RESULTS: ATCO Super Series Squash Finals, Broadgate Arena, London, England
2nd pool round:
Prince Group
[7] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [4] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-10 (3-1), 11-5, 11-5 (40m)
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [5] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 7-11, 11-5, 11-10 (2-0), 11-2 (47m)
ATCO Group
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [8] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 (42m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [6] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-10 (3-1), 11-7, 11-6 (52m)
Maintaining the form which saw the 31-year-old Australian take his fourth British Open crown last week, the rejuvenated David Palmer made sure of a place in the semi-finals of the ATCO Super Series Finals – London 2008 when he beat Malaysian Ong Beng Hee in the second pool round of the flagship PSA Tour squash event at the Broadgate Arena in the city of London.
"Beng Hee is an attacker, and he gets pretty confident if he gets in front, so I tried to keep on top of him," third seed Palmer told the official website www.superseriesfinals.net after his 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 win in 42 minutes. "Last night against Wael (El Hindi) was a good win, and I'm very happy about my win against Beng Hee - even if it was not the best of matches: a win is a win!"
In the other qualifying match in the ATCO Group, second seed Gregory Gaultier also secured his second victory with an 11-10 (3-1), 11-7, 11-6 win over Egypt's sixth seed Wael El Hindi.
There was Egyptian success, however, in the Prince Group where favourite Amr Shabana recovered from a game down to beat Frenchman Thierry Lincou 7-11, 11-5, 11-10 (2-0), 11-2. With the pair's career head-to-head tally poised at 9-9 before the match, the victory took world number one Shabana ahead of the former world number one from Marseille for the first time!
After suffering a problem with his right leg 24 hours earlier in his match against Lincou, James Willstrop was back in action in the other Prince Group match - an all-English affair against his Pontefract club and England team-mate Lee Beachill.
Seeded seven, and a late-comer to the event after replacing the injured defending champion Ramy Ashour, Beachill upset Willstrop 11-10 (3-1), 11-5, 11-5 to end a four-match losing streak to his fourth-seeded training partner.
"That was awful," confessed Beachill, a former world number one, afterwards. "Normally, we play some high quality matches, but knowing that he had a bit of a niggle made it very difficult. And until the start of the afternoon, I didn't know who I was going to play, to be honest."
After intense physio treatment since his earlier match, Willstrop was glad to be continuing in the event: "Last night, after playing Thierry I really thought I'd have to pull out, but I really want to play here. There is such a buzz, so tonight, I was really happy to be able to get back on court, and I hope the physios can get me through the rest of the week," said the world number three.
3rd pool round line-up:
Prince Group
[5] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v [7] Lee Beachill (ENG)
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) v [4] James Willstrop (ENG)
ATCO Group
[6] Wael El Hindi (EGY) v [8] Ong Beng Hee (MAS)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [3] David Palmer (AUS)
Official site: www.superseriesfinals.net