Pilley Powers Past Matthew In Major Cairo Upset

Australian Cameron Pilley pulled off a major upset in the second round of the Sky Open in Egypt when he defeated England's fifth seed Nick Matthew - winner of the British Open title last week - to reach the quarter-finals of the $147,500 PSA Tour squash event at Sky Petrosport Club in Cairo.

Matthew, the world No5 from Sheffield, arrived at the first Super Series Platinum championship of the year in Cairo in the form of his life - after dismissing Pilley in straight games in Manchester en-route to winning the prestigious British Open trophy for the second time in four years.

Pilley, the 16th seed from New South Wales, took the opening two games before the Englishman reduced the deficit by taking the third after a tie-break. The fourth game also went the full distance before world No17 Pilley emerged the 12-10, 11-6, 10-12, 13-11 victor after 90 minutes.

"This is the best he ever played against me, and as he was injured last week when I played him, I didn't expect such a game I guess," Matthew admitted to www.squashsite.co.uk later. "He had confidence in his shots today. When he gets everything together, body and mind, he is pretty dangerous.

"Still, I can't use winning a tournament as an excuse really, and I'd rather win one and lose the next one in the sixteenth than play two semis!"

There were further notable upsets - none more so than the career-first win by defending champion Wael El Hindi over Frenchman Thierry Lincou, the former world number one and world champion. El Hindi, the ninth-seeded Egyptian who has failed to live up to expectations since winning the Sky title last year, took 110 minutes to overcome Lincou, the No7 seed, 11-5, 13-11, 13-15, 13-11.

Alister Walker, the 12th seed, survived the longest match of the day - beating higher-ranked England team-mate Adrian Grant for only the second time in his career 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 4-11, 12-10 in 121 minutes. Eighth seed Grant had match ball at 10-9 in the fifth game. After seven lets, Walker finally won the point before going on to take the match.

English rivals James Willstrop and Peter Barker also fought out an evenly-contested battle - but 10th seed Willstrop ultimately prevailed when Barker, the sixth seed, conceded the match at 7-1 down in the third, suffering with blisters on his foot.

2nd round:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 (29m)
[16] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [5] Nick Matthew (ENG) 12-10, 11-6, 10-12, 13-11 (90m)
[4] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [11] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (45m)
[12] Alister Walker (ENG) bt [8] Adrian Grant (ENG) 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 4-11, 12-10 (121m)
[10] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [6] Peter Barker (ENG) 8-11, 12-10, 7-1 ret. (45m)
[3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [14] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 13-11, 11-3, 4-11, 11-6 (38m)
[9] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [7] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-5, 13-11, 13-15, 13-11 (110m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [15] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) 11-9, 12-10, 11-5 (49m)