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Wed 25th Mar, Quarter-Finals:
[6] Daryl Selby
(Eng) 3-2[3] Borja Golan (Esp)
11/8, 10/12, 11/7, 3/11, 14/12 (125m)
[1] Nick Matthew (Eng) 3-1
[8] Fares Dessouki (Egy)
11/7, 10/12, 11/7, 11/8 (77m)
[2] Peter Barker (Eng) 3-0 [7] Max Lee (Hkg)
11/4, 11/7, 11/8 (43m)
[4] Simon Rosner (Ger) 3-0 [5] James Willstrop (Eng)
11/7, 11/3, 11/3 (36m)
Rosner denies English clean sweep
in
Canary Wharf quarters ...
Quarter-finals day at Canary Wharf saw three English winners
as Daryl Selby, Nick Matthew and Peter Barker
triumphed in highly contrasting manners, concluding with a
first win in nine attempts for Simon Rosner over James
Willstrop to deny an English clean sweep.
Selby survives two hour marathon
Lee Horton
reports
England's Daryl Selby came through a “boxing match” to
reach his first Canary Wharf semi-final last night after a
monumental 125-minute 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 3-11, 14-12 dust-up
against Spanish number 3 seed Borja Golan.
 Referee
John Massarella had to make an amazing 67 decisions, including
36 in the fifth game alone, as the two players scrapped it out
in a show that wouldn’t have been out of place at Madison Square
Garden.
“It probably wasn't the prettiest game tonight. But that can
add to the atmosphere in a weird, boxing style kind of way,”
said Selby in the understatement of the day.
Remarkably, the players enjoyed a good clean fight for the first
three games but the show went south after that.
With lets and strokes peppering the proceedings, Massarella was
sweating as much as the players. Whether he will pick up a
well-earned bonus has not been established, but he certainly
deserved it.
 Golan
took a 7-3 lead in the first game, but, buoyed by the home
crowd, Selby worked his way back into it to take the game 11-8.
Golan was making most of the running, hitting six winners in the
first game - twice as many as Selby. But the game was mostly
played at Selby's slower rhythm and in trying to force the
issue, the Spaniard's errors told.
He was fortunate not to find himself two games down as he saved
four game balls in the second to win 12-10 - Selby making two
bad, and uncharacteristic errors, on the backhand drop shot from
10-8 before Golan played two superb drops to take it in the
tie-break.
 Selby
took the third, Golan the fourth…then all hell let rip. With
more stoppages than the London underground, it wasn’t a classic,
but it was memorable.
Selby wasted a huge chance with a forehand volley opening at
10-8, match ball. Golan battled back to take it into a tiebreak
and held match ball himself at 11-10, but Selby stuck to his
task through a succession of lets, blocks, video reviews to
reach the last four for the first time after falling at the
quarter-final stage five years in a row.
Matthew still on track
Nick Matthew remains on course for a fifth Canary Wharf
Classic title but he was made to dig deep last night before
overcoming Egyptian qualifier Fares Dessouki, despite
dropping his first game at Canary Wharf since his 2013
semi-final loss to Peter Barker!
 The
former three-times world champion faces Essex battler Daryl
Selby tomorrow and will be thankful to have got off court with
his impressive record in the Docklands event intact. Selby took
over two hours to win his quarter-final; Matthew escaped in 76
minutes.
Dessouki, 20, was far from fazed at playing the world number
three and took the game to the Yorkshireman. He has plenty of
shots in the locker and treated the sell-out crowd to his full
repertoire.
Matthew kept his nose in the front during a competitive opener
winning 11-7 but the kid from Alexandria is no pushover. Seven
winners and few errors helped him bag the second game 12-10 in
20 minutes, and suddenly there was the whiff of an upset in the
air.
 The
third was tight and cagey as the players shared the opening 10
points. Then Matthew turned up the gas and Dessouki’s error
count went into over-drive. He clocked up six and suddenly the
writing looked on the wall as Matthew bagged it 11-7 in 18
minutes.
But if Matthew, and the crowd, thought it was match over,
Dessouki had other ideas. He came out banging winners from all
over the court, opening up an 8-5 lead putting the reigning
champion on the back foot. But champions know how to get
themselves out of a bind.
A power-surge from the Yorkshireman saw him quickly gain parity
and within two minutes it was all over 11-9.
 Matthew
was relieved to get over the line.
“He was fearless and a real handful. It was a stop-start match
with very little rhythm. I have to give him credit for that. It
was tough following Daryl and Borja. They were on court for over
two hours so it’s hard to judge your preparation.
“I’m relatively happy with my game but I know I need to do
better.”
Rosner denies English clean
sweep
 Peter
Barker made it a hat-trick of English winners as the second
seed beat Hong Kong's Max Lee in straight games, but
Simon Rosner dashed hopes of an English clean sweep as he
beat four-time champion James Willstrop in the last match
of a long evening.
The fourth seeded German claimed his first PSA victory over
Willstrop after eight defeats, easing through 11-3, 11-2, 11-5
with a display of controlled squash against an opponent who
appeared to suffering from movement problems.
Still, Rosner was pleased with his composure and said: "I
know James has been coming back from an operation but I had to
concentrate all the time and I was very pleased with the way I
kept my focus through all three games.
"It is so easy to switch off but I was very pleased that my
error level was very low and I hope to keep that form going into
the semi-finals tomorrow against Peter Barker."
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