Nick Matthew beat Daryl Selby 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 in an all-English quarter-final at the Canary Wharf Classic 2012 after 65 minutes of play (photo: www.jordanmansfield.co.uk). Two out of the four quarter-final matches at the Canary Wharf Classic came out as really tough battles. The other 2 produced a more or less safe victory of the favourites, as 3rd seed Peter Barker from England beat Germany’s Simon Rosner 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 and Egyptian Mohamed El Shorbagy overcame Englishman Adrian Grant 11-4, 11-6, 11-6.
It was the 2nd match of the night, where titleholder Nick Matthew (le) had to stay strong as English compatriot Daryl Selby (ri9 tried everything in the book to dethrone the reigning champion. But Matthew never loses patience to take the 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 victory in 65 Minutes.
It was James Willstrop’s 2nd 5-setter within 24 hours as the Englishman had to go the fully distance before beating Egyptian Tarek Momen. 6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-9 to secure his semi-final place.
Semi-final line-up (head-to-heads):
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [3] Peter Barker (ENG) (18:1)
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) v [4] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) (4:1)
