"I think today I played as well as I ever could. LJ is a big guy with a lot of great skills so I was very focused to play the right game against him", said Shabana. On day 1 of the split round format of the 2nd round matches all seeded players booked their places in the quarter-finals for the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions played in New York’s Grand Central Terminal.
Egyptian maestro and 4 times World Champion Amr Shabana (le) came through his 2nd round game, putting in a superb performance to despatch Dutch fellow Laurens Jan Anjema (ri) 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 and will meet World No1 and 3 times World Champion Nick Matthew from England, who defeated South African Stephen Coppinger 11-7, 11-2, 11-4.
England’s World No5 James Willstrop came through a challenging encounter with Cameron Pilley to beat the Australian in straight games (13-11, 11-1, 13-11). Willstrop will now face compatriot Peter Barker who overcame Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet in 4 games (11-9, 11-8, 3-11, 13-11) to earn his place in the quarters.
Quarter-finals:
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [7] Amr Shabana (EGY)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) v [6] Peter Barker (ENG)
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) v Tarek Momen (EGY)
[8] Daryl Selby (ENG) v Chris Simpson (ENG)
[5] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Simon Rosner (GER)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Alister Walker (BOT)
