After the stunning defeat of world number five Amr Shabana on Sunday, the Egyptian team suffered another blow as world number two Ramy Ashour had to quit his game against Tom Richards because of a hamstring injury.

Ashour struggled during the first two sets 11/4 and 11/6 before finally deciding to throw in the towel.

“I know he could barely move on there and yet I still had to play the best squash I ever played to beat him,” Richards said after the game.

It was a catastrophic day for the Egyptians as four contenders were eliminated. Ashour lost to Richards, Hisham Ashour lost to Thierry Lincou 3-2 (9/11, 7/11, 11/9, 11/6 and 11/6), Mohamed Abbas was beaten by James Willstrop 3-0 (11/6, 11/4 and 11/3) and Marwan El-Shorbagy couldn’t do better against Stewart Boswell 3-0 (11/7, 11/8, 11/2).