Dessouki Despatches Walker In London Upset

Egyptian qualifier Fares Mohamed Dessouki claimed one of the biggest scalps of his brief squash career to date when he despatched top seed Alister Walker in five games in the Coronation London Open to earn a place in the quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour International 25 event at Cumberland Lawn Tennis Club in the England capital.

Experienced Tour player Walker, the 31-year-old World No.17 from Botswana, twice stemmed leads by the Egyptian teenager.

But, undaunted, the 19-year-old from Alexandria - ranked 81 in the world - maintained his composure to close out the match 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 4-11, 11-9 in 85 minutes.

Dessouki, the reigning British Junior U19 Open champion, now faces Lucas Serme for a place in the semi-finals. The unseeded Frenchman also pulled off a notable upset, denying Charles Sharpes an anticipated place in the last eight by beating the higher-ranked London-born 21-year-old 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-3.

Local interest, however, will be satisfied in the next round by third seed Adrian Grant after the World No.23 from London defeated Pakistan's Shahjahan Khan 11-7, 11-7, 11-5.

Left-hander Grant will now line up against Zahed Mohamed after the 21-year-old from Alexandria became the second Egyptian qualifier to survive the first round when he beat fellow countryman Andrew Wagih Shoukry 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7.

Chris Simpson also provides further home interest in the last eight. The Harrogate-based No.4 seed took exactly an hour to overcome compatriot Joel Hinds, a qualifier, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9.

Quarter-final line-up:
[Q] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) v Lucas Serme (FRA)
[4] Chris Simpson (ENG) v Rex Hedrick (AUS)
[3] Adrian Grant (ENG) v [Q] Zahed Mohamed (EGY)
[2] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) v Christopher Gordon (USA)