World champion Ramy Ashour admitted that he had to overcome an injury as well as a history-making opponent before reaching the semi-finals in defence of his title on Thursday. The Egyptian hinted that he was happy to have played at all after winning 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 against Saurav Ghosal, the first Indian ever to reach the World Championship quarter-finals.
There were moments when Ashour was trailing 4-7 and 6-9 in the first game when it seemed that all might not be well. "I am happy with the win tonight, but it's not just the win - it's the story behind the win," Ashour volunteered. "After a tough four-setter with (Cameron) Pilley I had a bit of a niggle in my leg."
His words were almost certainly an understatement, as there had reportedly been doubts as to whether Ashour would recover sufficiently to play at all. But he suggested this was so by offering thanks to such a long list of names, it was almost as if he had won the tournament already. Significantly principal among them was his physiotherapist. "I don't think he is enjoying treating this leg," Ashour said. "But he is doing it very well." He added: "Playing someone like Ghosal is pretty tough physically and mentally, so I am really happy with how I was able to play."
It was an honest but unorthodox response, but one which may offer encouragement to his next opponent, Nick Matthew, the twice former world champion from England whose title Ashour took away almost a year ago. Matthew strengthened his assertion that even at the age of 33 he can win the world title back, producing a performance which denied one of the game's legends, Amr Shabana, a place in the semi-finals. The Englishman's 11-8, 11-4, 11-7 victory over the Egyptian was however only really in doubt for a game and a half, after which Shabana's lack of match play following a lengthy illness became increasingly apparent. "He is such a great player. I was nervous at the beginning, but the cheer I got from the crowd when I walked on relaxed me, so thank you to Manchester for that," said Matthew.