told www.squashsite.co.uk. "A bit stop-and-start all the way, but I'm happy with my win, very happy!"

Beng Hee now takes on top seed Amr Shabana, the world number one from Egypt who defeated compatriot Mohammed Abbas 7-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5, 11-7.

In the women's $77,000 WISPA Gold championship, Alison Waters brought the giant-killing run of unseeded Jaclyn Hawkes to an end - beating the New Zealander 9-0, 9-5, 9-2.

In only her second WISPA Gold quarter-final this year, the No12 seed from England now faces top seed Nicol David. In a repeat of their first round match in last week's Madrid World Open, the Malaysian world number one beat France's Isabelle Stoehr 9-0, 9-7, 9-4.

"I started well, I found it good watching Beng Hee playing before as when I found out he won I had an extra bit of motivation from the start," said David. "I'm pleased with my match today."

Men's 2nd round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [12] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 7-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5, 11-7 (38m)
Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-8, 7-11, 11-10 (2-0), 9-11, 11-10 (4-2) (112m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [15] Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-3, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8 (65m)
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [16] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 (37m)
[7] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [13] Peter Barker (ENG) 10-11 (2-4), 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 (77m)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 10-11 (0-2), 11-1, 11-6, 11-5 (53m)
[5] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 (31m)
[9] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) 11-10 (5-3), 11-2, 5-4 ret. (41m)

Women's 2nd round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [16] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 9-0, 9-7, 9-4 (40m)
[12] Alison Waters (ENG) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 9-0, 9-5, 9-2 (25m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [10] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 9-4, 9-6, 9-2 (37m)
[6] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt [14] Kasey Brown (AUS) 8-10, 9-3, 9-6, 9-6 (61m)
[8] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [Q] Tenille Swartz (RSA) 9-4, 9-3, 9-7 (24m)
[4] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [13] Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 9-5, 9-2, 9-2 (37m)
[5] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [11] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) 9-5, 8-10, 9-4, 9-7 (62m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [9] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-1, 9-1, 9-1 (30m)