Chaotic Quarter-Final Night In Shanghai Sees Champion Dethroned

On a chaotic night in Shanghai, Mohamad Zakaria downed defending champion Mohamed ElShorbagy, No.6 seed Youssef Ibrahim upset world No.2 Paul Coll and teen star Amina Orfi broke yet another record as the China Open semi-finalist line-up was confirmed.

In a bizarre clash, Egypt's 18-year-old Zakaria finally got the win he'd been craving against former world No.1 ElShorbagy.

The Englishman made a strong start to his title defence as he clinched the first game against the edgy teenager 11-8.

Game two was a bizarre affair, with ElShorbagy - who began the game by requesting the ball be cleaned - seemingly uninterested in competing whatsoever as Zakaria cruised to an 11-1 win.

The 18-year-old continued to dominate in game three, with ElShorbagy frequently doubling up in pain as Zakaria moved into a 2/1 lead with an 11-5 win.

Game four saw ElShorbagy bring all his mental fortitude to bear. Despite continuing to struggle, wincing after almost every point, ElShorbagy was able to go game ball up at 10-9 to move within a point of an unlikely fifth game.

Zakaria was able to hold on, though, saving game ball to force a tie-break.

ElShorbagy earned another game ball, but could not convert, with Zakaria finally putting his beleaguered opponent to the sword after seeing his own game ball saved to close out 14-12.

"I've been on the tour for two to three years. This was probably one of the strangest squash matches that I've ever played in," said Zakaria.

"It didn't even feel like a squash match, it was a mental battle. I was just finding myself in bad situations. He took it to a mental battle and took it away from the squash and into the mental side. I told him at the end that I had never experienced anything like it, ever. I'd heard about it but never been in it. It has made me realise how much there still is to learn about the mental side of the game."

In the last match of the day, world No.8 Ibrahim took on the highest seed remaining, No.2 seed Coll, who went into the match with a 100 percent record from their eight previous meetings.

On the cold court, though, Ibrahim played some of his best squash of the season, recovering from 6-10 down to snatch game one 12-10.

From here, Ibrahim looked unstoppable, dominating as he took game two 11-8 and then - after seeing several match balls saved in game three - rounding out with another 11-8 in the third.

In the night's opening match, yet another record tumbled to Amina Orfi as the teen squash star became the youngest player in the modern era to record 100 wins on the PSA Squash Tour after defeating Egyptian compatriot Nada Abbas in an injury-curtailed quarter-final.

Orfi, 18, has enjoyed a spectacular start to her career; she is the only player to win the junior world championships four times and last month became the youngest player to reach world No.3.

The Egyptian now has another record in her collection, reaching 100 PSA Squash Tour wins after just 129 matches, though she will be disappointed with how the record was confirmed tonight, with Abbas shaking hands in game two after an awkward lunge in game one.

Afterwards, Orfi said: "Not the way I wanted to win my 100th match. I don't know what happened, but I hope for a speedy recovery for her and I'm looking forward to my semi-final.

"I can't believe it's my 100th win - I feel like I've played and won lots more! I didn't know I was the youngest ever to do that, it's another milestone along the way and a small victory that gives me confidence in my dream"