Pakistan's Aamir Atlas Khan lost his quarterfinal match to Egyptian qualifier Marwan El Shorbagy, who produced his second upset in two days in the inaugural Sportsmax Open in Egypt when he beat third-seeded Pakistani in the quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour International 25 squash event at the American University in Cairo.
Only days after being crowned world junior champion in Belgium, the 17-year-old from Alexandria followed his first round triumph over India's experienced Siddharth Suchde to topple Aamir Atlas, the world No 28 from Peshawar, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 11-5. Marwan El Shorbagy's stunning upset means that the Sportsmax semi-finals will be an all-Egyptian affair. Aamir, who reached last week's Malaysian Open final against the odds, acknowledged that his preparation had not been ideal, "I should have rested my body after the long flight from Malaysia, and I arrived on the first day of the tournament so I played without previous training.
"But Marwan was good. He is a younger player that is coming up. He has improved a lot since the last tournament." Aamir will spearhead Pakistani interest in next month's World Team Championship in Germany. Aamir was previously snubbed from World Team Championship Pakistan squad as he was not called for trials because of six-month ban imposed on him by the federation. But immense media pressure and his brilliant performance in Malaysian Open forced the federation to include him in the Germany bound team. El Shorbagy will now face fellow countryman Omar Mosaad for a place in the final. The top seed beat Italian Stephane Galifi 11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12. Reda will face Omar Abdel Aziz, the 11-6, 11-9, 11-4 victor over Egyptian qualifier Omar Abdel Meguid.
Quarter-finals results: [1] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Stephane Galifi (ITA) 11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12 (67m); [Q] Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY) bt [3] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 11-5 (42m); Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt [Q] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 11-6, 11-9, 11-4 (45m); [2] Mohammad Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) 13-11, 11-1, 6-11, 12-14, 11-7 (88m).