Four-times world champion Amr Shabana (pic) from Egypt was forced to battle all the way by Jonathan Kemp, finally winning 11-8, 13-15, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8 after a brilliantly entertaining match, full of dazzling shots at the front of the court. Shabana now meets Azlan Iskandar, who followed up his 1st round win over new British champion Daryl Selby by beating German No1 Simon Rosner 9-11, 11-1, 11-5, 11-7. Nick Matthew, the reigning NAO champion, beat Canadian No1 Shahier Razik in straight games 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 in just 34 minutes. In the quarter-finals world champion Matthew meets Australian veteran David Palmer. The former two-times world champion showed that he can still play phenomenal squash at 34 as he overpowered England’s Alister Walker in four games, 11-6, 3-11, 11-6, 11-9. Remaining 2nd round matches: [3] James Willstrop (ENG) v [Q] Martin Knight (NZL); [6] Peter Barker (ENG) v [Q] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS); [5] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Olli Tuominen (FIN); [2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v Tom Richards (ENG).
