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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2014 SPORTS Shabana defies years to reach world q-finals DOHA: Amr Shabana, the 35-year-old four times an opponent, and there are certain points which former world champion, defied the years in are very important,” said Shabana. “At the end of emphatic fashion to reach the World Open quar- the second game I got a bit too excited, which is ter-finals for the 12th time in a row. The resilient- not good in squash. “If you go overboard you ly brilliant Egyptian did that by overwhelming stop thinking, but I managed to stay in control. Max Lee, the rising Hong Kong player, by 11-6, Playing only 30 minutes means I saved a lot of 11-7, 11-4 with an encouragingly incisive per- energy. You can have one bad rally where it formance in less than half an hour. The focussed sucks the energy out of you, and that didn’t hap- and rapid success could be a significant help for pen. It was a good win for me.” the oldest man in the draw, who may conse- Shabana thus remains in contention for quently have a better chance of further becoming the oldest male world champion of all progress, possibly at the expense of Nick time, an accolade currently held by Geoff Hunt Matthew, the defending world champion. of Australia, who won his fourth world title aged Shabana’s result was all the more notable 33 years and six months. because Lee, the first Chinese player to reach However Matthew also began the tourna- the world’s top 20, came within three points of ment with this ambition.
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