World No.58 and event wildcard Charlie Lee pulled off an astounding upset at the Optasia Championship by beating world No.1-chasing Mohamed ElShorbagy in four games.
Lee (who spoke to Squash Mad last week about his current hot streak) built on his impressive straight-games win in round one over Germany’s Rafael Kandra by toppling former world champion ElShorbagy to advance to the PSA World Tour Gold event quarter-finals.
ElShorbagy looked to be carrying a slight injury throughout the contest which Lee took full advantage of as he remained focused and sharp, moving ElShorbagy into all four corners and utilising his front court skillset.
After securing a 2-1 lead, Lee reached 9-3 in the fourth game and despite a comeback from the No.3 seed, local boy Lee closed the game out 11-9 to claim the biggest win of his career to date.
Lee said: “Mo probably wasn’t at his full potential today but I’m very happy with the win. He’s a legend of the sport and I have so much admiration for him and have looked up to him my whole career. He’s probably my first squash idol. To get the win here is really surreal. That’s all, really!
“It nearly didn’t happen at the end. 9-3 to 10-9 was a little shaky. He went into that unstoppable mode and the ball died off a little bit.
“But I was really happy to protect the lead and get the win in the end. I think that’s a testament to the work I’ve been doing for a long time. It all pays off. What an evening!”
Lee’s result was the only upset of the night as Egyptian trio Ali Farag, Youssef Soliman and Mazen Hesham all booked their places in the last eight.