Elias Impresses To Defeat Willstrop As Ghosal Seals Second Round Spot In Qatar

Peru's Diego Elias continued his fine start to the 2017/18 PSA World Tour season with an against-the-seedings first round victory over former World No.1 James Willstrop at the 2017 Qatar Classic - producing a highly impressive and dominant performance to win in straight-games at the PSA World Series tournament taking place in Doha.

The 20-year-old - who began his season with victory over three-time World Champion Nick Matthew at the NetSuite Open in September - showed impressive maturity and composure as he came from behind in the opening game to counter Willstrop's trademark accuracy and set up the foundations for the 3-0 win that cements his graduation from prodigal talent to genuine top calibre contender on the PSA World Tour.

"Last time we played it was about a year ago and he played so well that day that I couldn’t do anything," said Elias.

"It’s always hard to play against a player like him so today I just tried to apply as much pressure as I could throughout the match and keep my concentration levels high.

"The first game was crucial. I think I was down 8-3 and I just tried to change things up and move him around the court. I feel confident on court and feel like my game is coming together well so I hope this can be a good tournament for me."

Elias will now go up against Saurav Ghosal for a place in the quarter-finals after the Indian number one secured his own upset against England's number three Daryl Selby. 

Ghosal, who fell as low as No.30 on the rankings earlier this year following a poor run of form, oozed confidence as he dominated on court against Selby from the outset. The 31-year-old used his pace and movement to expose Selby and looked like a player renewed as he saw out the match 3-0 to record his first ever win over the World No.15 and also secure his berth in the second round of the event for the first time in his career.

"I had a good week last week in St George (PSA M100 event) and had a decent start to the season in Macau too - so I'm just trying to enjoy my squash as much as I possibly can," said Ghosal.

"I'm enjoying playing and feeling privileged to be competing at great events such as this in Qatar. I'm trying to do the things I know I'm capable of - things which in the past I haven't executed as well as I should have. 

"If I can enjoy it for the most part then I feel I can give a good account of myself."

Hong Kong's Leo Au was another surprise winner on the opening day of action as he recorded a 3-1 win over Australia's Ryan Cuskelly while World No.1 Gregory Gaultier marked his return from injury with a comfortable 3-0 win over Mexico's Cesar Salazar.

"It's been tough recently with the ankle injury so I came here just happy to be back on court," said Gaultier. 

"Cesar has been playing well and had some good wins recently so I'm just pleased to come through."

Two-time tournament winner Mohamed ElShorbagy was amongst the other winners on the day alongside compatriots Fares Dessouky, Zahed Mohamed and Ali Farag. 

Result: First Round (Top Half) - 2017 Qatar Classic

[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-9 (37m)

Zahed Mohamed (EGY) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-2: 11-6, 5-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-2 (59m)

[Q] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Daryl Selby (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 (40m)

Diego Elias (PER) bt [7] James Willstrop (ENG) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 11-8 (46m)

[5] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [Q] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-1 (26m)

[Q] Leo Au (HKG) bt Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 3-1: 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 (63m)

Fares Dessouky (EGY) bt [WC] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-5

[3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [Q] Chris Simpson (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 (36m)

Draw - First Round (Bottom Half)

[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Q] Raphael Kandra (GER) 

Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) 

Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG)

Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v [8] Tarek Momen (EGY)

[6] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v Paul Coll (NZL)

Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)

Simon Rösner (GER) v [Q] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)

Borja Golan (ESP) v [2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)