Elnawasany Survives Calgary Marathon To Reach Canadian Open Quarters

World No.25 Yahya Elnawasany secured a place in the last eight of the men's Canadian Open after a hard-fought battle, beating Spain's Ivan Perez 3/1 in a 90-minute marathon. Despite the margin in the scoreline, there was very little to separate the two on the glass court in Calgary.

In the opening game, the duo shared the first 18 points, with Elnawasany eventually finding some breathing room to win the opener 11-9. The back-and-forth nature of the contest continued into the second, with the pair taking the game to a tie-break.

Once again, the Egyptian would get the best of his 25-year-old opponent, clinching the second 14-12 after a brutal 29 minutes.

Moving into the third game, it seemed that they would once again push each other to the limit, sharing the first 12 points. The No.7 seed would eventually extend the point advantage to 9-7, with it seeming that he had done enough to reach the last eight.

However, this wasn't the case as Perez would turn the tide and go on to win the next four points to claim the third 11-9. Despite the impressive late comeback, Perez's efforts would come to nothing, with the Egyptian re-establishing his control of the contest in the fourth, winning 11-5.

Coming off the back of his victory at the McMillan Goodfellow Classic PSA Squash Tour Copper event last week, Elnawasany has been showing strong form and will be looking to capitalise on it as he moves one step closer to potentially lifting another title.

After the match, the No.7 seed said: "I am feeling really happy, it was a tricky match. I knew this was going to be a tough match because it was also my first time on this court, and I had never played in this altitude before, but I am happy to have come away with the win.

"I was leading 9-7 in the third, and he hit a silly mistake at 8-7 and I thought 'Okay, I am starting to get into his head and he's starting to give up' but suddenly he came back, and I made a couple of mistakes and lost focus, and then the game was over.

"So, I am happy that I was able to back myself up and not crack, but it was tough, as the games are long and it's hard physically, so to play one more game, it was tough on the mind."

Elnawasany will now face No.1 seed Marwan ElShorbagy. The world No.8 reached the last eight after an impressive comeback victory against English compatriot Nathan Lake to avoid a potential early exit.

Lake, who took the opener 11-2, was unable to hold onto his lead as the No.1 seed clawed his way back into the contest, winning the next three games 11-6, 11-8, 11-7.

Elsewhere, fellow countryman Adrian Waller was able to stun the No.8 seed Raphael Kandra to secure his spot in the last eight. The Englishman's 3/1 victory sets him up for an exciting quarter-final match against No.3 seed Leonel Cardenas, who progressed after beating Toufik Mekhalfi in three straight games.

Other notable results in the second round included world No.5 Victor Crouin beating England's Nick Wall in a 62-minute battle, and No.4 seed Greg Lobban staging a comeback against Simon Herbert to win 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-4.