"I'm very pleased with how I played tonight - I think that was one of the biggest scalps of my career so far," said Rosner (front) after his sensational victory (pic: Steve Line). At day 2 of the split 2nd round format, Germany’s World No13 Simon Rosner (front) played against the odds, when he beat Egypt’s World No6 Karim Darwish (back) in straight games (11-2, 12-10, 11-5) to booked his places as the only unseeded player in the quarter-finals of the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York. “The win is important but the performance is a huge confidence boost and I’m really looking forward to the next game now,” concluded Rosner.
The 7-times German Champion will now face World No2 Greg Gaultier in the quarter-finals on Wednesday after the top-seeded Frenchman despatched Botswana’s Alister Walker 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 in his second round match.
8th seed Daryl Selby made the quarter-finals by beating English compatriot Chris Simpson 11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6 to take on Mohamed El Shorbagy, the No3 seed from Egypt. El Shorbagy came back from 1 game down to defeat fellow Egyptian Tarek Momen 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 12-10 in 63 minutes.
Quarter-finals:
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [7] Amr Shabana (EGY)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) v [6] Peter Barker (ENG)
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v [8] Daryl Selby (ENG)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Simon Rosner (GER)
2nd round:
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 11-7, 11-2, 11-4 (34m)
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 (39m)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 11-9, 11-8, 3-11, 13-11 (81m)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 13-11, 11-1, 13-11 (64m)
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Tarek Momen (EGY) 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 12-10 (63m)
[8] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6 (71m)
Simon Rosner (GER) bt [5] Karim Darwish (EGY) 11-2, 12-10, 11-5 (38m)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Alister Walker (BOT) 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 (44m)
