World No. 1 Mohamed El Shorbagy avenged his world championship disappointment by defeating his slayer James Willstrop to book a spot in the quarterfinals of the British Open Thursday. The focussed Egyptian admitted he had been waiting for the match against Willstrop, the former world No. 1 from England who in November had ended El Shorbagy's high hopes of winning the world title for the first time. On that occasion in Washington, Willstrop caused one of the greatest ever world championship shocks in four games in the third round. Now it was four games again, 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, though there were only a few moments when there was much doubt that El Shorbagy would settle the score. "I have been waiting for this match for a long time," El Shorbagy said. "Since James got back from injury (last year) we didn't see the real him. Then he took everyone by surprise — I didn't expect him to play the way he did against me. "Do you know how frustrating this is? So today I was focused from the first point." El Shorbagy also had a new plan. When he adopted his familiar style, creating a whirlwind of hitting and movement, and hustling his opponent with every shot, he was often ferocious. But surprisingly he mixed in some teasing and disrupting rallies - and it worked well. "He'd obviously been thinking about this match for a long time," Willstrop said. "I knew he would change something, because my squash beat his last time. It was tactical challenge, but I didn't expect him to slow it down so much." Willstrop still played well enough to ensure El Shorbagy kept his level high, though there were moments when the top seed's intensity — the quality which most of all won him the match — nearly got out of hand. Once in the second game he was warned by the referee for "unacceptable behavior" — apparently a critical remark — and later, in the third, he was told "to stop the comments and play squash." But El Shorbagy regained concentration in the fourth game and concluded with an emphasis suggesting he is very much the favourite to win the British Open for a second successive year. He next plays Miguel Angel Rodriguez, the fast and disciplined sixth-seeded Columbian, and he could go on to have a semi-final with his younger brother Marwan, who progessed when Saurav Ghosal of India retired after two games with an injured ankle. Women's top seed Laura Massaro also came through, though she had uncomfortable moments against unseeded Dane Line Hansen, who surged to unexpected leads of 9-7 in the first game and 10-8 in the second. But the Englishwoman responded with a calm orthodoxy, maintaining as sound a line and length as possible, dealing well with the two game points, and carving out a 11-9, 12-10, 11-3 success that earned a repeat of last year's final with Camille Serme, the titleholder from France. Serme progressed more smoothly, 11-5, 11-8, 11-3, against Victoria Lust, the world number 19 from England. She did though need to pull back a 5-8 second game deficit. "I was a bit nervous," Serme admitted. "Really I just want to keep the same focus that I had last year." Earlier Raneem El Welily, the former world number one who has needed to rebuild her confidence after losing the top spot, showed some of her new qualities while reaching the quarterfinals. The brilliant but occasionally enigmatic Egyptian showed a steelier side as she came from behind in all three games to win 11-9, 14-12, 11-6 against Sarah-Jane Perry, the tenth-seeded Englishwoman. El Welily next plays compatriot Nouran Gohar, the 18-year-old world junior champion and a close friend. "She's also a role model for me," said Gohar with a tinge of apprehension. "I can't say to her ‘come and coach me' in this match now."
