Doha: Rising Egyptian talents Mazen Hesham and Ali Farag produced two of the most impressive and dominant performances of the tournament so far to progress to the quarter-finals of the Qatar Classic squash tournament.
The duo will meet each other in a highly anticipated encounter today after 21-year-old Hesham produced a sensational performance to overcome World No.6 Omar Mosaad, the Delaware Investments US Open runner-up, in straight-games.
Hesham repeated his British Open win over Mosaad, with a striaght games win over the fourth seed.
The youngster got the better of two close opening games, a trio of lucky shots leaving Mosaad frustrated at the end of the first, then took a quick lead in the third and, with Mosaad making several unforced errors, held on to secure another good win.
“Mosaad was much more tense than I was.
“He was playing so hard on there. But it’s funny, last time I played him, I was injured, today, I’m injured, my shoulder, I’ve been spending my last three days on the physio table, but I guess it’s a lucky charm because every time I play him, injured, I win! I’ll keep on playing injured if that’s what it takes,” said Hesham after his win.
But to be honest, my shoulder was fine, I didn’t feel anything, but maybe it actually helped me because I was focusing more on my shots.
“At the end of that first, when I get those three lucky shots, man, it must have been my mum praying for me… I am blessed man, I am blessed…,” Hesham added.
Farag, on the other hand, showed class and maturity beyond his 23-years as he ran proceedings against experienced English campaigner and World No.16 Daryl Selby.
“Today is a very, very good day,” said Farag, who graduated from Harvard University last year.
“I knew I could win and I believed I could win but I didn’t expect to put in a performance like that – that is the best I have played all week and the best I have played in a long time.
“It’s my first time in the second round of a World Series tournament and now I’m into the quarters for the first time and that feels amazing. I’m really happy with how disciplined I played as I didn’t go for many silly shots and that is pleasing.”
Farag said he believed he coupled pull off.
This is the first time in the quarters. I was dreaming but I always believed I could do it. And that’s why when I book my flight, I always book the return for the day after the final. Because I believe I can do it,” Farag said.
With the exit of Selby, it will be the first time ever that there will not been any Englishman in the Qatar Classic quarters.
Meanwhile Karim Abdel Gawad overcame Gregoire Marche of France in an enthralling 81-minute battle that ranks as one of the tournaments standout encounters so far to set up a last eight match up with French number one Gregory Gaultier.
In a back-and-forth battle Gawad came from 7-3 down in the fifth game, notching up seven consecutive points, to defeat the acrobatic Marche.
“Even when I was 7-3 down I still believed that I could win because he still had to win four points to make it,” said Gawad.
“So I tried hard not to think about the score and just told myself to push as hard as I can on each point because that was absolutely critical, especially as I need to be even more constant to keep my top ten ranking and keep improving.
“I didn’t play my best today so I’m happy to win and I know that’s what the top players do – they win on bad days,” he added.
In the last quarter-finals, second seed Gaultier stopped the Egyptian run as the Frenchman, the 2011 champion here, beat Fares Dessouki in three games, coming from 7-10 down to take the second and almost letting a 10-1 lead slip before taking the third 11-9.
The Peninsula
