Scot Lobban Sinks Gawad To Reach Canary Wharf Quarters

Scotland's world No.27 Greg Lobban shocked the packed crowd the East Wintergarden in London as he got the better of Egypt's former world No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad to reach the quarter-finals of the St James's Place Canary Wharf Classic for the first time in his career.

The Scot had never before beaten the former World Champion in six previous matches - but this was their first meeting in the best-of-three format of the PSA Gold event, and it suited Lobban.

He came flying out of the gate and after a good run of points in the middle of the game, the Scot was able take the first 11-7. The unseeded 27-year-old then got on a great roll at the start of the second game, scoring seven of the first eight points to take a commanding lead.

Gawad threatened to comeback, as he has the tendency to do, especially in the best-of-five format, pulling it back to 7-8, but Lobban was able to push through. Despite seeing one match ball saved by the Egyptian, the Scot was able to take the second, booking his place in the quarter-finals of a Gold level tournament for the first time in career.

"Without a doubt!" responded Lobban when asked if this was the best result of his career. "Coming into today, it always tough getting into the last 16 of these tournaments because they are such strong events. There are very few players that play the game better than Karim so it is extremely rewarding to win this one!

"I had played Karim six times and never got close as that, never got two games off him before. Nick [Matthew] has played him plenty and I think it is good to go back to him to come up with a good game-plan, and I was happy to execute it today."

Lobban will face Egypt's world No.8 Marwan Elshorbagy for a place in the last four, after 'the Jackal' made it through after opponent Omar Mosaad had to retire from their second round clash through injury.

The world No.8 made a poor start as Mosaad roared through to take the first game, restricting his compatriot to just a couple of points in the opening salvo. The 'Hammer of Thor' then had a solid start in the second, only for Elshorbagy to bounce back in the middle part of the game. A run of six straight points gave 'the Jackal' control as he sent the match into a decider.

Elshorbagy held a 4-2 lead in the third when he caught Mosaad with the ball, with the tall Egyptian requiring treatment on his leg. Just three points later, Mosaad went down again after accidentally standing on Elshorbagy's foot - the resultant twisted ankle causing the gentle giant too much pain to continue, sending the tournament's No.7 seed through to the last eight.

"I just hope it is nothing too serious. We are in the middle of the season and I just hope that he recovers from it as fast as he can. Hopefully it is not serious, it is not the way I wanted to win. I just hope he is okay," Elshorbagy said.

"To be honest, I didn't understand what was happening but when I saw it on the reply I could see that it did not look good. We have a physio in Derek [Ryan] here, and I know Omar is in good hands."

The other two matches of the evening saw Egypt's world No.2 Ali Farag and world No.12 Fares Dessouky set up a quarter-final clash, after they got the better of England's Declan James and Egypt's Mohamed Abouelghar, respectively.