Simpson out in epic

Monday 22nd March 2010, 2:29PM GMT.

CHRIS SIMPSON yesterday came desperately close to beating a player ranked six places higher than him in the world, but eventually missed out on a spot in the main draw of the ISS Canary Wharf Classic.

Swiss squash number one Nicolas Muller won a marathon qualifying final against the Guernseyman, who had a match ball but ended up losing on a fifth-game tiebreak.

The match lasted 73 minutes as Simpson took the opening game but, as frustration crept into his game, he then found himself 2-1 down.

The Sarnian worked his way back into the fourth game with some superb squash and forced a decider in which he trailed for a long period before reeling off six successive points to hold match ball at 10-8.

However, he could not convert and agonisingly lost 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 3-11, 13-11.