MUMBAI: Reigning World Open champion Amr Shabana was taken to four games by unfancied Indian Saurav Ghosal before making the quarter-finals of the PSA Masters squash on Monday.
World number three Shabana, who won his fourth Open title in Kuwait City last month, overcame the 32nd-ranked Ghosal 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10 in 48 minutes at the Bombay Gymkhana here.
Sourav is a really strong player and gave me a good fight, said Shabana, who is favored to win the $152,500 event after top-seed Gregory Gaultier crashed out in the first round.
It has been a great few months on the circuit and I hope I can continue the same way in India too.
Shabana s quarter-final opponent will be compatriot Mohamed El-Shorbagy, who won a dramatic five-game cliffhanger against world number six James Willstrop of England.
The 20th-ranked Shorbagy won 7-11, 11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 13-11 in a match that took two hours and 20 minutes to finish after Willstrop left the court with a bleeding forehead during the second game.
El-Shorbagy, who lost the first game, was leading 8-5 in the second when his racquet accidently hit Willstrop in the forehead which interrupted the match for more than an hour.
When the gutsy Willstrop returned with stitches on his face, he was unable to match the Egyptian s power play and lost the second and third games, before bouncing back to take the fourth at 11-5.
Willstrop wasted two match points at 10-9 and 11-10 in the final game before Shorbagy held his nerve to knock Willstrop out of the tournament.
I had lost a bit of confidence in the last few weeks, but it all came back today, said a visibly relieved El-Shorbagy.
Unfortunately I hit him in the second game – I did not do it on purpose – but he fought hard when he returned after the long injury break.
It was anyone s game towards the end and I was lucky to have won, the Egyptian said.
Seventh-seeded Thierry Lincou of France also came through a five-game thriller against Malaysian Ong Beng Hee to make the quarter-finals.
The ninth-ranked Lincou allowed Beng Hee to come back twice in the match before winning 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 13-15, 13-11 in an hour and 44 minutes.
Lincou will take on fourth-seeded Nick Mathew of England for a place in the semi-finals. Mathew beat compatriot Adrian Grant 11-3, 11-5, 11-7.
Third seed Ramy Ashour of Egypt brushed aside Stewart Boswell of Australia 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 to set up a quarter-final clash against Australian veteran David Palmer.
World number eight Palmer, returning to court after a day s rest on Sunday, disposed off Egyptian Omar Mosaad 11-9, 11-9, 11-5.
It suited me that I had a day off between my first and second round matches, said the 33-year-old Palmer. I think they should make it a rule to give those over 30 a day between matches.
The fourth quarter-final will feature world number seven Peter Barker of England against either Daryl Selby or Laurens Jan Anjema of the Netherlands.
The 32-man tournament marks the return of the Masters on the Professional Squash Association calendar for the first time since 2006 when Shabana won the title in Bermuda. -AFP
