Amr Shabana, the 35-year-old four times former world champion, defied the years in emphatic fashion to reach the World Open quarter-finals for the 12th time in a row. The resiliently brilliant Egyptian did that by overwhelming Max Lee, the rising Hong Kong player, by 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 with an encouragingly incisive performance in less than half an hour.
The focussed and rapid success could be a significant help for the oldest man in the draw, who may consequently have a better chance of further progress, possibly at the expense of Nick Matthew, the defending world champion. Shabana's result was all the more notable because Lee, the first Chinese player to reach the world's top 20, came within three points of beating him at last month's US Open in Philadelphia. Now though he was almost continuously outplayed.
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