Simpson so close

CHRIS SIMPSON boarded a plane for Hong Kong last night with his confidence boosted massively from coming within two points of beating the best player in the world.

The 25-year-old Sarnian, pictured, headed off for two of his biggest tournaments this season just 24 hours after taking world No. 1 James Willstrop to a deciding game playing at first string for Chapel Allerton in their Premier Squash League match at Pontefract.

It was the fourth time the pair have met competitively over the last couple of years and previously the Yorkshireman had not dropped a game to Simpson.

However, on this occasion the Guernseyman came close to causing a huge upset.