Gregoire Marche has been on the PSA circuit for close to a decade now, but had never made it to the last eight stage of a World Series tournament. The long wait ended at the Qatar Classic yesterday.
And the 27-year-old Frenchman did it in emphatic fashion, by dispatching World No. 9 Tarek Momen of Egypt in an intense see-saw five-game battle in a Round 2 contest.
World No. 1 and top seed Mohamed Elshorbagy of Egypt, his compatriot and reigning world champion Karim Abdel Gawad, Australian Cameron Pilley, Simon Rosner of Germany, veteran Englishman Nick Matthew, and his compatriot Daryl Selby were the others to make the quarter-finals of the PSA World Series event yesterday, which is the third stage on the Road to Dubai that will culminate with the World Series Finals in June next year.
Back to the Marche-Momen game, which looked like one-way traffic for the hard-hitting Egyptian in the beginning, before a spirited comeback by the Frenchman saw the tide turn in the opposite direction.
Momen looked sharp as he went a game ahead for the loss of just four points. Marche moved up through the gears to take the next two games, but a combination of strong retrieving from Momen and some errors from the racket of Marche saw the Egyptian draw level, before Marche took the fifth to close out a hard-fought triumph.
“Like I have been saying from the start of the season, I am now able to use my speed to attack, and not only to defend,” said Marche after the 76-minute contest.
“It was a bit like the same strategy I used in my first round against (Mohamed) Abouelghar, who is, like Tarek, a superb shot maker. I tried to keep them at the back to prevent them from using their magic at the front. And I feel that I managed to do that rather well, even if I still opened the court far too wide at times.
“It’s my first ever World Series quarter-final, and I feel this is not the end. I felt good on court today, and even if there were a few moments I felt a bit in the red, at the end I had a lot left under the foot, and that’s a great feeling to have. I cannot describe the feeling you get when you beat somebody like Tarek, someone I have always admired.”
The other talking point of the day was the stunning win of German Simon Rosner over former World No. 1 James Willstrop. It’s the first time Rosner has reached the last eight stage of the Qatar Classic.
Willstrop led the head-to-head record between the pair 9-2 coming into the fixture, but Rosner looked determined not to let the past bother him as he looked deadly from the outset and executed his game plan to perfection, sending Willstrop scurrying to all four corners of the court.
After building up an impressive two-game lead, the German was pushed hard by Willstrop in the third. But the tall German held firm to seal only his third win over the Englishman in 12 attempts.
“I think I played my best squash, my best squash of the season I think,” said Rosner. “I kept him behind me most of the time and I was able to attack quite well at the front.
“I played attacking squash and I think that I can’t play much better than that. James is in form at the moment, and to beat him in this form is quite special for me, so I’m really glad.”
Willstrop was gracious in defeat. “I don’t think I did much wrong, but he didn’t give me anything. No unforced errors. Maybe I managed to get him under pressure in the end, forced one out of him and thought maybe I had a little tiny chance, but then he played that ridiculous lucky shot. He was too good today.”
ElShorbagy had to overcome a strong challenge from Hong Kong’s Leo Au to earn his place in the quarter-finals.
The defending champion, who is aiming to win this tournament for a third time in succession, was forced all the way to five games against Peru’s Diego Elias in round one, and had to batten down the hatches against a tenacious Au but in the end the Egyptian’s class and power was just too much for the feisty Au from Hong Kong.
Newly crowned world champion Gawad was given a big scare by fellow Egyptian Zahed Mohamed before prevailing in five tough games.
Hard-hitting Australian Cameron Pilley bulldozed his way past Mexican challenger Cesar Salazar 3-0 in just 39 minutes to comfortably book his spot in the quarter-finals.
Results (Round 2)
1-Mohamed Elshorbagy (Egy) beat Leo Au (Hkg) 3-1 (12/10, 11/13, 11/8, 11/8); 7-Simon Rosner (Ger) beat James
Willstrop (Eng) 3-0 (11/7, 11/7, 11/8);
Gregoire Marche (Fra) beat 6-Tarek Momen (Egy) 3-2 (4/11, 11/4, 11/8, 8/11, 11/9); 4-Nick Matthew (Eng) beat Q-Alan Clyne (Sco) 3-1 (11/5, 11/13, 11/7, 11/9); Daryl Selby (Eng) beat Q-Adrian Waller (Eng) 3-0 (11/7, 11/5, 11/9); 3-Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) beat Zahed Mohamed (Egy) 3-2 (13/11, 9/11, 11/3, 9/11, 11/5); 8-Cameron Pilley (Aus) beat Cesar
Salazar (Mex) 3-0 (11/2, 11/4, 11/4)