Shabana Back In Stunning Style In Super Series Finals At Queen's

After a lacklustre performance in the opening round, Egypt's former world number one Amr Shabana returned to stunning form in the second pool match in the ATCO Super Series Finals to beat England hope James Willstrop in the flagship $110,000 PSA Tour squash event being staged for the first time at The Queen's Club in London.

Fifth-seeded Yorkshireman Willstrop looked in good shape after clinching the first game, but the 29-year-old second seed from Giza stormed back to clinch the next three games and with it victory 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 in 54 minutes.

Willstrop, 25, had been hoping to continue his winning ways after defeating Shabana's Egyptian team-mate Ramy Ashour, the 2007 champion, in his first match on Saturday night.

But Shabana put his own disappointing first day defeat at the hands of France's Thierry Lincou behind him.

The Egyptian wizard was clearly happy with his performance: "I surprised myself today. I haven't played that well since last year," Shabana admitted after the match.

The result means with both Willstrop and Shabana having one victory each, Monday's final group matches will be make or break in deciding who goes through to Tuesday night's prestigious final stages.

In the other match of the day in the Prince Group, Thierry Lincou defeated Ramy Ashour in convincing manner 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5 in 44 minutes to maintain his unbeaten record in the group.

Earlier in the other group, France's defending champion Gregory Gaultier, the fourth seed, maintained his imperious form in defeating his great friend and training partner Wael El Hindi, the eighth seed from Egypt making his Super Series Finals debut, 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 in just 38 minutes.

Meanwhile, world number one Karim Darwish came through against Australian veteran David Palmer 11-3, 15-13, 11-9. The second game - the game of the championship so far - contained a series of fast-paced rallies with both players close to clinching it before Darwish sneaked home.

2nd pool round:
ATCO Group
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 (38m)
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [6] David Palmer (AUS) 11-3, 15-13, 11-9 (62m)
Prince Group
[2] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [5] James Willstrop (ENG) 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (54m)
[7] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5 (44m)