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Tribune News Network
DOHA
Qatar's Abdulla al Tamimi took just three games to stun eighth seed Switzerland's Nicolas Mueller in the second round of the JP Morgan China Open Squash Tournament in Shanghai on Thursday.
Tamimi prolonged rallies in the opening set but raced through the next two before completing a fine 13-11, 11-3, 11-1 victory in 31 minutes to book a place in the quarter-finals of the prestigious PSA World Tour Gold event.
"I'm happy with the way I played today. I won my match 3-0 and am looking forward to playing the quarter-final of such a big event, Tamimi tweeted.
"It was a very tough first game but I made sure it goes for long and it did. Then I stayed focus on the game plan. I had and felt good physically in the entire match which helped me finish the second and third games quickly. I'm very happy with my win for sure," he added.
With this triumph, the Qatari is now tied with the Swiss at 1-1. He had lost the Open International De Squash De Nantes quarter-final last year by 7-11, 7-11, 11-6, 4-11.
Tamimi's next rival is fourth-seeded New Zealander Paul Coll, who knocked out Alan Clyne of Scotland 11-7, 11-5, 11-0 in 39 minutes. In previous two meetings, Coll had beaten Tamimi but it was two years ago.
The world No. 10 Coll may face a difficult match against an upbeat Tamimi, who recently won the Malaysian Open."I've been training harder and now I'm just enjoying playing squash," he said about the secret of his recent improvement in the game.
Coll was a semi-finalist last year, losing to Ali Farag of Egypt in four games.
German Raphael Kandra and Welsh world No.38 Joel Makin also hit the headlines.
Kandra knocked out second seed Miguel Angel Rodriguez of Colombia in straight games in 46 minutes, Makin upset the odds to defeat former world No.3 Omar Mosaad in 65 minutes. He won 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5.
Rest of the top seeds, led by No. 1 German Simon Rosner, advanced to the last eight much fuss.
Results
Men's second round
[1] Simon R'f6sner (GER) bt [9/16] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (45m)
[9/16] Joel Makin (WAL) bt [7] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6 (65m)
[9/16] Abdulla al Tamimi (QAT) bt [8] Nicolas M'fcller (SUI) 13-11, 11-3, 11-1 (31m)
[4] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [9/16] Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-7, 11-5, 11-0 (39m)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [9/16] Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-7, 11-5, 11-1 (35m)
[6] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt [9/16] Tom Richards (ENG) 11-8, 14-12, 11-3 (35m)
[5] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [9/16] Greg Lobban (SCO) 5-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-8 (71m)
[9/16] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [2] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 12-10, 11-7, 11-7 (46m)
Quarter-final line-ups:
[1] Simon R'f6sner (GER) v [9/16] Joel Makin (WAL)
[4] Paul Coll (NZL) v [9/16] Abdulla al Tamimi (QAT)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [6] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
[9/16] Raphael Kandra (GER) v [5] Saurav Ghosal (IND)
