Three Egyptian men have qualified for the quarterfinals of the Allam British Open 2012 for squash taking place in London, competing for $150,000 in prizes.

Fourth-seeded Ramy Ashour will face compatriot Amr Shabana, fifth-seeded, while seventh-seeded Mohamed El-Shorbagy will clash with No 1 seed, England's James Willstrop.

Ashour eliminated Englishman Daryl Selby, beating him 3-1, before surviving against Borja Golan of Spain 3-2 in Round 2.

"Mentally and physically I was two paces behind Borja," explained the former world number one (pictured with Golan) later. "Footwork, movement, racket preparation — everything — he was so much better than me. That's the first time I have played him and he played incredibly well at the start.” The 24-year-old Ashour won after coming from behind, losing the first two games against the Spanish No 1.

"I would have been really disappointed if I'd lost that 3/0, but not so much if it had been 3/2. Hopefully I learnt a lesson from that!

"I can't explain what goes on inside my head. I know it's something I should work on to find a solution," he added.

Shabana knocked out his Egyptian friend Tarek Momen after a 3-2 win before smashing Olli Tuominen of Finland 3-0, while El-Shorbagy defeated Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet 3-1 and English Adrian Grant 3-0.

Momen is the first of three eliminated Egyptians, as Mohamed Ali Anwar Reda left the championship after a 3-0 defeat against Tuominen before Marwan El-Shorbagy lost 3-0 to Indian Saurav Ghosal.

In the women's competition, Raneem El-Weleily and Nour El-Sherbini advanced to the last eight.

Draw and results of the men’s championship:

2nd round (top half of draw):
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Alister Walker (BOT) 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (79m)
[7] Mohamed El-Shorbagy (EGY) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 12-10, 11-4, 11-8 (37m)
[5] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 12-10, 11-4, 11-4 (32m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 7-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-1, 11-6 (49m)

1st round:
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 (49m)
Alister Walker (BOT) bt [Q] Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (43m)
Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 (36m)
[7] Mohamed El-Shorbagy (EGY) bt [Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10 (61m)
[5] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-7, 7-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-6 (55m)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-6, 12-10, 11-6 (40m)
Borja Golan (ESP) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 12-10, 12-10, 11-4 (63m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Daryl Selby (ENG) 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 16-14 (55m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Max Lee (HKG) 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 (45m)
Tom Richards (ENG) bt Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-7, 10-12, 11-4, 11-4 (49m)
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-9, 11-13, 11-6, 11-3 (61m)
[8] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Gregoire Marche (FRA) 11-2, 11-1, 11-5 (30m)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-3, 11-9, 11-9 (50m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [Q] Marwan El-Shorbagy (EGY) 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (35m)
[Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 11-5, 11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 11-1 (64m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 (33m)

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