"Considering the setting, the circumstance and that this is the World Championship, this is without a shadow of a doubt the biggest win of my career," said Coppinger after the match. Unseeded Stephen Coppinger, the World No.24 from Cape Town, pulled off what he described as the biggest win of his career when he beat Egyptian World No.9 Tarek Momen to move into the quarter-finals of the 2014 Qatar PSA World Championship in Doha.
The 30-year-old, who knocked out World No.11 Daryl Selby in round 1, put in a great performance to beat Momen in an 85-minute thriller 12-10, 9-11, 14-12, 8-11, 11-8.
It’s a victory that sees him become the first South African since Roland Watson in 1979 to reach the quarter-finals and he will now take on World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy, conqueror of German Simon Rösner, for a place in the semi-finals – which would be a first for a South African.
Australia’s top ranked squash player Cameron Pilley joined Coppinger as the only other unseeded player in the last eight after he defeated Botswana’s Alister Walker 3/0. Pilley, the current World No.20 from Yamba, took out World No.8 Peter Barker in his first round match and followed up that performance with an impressive and dominant display against Walker to set up a last eight encounter against World No.2 Gregory Gaultier.
“I’m absolutely stoked to be in the quarters of the World Championship,” said Pilley.
Elsewhere defending champion Nick Matthew survived a tough test against Saurav Ghosal of India to set up a last eight battle with four-time champion Amr Shabana while two-time winner Ramy Ashour will meet Spanish champion Borja Golan after winning a thrilling match with Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez.
3rd round:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [9] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 10-12, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (66m)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt Alister Walker (BOT) 11-7, 11-6, 12-10 (52m)
[6] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Fares Dessouki (EGY) 11-8, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5 (60m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [12] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (47m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [14] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-4, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9 (52m)
[5] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Max Lee (HKG) 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 (29m)
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt [10] Tarek Momen (EGY) 12-10, 9-11, 14-12, 8-11, 11-8 (85m)
[2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [11] Simon Rösner (GER) 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9 (64m)
