Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt in action against compatriot Tarek Momen at the same venue. Gawad won 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10.
BY ARMSTRONG VAS
Doha: World No.11 Daryl Selby of England stunned compatriot and world No.3 James Willstrop to pull off a major upset at the $150,000 Qatar Classic for a place in the quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour Series event.
Yesterday at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, 13 proved to be a lucky mascot for Selby.
It was for the first time that the Essex-based 31-year-old had beaten his England team-mate in 12 previous meetings on the PSA Tour starting from 2007.
But yesterday in Doha, Selby reversed the trend winning 11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 9-11, 13-11 in 89 minutes
The match between the Englishmen proved to be the most engrossing and thrilling of all the eight matches played on the Glass Court.
Controlling the rallies and making Willstrop work hard for his points Selby took the lead by pocketing the first game at 11-8. He continued in the same vein to win the second at 11-5.
Willstrop bounced back in contention winning the next two games at 11-4 and 11-9 to level the scores at two games all.
In the decider an upset looked on the cards as Selby took a 5-0 lead but Willstrop took the next eight points to lead 8-5.
Thereafter fortune fluctuated between the two at 9-all, 10-all, and 11-all.
At 12-11 Selby got his chance to finish the game and match in style.
Willstrop fired the ball down the middle Selby hung his racket out behind his back to notch a winner.
And he celebrated his first ever win over Willstrop by pumping his fist.
On the winning shot from behind his back: “I’d hit a few shots between my legs or behind my back, and although one of them went out I’d found a pretty good length with most of them,” said Selby after registering his biggest win of his career.
“I am delighted to win. I’ve been playing James (Willstrop) since I was seven years old, and this is my first ever win in any competition. It’s a very emotional moment for me. It’s one of my biggest wins ever. I’ll try and enjoy the win for now,” added Selby.
Selby will now take on fifth seed Mohammed Elshorbagy of Egypt in the quarter-finals.
The 22-year-old from Alexandria beat Laurens Jan Anjema in straight games 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 taking just 37 minutes to end the challenge of the Dutchman.
Also advancing to the next round was top seed Gregory Gaultier of France beating Cameron Pilley of Australia 11-9, 11-6, 11-4.
The Frenchman, ranked two in the world, will now take on Spaniard Borja Golan.
In the other upset of the day, Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt shocked compatriot and eighth-seed Tarek Momen 3-2 to qualify for the last eight stage of the championship.
Two more Egyptians Amr Shabana and Karim Darwish complete the Egyptian quartet who will be competing in the quarters today.
Gawad will take on Darwish in the all-Egyptian clash.
Fourth seed Darwish, winner of the title in 2008 and 2010, eased past compatriot Omar Mosaad 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-5.
In the last match yesterday, third seed Matthew defeated Miguel Angel Rodriguez of Colombia. THE PENINSULA
