LIVERPOOL: Gregory Gaultier lost his British Open title in less than 40 minutes on Saturday as the tournament continued to produce shock results.
On Friday Ramy Ashour, the Super Series champion who had been many people s unofficial favorite for the title, was beaten, and now the world number two from France followed him with unexpected speed.
Amr Shabana, the top-seeded World Open squash champion, also went out, looking less than enamoured with his lot and losing in four games to David Palmer, the three times former British Open champion from Australia.Gaultier was beaten 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 by Egypt s Karim Darwish, who played one of the finest matches of his career.
From the middle of the second game onwards he began to control the match, denying Gaultier pace and keeping it tight until he himself had an opening with which to apply pressure.
The man from Aix-en-Provence grew increasingly frustrated, and may also have been suffering from a dip in confidence after an injury-affected year so far.
Gaultier led 7-5 in the second and stood at 3-3 in the third, but then the match ran away from him quickly. He ended by hitting the last ball into the roof in disgust.
I was so focused, said Darwish. I know when I am focused I am going to play really well.
It all depends on the help I get before the match, added the recently-married Darwish who gets coaching, especially in psychology, from his new wife, Engy Kheirallah, a top 20 player herself.
Darwish is also coached by Amir Wagih, the Egyptian national coach, and had become determined to make up for his defeat against Gaultier last month in Kuwait.
I was ahead in all games and my head wasn t there, he said. I was so frustrated because I wasn t focused so I told myself I had to do that and to win. I had everything in squash and I had to believe in myself.
It earned him a semi-final in the slot into which his compatriot Amr Shabana, the top-seeded world champion was seeded to come through.
Gaultier was understandably too disappointed to talk about his performance immediately after the match and waved reporters away.
He had signaled a warning to the Egyptians who were aiming to take away his title.
The defending champion from Marseille produced a brilliant performance to overcome Olli Tuominen, the world number 14 from Finland, in straight games to reach the quarter-finals in only 34 minutes.
Gaultier not only moved well and showed no signs of the wrist injury which has spoilt his year so far, he conjured remarkable winners from nowhere as he grew accustomed to the speed and feel of a warm, bouncy court.
I wasn t feeling well this week but now I felt better, Gaultier said after his 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 win.
I had a good night s sleep and was feeling fresh again and more confident than before.
However there was French consolation when Isabelle Stoehr became the first woman from her country ever to reach the British Open semi-finals. -AFP
