England's Nick Matthew continued his unbeaten Tour run against James Willstrop to four wins over two years when he beat his compatriot to reach the quarterfinals of the $250,000 PSA World Tour Super Series Squash Championship in Saudi Arabia – the final major event of the year at Sunset Beach in Al-Khobar. It was a tense and tough encounter. Third seed Matthew took the first two games but fellow Willstrop, the No. 9 seed who is only two places lower in the world rankings, fought back to take the third. But Matthew regrouped in the fourth to win at 11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9. The 29-year-old from Sheffield is on course to become world No. 1 for the first time in the January rankings – but must reach the semifinals and stay ahead of his only rival Ramy Ashour, the 22-year-old Egyptian who beat him in last week's PSA Masters final in India. Matthew will now face seventh seed Wa'el El Hindi for a place in the semifinals after the Egyptian beat English qualifier Jonathan Kemp 11-7, 11-9, 11-2. There were mixed fortunes for Englishmen in the earlier second round matches: Eighth seed Adrian Grant was extended for 71 minutes by Pakistan's 14th seed Farhan Mehboob before beating his fellow left-hander 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7. Meanwhile qualifier Joey Barrington was unable to take advantage of his surprise place in the last 16 after the mid-match retirement of second seed Amr Shabana in the their first round clash. Aamir Atlas Khan, the 15th seed from Pakistan, was too strong for the 29-year-old from Somerset, winning 11-2, 11-4, 11-8 in just 30 minutes. According to Ziyad Al-Turki, Head of the Professional Squash Association PSA, Saudi Arabia is organizing the international competition for the fifth time. “The professional organization has given Saudi Arabia the right to host the coming Squash World Championship 2010,” he said. He also said that the goal of organizing such events is not only to hold international championships, but also to spread the game in the Kingdom through junior players. “We also aim to enhance the skills of the Saudi referees through training courses on the sidelines of the tournament,” he added. Second round results: Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-2, 11-4, 11-8; Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7; Nick Matthew (ENG) bt James Willstrop (ENG) 11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9; Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-7, 11-9, 11
