"After the second game I thought that was going to be one of my worst ever defeats to him. But I'm not sure what even happened after that," said Chris Simpson (pic: Steve Cubbins). Egypt’s 4-time World Champion Amr Shabana suffered a shock 1st round exit during the 2nd day of action at the 2015 El Gouna International, falling to England’s unseeded Chris Simpson. The former World No.1 had cruised to an early 2-game lead against Simpson, ranked 22 in the World, and looked all was prepared for a straightforward victory. But the 34-year-old from Cairo got problems with his back and Simpson levelled the match to finally take the surprising 5-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 triumph.
“Amr has been my idol since I first started playing and it’s very hard to get over the respect you have for someone like that and be competitive but I managed to do that and it’s a strange feeling for me to get a win over him,” said Simpson after his first win over the illustrious left-hander in 6 Tour meetings.
Simpson will now face compatriot James Willstrop, another former world No.1, in his second round encounter after the man from Pontefract came from one game down to see off South African Stephen Coppinger 4-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-8.
Elsewhere, defending El Gouna champion Ramy Ashour, the 2014 World Champion, survived a double scare against Marwan Elshorbagy, losing the opening game and suffering an initially potentially troublesome knee injury before surging through to a 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 win.
“It’s great to be here and playing in Egypt again,” said Ashour. “It’s a big deal for us and we’re proud to have such a world class event taking place here and it’s a just a privilege to be competing. “I was a little off at the start of the match. I’m coming back from a brutal period in my life with injuries and I’m fighting every day with myself and the injuries but I have been doing this all of my life and I will keep on pushing.”
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (50m)
Fares Dessouki (EGY) bt [Q] Leo Au (HKG) 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 (34m)
James Willstrop (ENG) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 4-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-8 (58m)
Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [5] Amr Shabana (EGY) 5-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (57m)
[6] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [Q] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) 11-5, 11-2, 13-11 (48m)
Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 12-14, 11-8 (84m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 13-11, 8-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7 (67m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 10-12, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 (56m)
