Shabana Bows Out As Matthew Progresses In New York

Egypt's Amr Shabana, seeded to win his third title in four years, bowed out of the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions after sustaining a knee injury during his match against England's Nick Matthew in the $117,500 PSA Tour Super Series Gold squash event at Grand Central Terminal in New York.

Matthew, who won his first round by a walkover, was on court for just 15 minutes before Shabana retired with the score at 11-3, 6-1 in the Englishman's favour.

The 12th seed will be well rested for his quarter-final encounter with fellow Yorkshireman James Willstrop. The fifth seed played a relaxed match against Yasser El Halaby, the Princeton University graduate who had a roaring fan contingent in the stands.

But the 24-year-old Egyptian did not have the experience to mount a significant challenge to Willstrop, who won 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 in 29 minutes - and will now hope to extend his 8-7 Tour head-to-head count against his England team-mate.

Third seed Ramy Ashour narrowly escaped with a victory at Grand Central Terminal to hold onto the opportunity to defend the title that he won for the first time last year. The 21-year-old Egyptian found himself in a real battle against 16th seed Laurens Jans Anjema who elevated his game to take the reigning World Champion to the brink of defeat.

After winning the first game 11-9, Ashour quickly lost the second 3-11. The 26-year-old Dutchman jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second, but Ashour evened the score at four all. After several lead exchanges, the third seed secured the third game 12-10. Anjema responded by winning the fourth 13-11. Down 7-9 in the fifth, the Egyptian found his touch, winning four straight points to stay in the tournament.

"I feel like I have lost my technique, which is the worst thing that can happen to a squash player," said Ashour, perhaps feeling the pressure of being the sport's young superstar and world champion. "When I got out on the court today, I felt like everything was happening all at once."

Ashour's quarter-final opponent will be former world number one Thierry Lincou, the only player to claim two consecutive victories over Ashour in the past year. The 32-year-old Frenchman had to make a big comeback in his match against England's Peter Barker to reach the last eight.

After losing the first two games to the ninth seed, 2-11, 7-11, Lincou was energised to turn the tide when his fellow Frenchman Renan Lavigne admonished him: "You cannot lose this match 3-0," said his French team-mate. Lincou's response: "I decided I just had to hit the ball properly." And he proceeded to do so - adding power and length to his hitting, and also throwing in some drop shots to win the next three games 11-7, 11-2, 11-8.

2nd round:
[10] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [1] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-3, 6-1 ret. (15m)
[5] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Yasser El Halaby (EGY) 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (29m)
[3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [16] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-13, 11-9 (82m)
[7] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [9] Peter Barker (ENG) 2-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-8 (81m)
[6] David Palmer (AUS) bt [12] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-4, 11-9, 11-1 (30m)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Alister Walker (ENG) 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (51m)
[13] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 6-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 (73m)
[2] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [11] Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (31m)