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Wed 23rd Mar - Day FIVE:
All matches are at the Airco Arena from now on, and today saw
the start of Round Two as the last sixteens battle it out for
places in the quarter-finals.
Round Two (Bottom Half):
[4] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) 3-1 [Q] Liu Tsz-Ling (Hkg)
11/3, 11/7, 6/11, 11/1 (27m)
[7] Amanda Sobhy (Usa) 3-0 [11] Alison Waters (Eng)
11/8, 11/2, 11/3 (28m)
[6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) 3-0 Joey Chan (Hkg)
11/5, 11/5, 11/9 (22m)
[2] Nicol David (Mas) 3-0 Donna Urquhart (Aus)
11/4, 11/7, 11/6 (27m)
[5] Ramy Ashour (Egy) 3-2 Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
11/5, 11/9, 6/11, 9/11, 13/11 (106m)
Ali Farag (Egy) 3-2 [3] Nick Matthew (Eng)
4/11, 13/11, 10/12, 11/7, 11/4 (68m)
[7] Simon Rφsner 3-2 Chris Simpson (Eng)
11/8, 10/12, 10/12, 11/7, 11/4 (95m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) 3-0 Stephen Coppinger (Rsa)
11/5, 11/1, 11/9 (44m)
Farag downs Matthew, Ashour survives
 The
first day of second round action saw comfortable victories for
all of the women's seeds in the bottom half of the draw, all
going through in under half and but a series of titanic tussles
in the men's matches.
England's Chris Simpson fell just short of the big win he's been
close to several times but German Simon Rosner somehow
found a little extra in the fifth; Ramy Ashour looked in
good form as he went two game up, but then needed a fantastic
comeback in the fifth to deny Ryan Cuskelly; Ali Farag
ended Nick Matthew's hopes of a fourth title, the Englishman
fading at the end of yet another five-setter; second seed
Gregory Gaultier finished the day with a strong win over
Steve Coppinger.
Brief match reports and quotes below ...
Ramy survives - somehow ...
 After
coming back from two-nil down in his first match, Ramy Ashour
looked more the part from the start as he went two nil up Aussie
Ryan Cuskelly.
The Aussie fought back though, taking the next two to force an
unexpected decider.
 By
this time after an early stumble Ashour was diving all over the
court, not always to good effect.
A series of unforced errors put Ashour in trouble, and 9-3 down
in the fifth. He cut out the errors and clawed his way back to
10-9 match ball, but two more tins gave match ball to Cuskelly.
 It
was the Aussie's turn to dive now, but in vain as Ashour saved
that, then took the next two points to somehow, somehow, reach
the quarter-finals.
"When you go through certain predicaments you learn a little
about yourself," said a thoughtful Ramy.
"It was an incredible match, Ryan is an incredible player, and
the British Open means so much."
Full report: "How did Ramy win that match ???"
Ramy & Ryan Quotes
Farag foils Matthew bid
 Nick
Matthew may be a three-time world and British Open champion, but
his quest to become the oldest ever winner of the 'Wimbledon of
Squash' came to an end as he lost out in five games to rising
young Egyptian Farag.
 Matthew
dominated the first but Farag struck back to take a close second
and had game balls in the third before Matthew took it 12/10.
Farag was back on top in the fourth, and from early in the fifth
it was clear that Matthew wasn't able to compete - he later
revealed it was an ankle problem - as Farag finished the game
quickly to set up a meeting with Ramy Ashour.
 "The
British Open means a lot, its the Wimbledon for us," said
Farag. "It feels good to be in the quarters, but I dont want to
be satisfied yet
"
"I can't go on playing at 80 per cent every tournament," said
Matthew. "Everyone was trying to support me and keep me going
but I just couldn't do it in the end."
Full report: Nick's ankle flares up in fourth
Rosner outlasts Simpson
 Chris
Simpson once again came close to that elusive big win. After
seeing a good lead disappear as Simon Rosner took six points in
a row to take the lead, Simpson edged ahead taking the second
and third games on extra points.
 The
big German pulled clear at the end of a close fourth, and with
both players feeling the effects of a gruelling match it was
Rosner who had enough left to take the decider.
"After the fourth, I didn't think I could turn it around or
where to play my shots," said a relieved Rosner.
"I don't know how I won that one."
Gaultier's back
 Two-time
champion Gregory Gaultier, returning to action after an injury
layoff since January, looked much sharper tonight than in his
first round match.
South African Steve Coppinger kept pace with the Frenchman for
most of the first game but Gaultier finished it off well,
dominated the second and built up a good enough lead in the thrd
to fend off Coppinger's late rally.
"I was happy with how I played, it's the first time since I cam
back that I felt my movement was good and I could feel my
shots," he said.
 David
looking strong
Five-time champion Nicol David looked sharp as she despatched
Australia's Donna Urquhart in straight games.
The Malaysian dominated the first and although Urquhart fared
better in the next two games David was always ahead and never
looked like letting that lead go.
Sherbini safely through
 Fourth
seed Nour El Sherbini dominated the first two games against Hong
Kong qualifier Liu Tsz-Ling but then in her own words lost her
length completely allowing Liu to take the third.
"Then Shabana told me that I lost my game, that I had to be
strong from the start of the 4th, to attack and get back to my
game. Which I did. And it worked."
Kawy in quickfire win
 Omneya
Abdel Kawy wasted no time in recording her first win over Joey
Chan in three attempts.
The Egyptian sixth seed was on to from the beginning, reeling
off the first two games in just 13 minutes,
Although Chan led in the middle of the third Kawy found her
shots again to reach the quarter-finals.
Full report: Quick win for Omneya
Sobhy first through to quarters
 Round
two started off with a comfortable win for Amanda Sobhy, the
rising American getting the better of a close first game against
England's Alison Waters before racing through the next two games
to complete the win.
"Making the quarters of such a prestigious event is massive,"
said Sobhy, "but if I can make it past the quarters, it would be
even better!"
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