Great Scott Lobban Downs Max Lee

Scottish qualifier Greg Lobban pulled off one of the biggest shocks of the first round at the 2015 Delaware Investments US Open, PSA World Series tournament, as he came through a thrilling five game encounter to defeat World No.13 Max Lee and move into the second round.

World No.38 Lobban earned his place in the first round of the event, the first PSA World Series tournament of the 2015/16 season, courtesy of an impressive win over Hong Kong’s number two Leo Au in qualification and he continued to heap misery on the far East nation by defeating Lee, Hong Kong’s number one, in a dramatic 65-minute encounter.

The victory sees the man from Edinburgh through to compete in the second round for the first time in his career, when he will line up against World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy in what promises to be a challenging contest.

“I’m pretty exhausted to be honest,” said Lobban afterwards.

“I had a tough one against Leo (Au) last night and I knew it was going to be tough again against Max. He likes to keep the pace really high and it was a different kind of match today.

“I think the ball played a big part – it was tough to get the ball all the way to the back wall. I think it was a bit dead which affected both of our tactics, but I’m glad I stuck with mine as it worked well towards the end.”

On his match up with Elshorbagy Lobban said: “I played him last year at this event and lost three nil.

“I’m looking forward to it, it’s good to play these top guys – it’s why I play these big events. It’s a great experience and I’m so very much looking forward to it.”

There was disappointment for Lobban’s compatriot Alan Clyne, the higher ranked of the Scottish pair at No.31, as he fell to a tough 3-2 loss to Botswana’s Alister Walker. Clyne mounted a huge comeback to level an early 2-0 defect but he couldn’t complete the comeback and lost out after a brute 73 minutes on court.

Results:
[Q] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Max Lee (HKG) 3-2: 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-7 (65m)
Alister Walker (BOT) bt [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-2: 11-8, 12-10, 4-11, 5-11, 11-7 (73m)