Darwish Prevails Amidst Egyptian Shocks In Saudi

Karim Darwish emerged as the only Egyptian to make it through to the semi-finals of the Saudi International after compatriots Amr Shabana and Ramy Ashour - the world number one and world champion, respectively - suffered shock defeats in the $250,000 PSA Tour Super Series Platinum championship in the Saudi city of Al-Khobar.

It was seventh seed Darwish who dealt Shabana's blow in the world's richest squash tournament in history: Currently number two in the world, Darwish recovered from a game down to beat Shabana - who has topped the world rankings unopposed since April 2006 - 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 in 50 minutes.

"It's a dream come true - not only to beat Shabana here in Saudi on this court he loves so much, but I worked out the rankings before the match and I knew that making the semis if he didn't was enough to put me at world number one in January," Darwish told the official website www.atcosquash.com

"It's always hard to play Shabana, he's got so much confidence, so many shots. Everything went for him in the first, but I came better in the second and played really well from then on.

"I wanted to win this match so much, I was so focused in the third and fourth. I was getting to every ball and attacking as well, you can't play Shabana at the back all the time you have to attack too.

"I'm just so pleased to win, but now I need to put that out of my mind and concentrate on the semi-final!"

The 27-year-old from Cairo will now face Nick Matthew - out of action for most of the year following shoulder surgery - after the No8 seed from England pulled off one of the best wins of his career to beat recently-crowned World Open champion Ramy Ashour 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 11-6.

"That's my best win since the layoff, for sure, I'm very pleased with that," said the 28-year-old Yorkshireman. "I had to stay focused and concentrate on every shot, every rally, one bad shot or if you relax one percent, he can hit a winner.

"I had to play very good squash to win and I think I did that. I'll enjoy it for an hour, then refocus for tomorrow - another big match, against an Egyptian again, and with another big crowd supporting him!"

Gregory Gaultier produced the only non-upset of the day when he beat fellow Frenchman Thierry Lincou 11-9, 11-7, 11-5.

"It was a tough match," acknowledged the second seed from Aix-en-Provence. "Thierry played well in the first, but I started to get used to it, got warmer and warmer and started to find my shots.

"I'm really pleased with the win, there's always more pressure when you play one of your won countrymen, but we've played each other enough now that we can concentrate on the match, not the national ranking."

Tour veteran David Palmer extended his run of marathon victories over Englishman James Willstrop when he upset the third seed 12-10, 11-8, 4-11, 12-10.

"I'm more relieved than anything else, they were tough conditions on there, and that's not the best way to play but you just have to do what you need to do," explained the 32-year-old fifth seed who celebrated his 100th successive month in the world's top ten this month.

"He usually has the shots and I have to try to get the edge by wearing him down over four or five games, but on there it's so hard to get the ball going it just came down to a shootout. Whoever went short first probably had an 80% chance of winning the rally and to beat a shot player like James on that type of court is a big bonus," added Palmer.

Quarter-finals:
[7] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [1] Amr Shabana (EGY) 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 (50m)
[8] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 11-6 (56m)
[5] David Palmer (AUS) bt [3] James Willstrop (ENG) 12-10, 11-8, 4-11, 12-10 (50m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [6] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 (50m)