Pilley Powers Into Maiden Super Series Quarters In Hong Kong

Rising Australian Cameron Pilley pulled off his second successive upset in today's second round of the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open when he defeated England's seventh seed Nick Matthew in straight games to reach the last eight of the men's $145,000 PSA Super Series Platinum event in Hong Kong.

The shock 11-8, 11-9, 11-4 victory - which avenges his loss to the higher-ranked Yorkshireman in September's Dutch Open final - takes Pilley into the first Super Series quarter-final of his career.

The 26-year-old world No20 from New South Wales now faces a further Englishman, after third seed James Willstrop despatched Malaysia's tenth seed Ong Beng Hee 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.

Favourite Amr Shabana was stretched for more than an hour before overcoming Australia's 16th seed Stewart Boswell 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6 in 62 minutes to earn his place in the last eight. The 29-year-old from Giza is joined in the quarter-finals by fellow Egyptians Karim Darwish and Ramy Ashour - both of whom beat Englishmen. Shabana takes on Darwish for a place in the semi-finals.

In the women's $104,000 WISPA World Tour Platinum event, Malaysian favourite Nicol David extended her unbroken Tour run to 50 matches after beating Asian rival Rebecca Chiu. The world number one was taken to four games by the Hong Kong number one before winning 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2 in 34 minutes.

Later in the day, France's Isabelle Stoehr earned a surprise place in the last eight when she beat former world champion Vanessa Atkinson, the No8 seed from the Netherlands. Atkinson took the first game and narrowly missed out in the second. But Stoehr, the 14th seed, piled on the pressure to clinch her 10-12, 13-11, 11-1, 11-7 victory - and a meeting with Australia's third seed Rachael Grinham in the quarter-finals.

Men's 2nd round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [16] Stewart Boswell (AUS) 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6 (62m)
[6] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [11] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-4, 11-3, 11-8 (39m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Alister Walker (ENG) 13-11, 16-14, 11-8 (57m)
[8] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 11-7, 11-2, 11-7 (55m)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [7] Nick Matthew (ENG) 11-8, 11-9, 11-4 (42m)
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [10] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 (38m)
[5] David Palmer (AUS) bt [13] Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (29m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [12] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (39m)

Women's 2nd round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [13] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2 (34m)
[7] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [16] Samantha Teran (MEX) 11-8, 11-3, 11-8 (25m)
[4] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt Raneem El Weleily (EGY) 13-11, 11-9, 11-8 (26m)
[6] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [9] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) 12-10, 4-11, 11-7, 9-11, 12-10 (66m)
[14] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt [8] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) 10-12, 13-11, 11-1, 11-7 (39m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [12] Kasey Brown (AUS) 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 (26m)
[5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [11] Tania Bailey (ENG) 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 10-12, 11-5 (58m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [15] Madeline Perry (IRL) 11-9, 12-14, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6 (55m)