Selby and Matthew to meet again - Day Two Roundup

By ALAN THATCHER

British squash champion Daryl Selby has another chance to topple world No.1 Nick Matthew when they meet in the quarter-finals of the ISS Canary Wharf Classic on Wednesday.

Selby overcame Matthew in the final of the National Championships in Manchester last month but nearly blew his chance of joining him in the last eight atCanary Wharf.

He wasted 12 match balls in the fourth and fifth games before finally overcoming a massive fightback from rising Surrey star Tom Richards.

Selby eventually won 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 14-16, 11-9 in 97 minutes of brutal combat.

His first match ball came at 10-7 in the fourth but Richards fought back to win the tiebreak 16-14. Richards looked exhausted at the start of the final game and it looked all over as Selby led 10-3.

But Richards dug deep and won six points in a row as the crowd roared their encouragement. He produced some stunning winners before Selby finally put the winning ball beyond his reach.

Selby, who is also the national racketball champion, said: “That was not exactly the ideal way to prepare to face the world champion the next day. That was total squash carnage out there.

“Tom is a very dangerous player and he showed in the recent North American Open that he is capable of hurting the top guys when he came very close to beating Ramy Ashour. The way he came back at the end was unbelievable.”  

Top seed Matthew launched his bid to retain the Canary Wharf title in solid style by overcoming Spanish No.1 Borja Golan in straight games.

The 30-year-old world No.1 from Sheffield won 11-8, 11-2, 11-8, producing an outstanding spell of form in the second game when he looked invincible.

No.3 seed Gregory Gaultier, runner-up to Matthew last year, overpowered Finnish No.1 Olli Tuominen in straight games to clinch a quarter-final clash with German No.1 Simon Rosner, who beat Leamington’s Chris Ryder in four games.

England have five representatives in the quarter-finals.No.2 seed James Willstrop from Leeds, a three-time champion at Canary Wharf, meets Joey Barrington, the world No.31 from Somerset. No.4 seed Peter Barker from London meets Australia’s Stewart Boswell.

Wednesday quarter-final schedule:

5.30pm (4) Peter Barker (Eng) v Stewart Boswell (Aus)

6.30pm: (2) James Willstrop (Eng) v Joey Barrington (Eng)

8.00pm: (1) Nick Matthew (Eng) v Daryl Selby (Eng)

9.00pm: (3) Gregory Gaultier (Fra) v Simon Rosner (Ger)