Beachill Beached As Gough Goes Forward In Qatar
England's fourth seed Lee Beachill became the biggest casualty – and Welshman Alex Gough one of three qualifiers to progress - on a dramatic second day of first round action in the men's Qatar Classic at the Khalifa International Squash Complex in Doha.
In the women's event, England's unseeded Dominique Lloyd-Walter also staged an upset by removing New Zealand's 11th seed Shelley Kitchen in an hour-long five-game first round encounter.
Lee Beachill arrived in the Qatar capital fresh from retaining his US Open title earlier in the month. But the 27-year-old Yorkshireman, a former world No1, admitted that he played badly and that his opponent played well as he went down 11-7 11-10 11-9 to Gough in 50 minutes.
"This is definitely my best win in recent years," said former world No5 Gough to www.squashsite.co.uk
Gough, the 34-year-old Welsh champion from Fleet in England, now plays fellow qualifier Davide Bianchetti for a place in the quarter-finals. Bianchetti battled for 62 minutes – the longest men's match of the day – to upset Pakistan's 16th seed Shahid Zaman 3-11 11-7 11-10 10-11 11-7.
Australia's former world No4 Stewart Boswell notched up another nominal upset in his comeback trail after a two-year layoff with a mystery back ailment. The 27-year-old qualifier from Canberra, who has leapt from 299 to 25 in the world rankings this year, despatched Malaysia's 13th seed Mohd Azlan Iskandar 11-10 11-7 11-9 in 51 minutes to set up a second round meeting with Canada's Jonathon Power.
The No2 seed, who won the World Open title on the all-glass court in Doha in 1998, was taken to four games by Joseph Kneipp before beating the Australian 11-5 11-5 9-11 11-4.
In the women's WISPA Platinum event, Dominique Lloyd-Walter scored 'one of the best results of my career' in beating world No12 Shelley Kitchen 2-9 9-7 9-7 3-9 9-7 in 61 minutes. The 24-year-old from Harrow moves on to meet Australia's top seed Rachael Grinham, the world No1 from Toowoomba in Queensland who dismissed Malaysian qualifier Tricia Chuah 9-2 9-0 9-2 in just 20 minutes.
England No1 Linda Elriani, playing in her first event since a hamstring injury layoff, defeated Australian qualifier Amelia Pittock 9-2 9-2 3-9 9-7. The fifth seed will be hoping to deliver the 27th birthday present her opponent does not want to receive when she takes on Hong Kong's Rebecca Chiu in the second round. The 15th seed beat Pakistan's Carla Khan 9-4 9-2 9-5.
Defending champion Vanessa Atkinson repelled a second game fight back by her first round opponent Tegwen Malik. But the No2 seed from The Hague then brushed aside the challenge, beating the Welsh champion 9-1 5-9 9-0 9-0 in 30 minutes to set up a second round clash with England's Tania Bailey, the ninth seed who defeated USA's Latasha Khan 9-3 9-2 9-1 in 22 minutes.
RESULTS: Qatar Squash Classic, Doha, Qatar
Men's 1st round:
[12] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-10 (3-1), 11-6, 11-8 (55m)
[8] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Simon Parke (ENG) 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 (40m)
[Q] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt [16] Shahid Zaman (PAK) 3-11, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 10-11 (0-2), 11-7 (62m)
[Q] Alex Gough (WAL) bt [4] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-7, 11-10 (3-1), 11-9 (50m)
[15] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [Q] Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 (45m)
[7] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (48m)
[Q] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt [13] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-10 (4-2), 11-7, 11-9 (51m)
[2] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt Joseph Kneipp (AUS) 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4 (58m)
Women's 1st round:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Tricia Chuah (MAS) 9-2, 9-0, 9-2 (20m)
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt [11] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 2-9, 9-7, 9-7, 3-9, 9-7 (61m)
[6] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt [Q] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) 9-1, 10-8, 10-9 (39m)
[10] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [Q] Louise Crome (NZL) 10-8, 9-3, 9-0 (34m)
[3] Nicol David (MAS) bt [Q] Runa Reta (CAN) 9-0, 9-4, 9-3 (22m)
[12] Annelize Naude (NED) bt Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 4-9, 10-8, 10-8, 9-3 (52m)
[5] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt [Q] Amelia Pittock (AUS) 9-2, 9-2, 3-9, 9-7 (36m)
[15] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) bt Carla Khan (PAK) 9-4, 9-2, 9-5 (40m)
[16] Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) bt [Q] Suzie Pierrepont (ENG) 9-2, 10-8, 9-7 (32m)
[8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt Pamela Nimmo (SCO) 7-9, 9-0, 9-5, 9-2 (29m)
[13] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt Sharon Wee (MAS) 9-2, 3-9, 9-4, 6-9, 9-3 (52m)
[4] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 9-4, 9-1, 9-2 (21m)
[14] Alison Waters (ENG) bt Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) 9-3, 5-9, 9-6, 7-9, 10-8 (75m)
[7] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [Q] Rebecca Botwright (ENG) 9-5, 9-2, 9-0 (32m)
[9] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt Latasha Khan (USA) 9-3, 9-2, 9-1 (22m)
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt Tegwen Malik (WAL) 9-1, 5-9, 9-0, 9-0 (30m)