Wildcard Declan Downs Masotti To Reach London Classic Quarters

Recording his second successive upset in the PSA World Tour Gold event, English wildcard Declan James is through to the quarter-final of the GillenMarkets London Classic after coming from behind to defeat French No.6 seed Baptiste Masotti in a thriller at the Alexandra Palace.

James, who is playing his first PSA World Tour event since 2022 after suffering a ruptured achilles tendon, went a game down to Masotti but launched a spectacular fightback, taking the second game 11-7 and dominating the third in an 11-5 win to the delight of the home crowd.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games doubles gold medallist will take on former world No.1 and tournament No.3 seed Karim Abdel Gawad in the last eight after the Egyptian beat Eain Yow Ng 2/0.

"What a venue, what a crowd! These are the moments that you train for. I was so grateful to get through the first round and have an opportunity to play here. The intensity against these top 20 guys is a pressure cooker," James said afterwards.

Also through today are Egyptian duo Mostafa Asal and Aly Abou Eleinen, after Asal beat England's Nick Wall 11-6, 11-9 and Eleinen beat England's Nathan Lake 11-6, 11-5.

In the women's event, No.6 seed Sarah-Jane Perry overcame England compatriot Alicia Mead to set up a quarter-final with former world No.1 and No.3 seed Nouran Gohar, with Gohar getting the better of Canada's Hollie Naughton 2/0.

Perry impressed as she grew into the match, finding her targets well to record an 11-9, 11-5 win in just 17 minutes.

After her match, Perry said: "I play my best when I'm enjoying it and playing free squash.

"My team all say 'best of three, that's great for you!' and I actually need to remember that and play [attacking shots] instead of being passive. That's why I don't mind a couple of errors; I want to be that aggressive, attacking player. We're not here to play for two hours, we're here to get a win."

Joining Perry and Gohar in the quarters tomorrow will be 18-year-old Egyptian Fayrouz Aboelkheir, who beat Wales' Emily Whitlock 15-13, 11-9, and world No.2 Hania El Hammamy, who put in a perfect performance to dismantle Optasia champion Satomi Watanabe 11-5, 11-3.