AL-KHOBAR: Karim Darwish, who caused a surprise by snatching the season-end number one ranking while winning the Saudi International on this court two years ago, signaled his belief he can win the World Open on it this week.
The 29-year-old from Cairo did that by on Tuesday reaching the quarter-finals with an unexpectedly emphatic 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 win over his compatriot Wael El-Hindi, who has twice before reached the last eight himself.
It took only 38 minutes, which meant that Darwish simultaneously preserved precious energy during a long tournament and further boosted confidence which is already on the rise after recent title successes at El-Gouna, Egypt, and Qatar.
"I am more mature now, and that helps," said Darwish, who has been ringing his wife Engy Kheirullah, a top 20 player from whom he sometimes seeks coaching and tactical advice on the phone.
"I am in good shape physically and after you have had a few wins it is always good for your confidence."
It was still surprising how completely Darwish outplayed an opponent with a reputation as a tough and sometimes contentious fighter and who two months ago was in the world’s top 10.
Darwish not only moved better, he attacked with fluency and variety, scoring points as frequently in the front court as at the back.
El-Hindi received a heavy shunt in the back early in the second game, which made him wince and caused a minute’s delay, but he had already begun to look fatalistic and out of sorts and the expected fight-back never materialized.
Darwish now plays Peter Barker, the world number eight who clinched the world team title for England three years ago, and may go on to have a semi-final with another Englishman, James Willstrop.
However Willstrop’s progress was more tortured than Darwish’s. It took him fully 80 minutes to get past his compatriot Daryl Selby 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, requiring a significant dip into his fuel tank to achieve it.
"He gave me little to play with and I had to dig, dig, dig," Willstrop said. "I was a bit disconsolate about that, but perhaps I shouldn’t have been. It was good that I could still win that way."
The sixth-seed now plays Mohammed El-Shorbagy, the former world junior champion from Egypt who is managing doing a degree in business studies at Bristol University whilst maintaining a place in the world’s top 12.
