Selby Boosts Home Interest On Canary Wharf Classic Day Two

England's Daryl Selby provided the biggest shock on the opening day of the 2020 St James's Place Canary Wharf Classic by beating top-ranked Briton Joel Makin, the world No.10 from Wales, in the first round of the PSA World Tour Gold event in its 17th year at East Wintergarden in Canary Wharf in London.

It was the pair's third meeting on the PSA World Tour, after facing off against each other twice in the space of six days in September 2016, and like the first two, this one went the way of the Englishman as well.

The best-of-three clash lasted more than 50 minutes, with both players producing sublime squash in a match that looked like it would never end.

After going 6-0 up in the first, Selby went on to take the vital opening game, but then found himself trailing heavily in the second with Makin ahead 10-5. However, the Englishman saved seven game balls to come back and win it 15-13, taking the victory to set up a clash with World Champion Tarek Momen in the last 16.

"I got off to a good start which is important in best-of-three, and I am not notoriously a good starter. It wasn't quick, as you would expect with someone like Joel. I felt like I played good squash, and I stuck to my game-plan quite well!" said Selby, now in the event's second round for the 11th successive year.

"At the end of the day, I pulled out some shots at crucial times, especially in the second game. I had to be positive today because there is now way you are going to out-manoeuvre Joel. He has earned his place in the top 10 and it is pleasing for me to get a win over a top 10 guy.

"I'm playing Tarek tomorrow and I played the world No.1 in Chicago last week, now the World Champion this week. I might be coming to the end but I love testing myself against the best guys to see how close I can get, just constantly trying to push and finish strong."

There were a couple of other surprise results on the opening day, with Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet and Scotland's Greg Lobban earning victories over France's Gregoire Marche and Egypt's Mazen Hesham, respectively.

World No.22 Castagnet got the better of his compatriot on the glass court after battling through a lengthy first game, taking it after half an hour. The second game was slightly more straightforward, as he eventually came through to take the win, booking his place in the second round, where he will face world No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy, the 2018 champion.

Lobban got the better of Hesham, who had pulled out of his third round clash at the Windy City Open in Chicago last week, and he was clearly not fully fit here, but the Scot pushed on to secure victory, booking his place against Karim Abdel Gawad on Tuesday.

"I didn't know which Mazen was going to turn up. I knew he was not 100%, but for me, even Mazen at 50 or 60% is a good win. You never know when he is going to roll out some winners, but I wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully he gets back to full fitness!" Lobban said.

Elsewhere, there were victories for the English pair of Declan James and James Willstrop, the Egyptian duo of Omar Mosaad and Fares Dessouky, and India's Saurav Ghosal, who all advance to the second round of the PSA Gold tournament.