Matthew and Duncalf suffer shock exits in Qatar

The world No 1, from Sheffield, had seen his chances of landing the PSA World Series title of the season greatly enhanced after main rival and second seed Ramy Ashour had been forced to concede his first round match against England’s Tom Richards due to a hamstring injury.

But Matthew found his own path ended before the quarter-final stages after going down 11-9, 12-10, 11-8 to Egyptian Tarek Momen, ranked 26th in the world, in what was a first-ever meeting between the two.

Afterwards, Matthew admitted he was beaten by the better player but added that his early exit would allow him more preparation time ahead of the World Open in Rotterdam towards the end of the month,

“I was a bit flat today and he took full advantage,” said Matthew.

“I remember not too long ago when I was the young up-and-coming one playing against the likes of Nicol, Power and Palmer and I got a few unexpected wins in.

“So when the boot is on the other foot you have to take it on the chin. But every cloud has a silver lining and I will have more time at home now to prepare for the worlds.”

Elsewhere, fellow Yorkshireman James Willstrop safely made it through to the last eight, defeating |Germany’s Simon Rosner, 11-5 11-2 14-12. Thje 28-year-old, from Leeds, will now face fellow Englishman Peter Barker, who beat France’s Thierry Lincou 11-6, 11-3, 11-9.

In the women’s draw, there was further bad news for Yorkshire hopes after second seed and world No 2 Jenny Duncalf was knocked out in her second round clash with 13th seed Nour El Tayeb.

The 18-year-old Egyptian won 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 12-10 to set up a quarter-final clash with fellow Egyptian Nour El Sherbini currently ranked 24 places below her in the WISPA world rankings.