Al Muzayen Moves Mountains In Kuwait

Local wild card Abdullah Al Muzayen pulled off his best win of the year when he upset England's No.2 seed Daryl Selby in the opening round of the Alwatan & Asnan International Tournament to provide unexpected home interest in the inaugural PSA World Tour International 50 squash event at the Late Sheikh / Salem Alsabah International Squash Complex in South Surrah, Kuwait.

It was the pair's second Tour meeting in Al Muzayen's homeland, with World No.10 Selby needing five games to survive the original clash against Kuwait's first ever world top 40 player.

In the latest encounter, the Kuwaiti left-hander opened up a two-game lead before the experienced English international took control of the game to draw level.

But Al Muzayen reclaimed the initiative in the decider and delighted the local crowd by closing out the match 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 6-11, 11-5 in 60 minutes to claim his second career victory over a world top ten player.

"Lost a tough 3-2 against @almezayen12 on his home court tonight," Selby told his Twitter followers later. "I felt like I played quite well but he was just too good today.

"By the way, never seen anyone hit so many outright winners tonight and I felt I was moving well! Dead glass court made it tough but still..." continued Selby.

Al Muzayen now faces Max Lee, the Hong Kong No.1 who despatched Jordan qualifier Ahmad Al-Saraj 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 in just 20 minutes.

Favourite Borja Golan led the remaining seeds safely through to the next round. The Spaniard, who celebrated a career-high No.7 world ranking this month, dropped a game in his 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-3 victory over fast-improving Egyptian teenager Fares Mohamed Dessouki.

Third seed Tarek Momen single-handedly carries Egyptian interest through to the quarter-finals where he will face Dutch No.1 Laurens Jan Anjema.

But the World No.12 from Cairo had to fight back from two games down to see off England's Joe Lee, ranked more than 20 places lower, 8-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 in 63 minutes.

World No.17 Alister Walker also survived a similar battle, recovering from a 2/0 deficit to beat lower-ranked Egyptian Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry 8-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9.

The Botswana 31-year-old - the highest-ranked unseeded player in the draw - now faces Germany's fourth seed Simon Rosner, ranked one position higher, for a place in the semi-finals.

Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Borja Golan (ESP) v Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) v Laurens Jan Anjema (NED)
[4] Simon Rosner (GER) v Alister Walker (BOT)
[WC] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) v Max Lee (HKG)