Momen & Mehboob Make Cairo Quarters

Unseeded Pakistani Farhan Mehboob and Egyptian qualifier Tarek Momen maintained their giant-killing runs in the Petrosport International Championship after upsetting higher-ranked opponents to secure unexpected places in the quarter-finals of the new $140,000 PSA Super Series Platinum squash event at the Sky Club in Cairo.

Despite the withdrawal of Cairo-based world No4 Ramy Ashour with an injury to his right knee, the dramatic day of second round action left Egyptian interest in all four of the quarter-finals.

Just 24 hours after producing his "best win ever" by defeating France's world No2 Gregory Gaultier, 20-year-old Tarek Momen battled for 88 minutes to overcome Spaniard Borja Golan, the 14th seed, 11-7, 9-11, 13-11, 5-11, 11-5.

"I was so tired after my previous matches, and after the third, the combined effort of yesterday and today took the better of me," Momen, ranked 48 in the world, told www.squashsite.co.uk. "And when I saw the way he was playing in the fourth, I thought that he would keep up with his strong pace.

"But I don't know what happened, he seemed to stop playing. I'm just glad I come out of that. I'm just so pleased I got through."

It was a day of mixed emotions for Malaysian Ong Beng Hee. Back in the top ten, with a single figure ranking for the first time for more than four years after winning the Malaysian Open last week, the 28-year-old No7 seed crashed out of the event, beaten 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 by Mehboob in an 85-minute marathon.

The 19-year-old from Peshawar, ranked 33 in the world, now faces Egyptian Karim Darwish, the fourth seed, while Momen takes on Malaysian Mohd Azlan Iskandar, the No8 seed.

Favourite Amr Shabana confidently took his place in the last eight, but had to recover from a game down to beat fellow Egyptian Omar Mosaad 12-14, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 in 63 minutes.

"Omar just goes for his shots - he reminds me of me at his age! And because he feels confident, the shots usually come in. He is very tough to beat," said the world number one afterwards.

"He is one of those young players coming up fast - he is the same age as Ramy, and will be in the top 20 soon. I knew this was going to be tough, and I'm happy to get a win."

2nd round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [15] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 12-14, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 (63m)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 (43m)
[9] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) w/o
[5] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [12] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-3, 11-5, 11-1 (34m)
Farhan Mehboob (PAK) bt [7] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 (85m)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [11] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4 (60m)
[8] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [16] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-3 (46m)
[Q] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [14] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-7, 9-11, 13-11, 5-11, 11-5 (88m)