KHOBAR: France's Gregory Gaultier, who was denied five times on match point by David Palmer of Australia in the final of the World Open four years ago, beat him (9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-2) in the longest match so far in this year's edition to reach the quarterfinals Monday. The former world No. 1 Gaultier next faces the defending champion Amr Shabana of Egypt. “It became a huge, huge battle,” said Gaultier. Earlier the top seed Nick Matthew saved two game points in the third game of his 11-8, 11-6, 13-11 win over Hisham Ashour, the elder of the two Egyptian brothers, and next has a quarterfinal with Thierry Lincou. The former world champion from France required all his resilience to win 11-5, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9 against Alister Walker, the world No. 20 from England who is also his best friend on the tour. – Agence France
