Fresh from his success in last week's Dayton Open in Ohio, John White is on course for his second PSA Tour title of the year in the USA after winning his first round match in the Davenport Virginia Pro Squash Championship in Richmond.
The top-seeded Scot beat English qualifier Lee Drew 11-5 11-5 11-7 and will now face another Englishman for a place in the semi-finals.
Unseeded Mark Heather claimed an unexpected place in the last eight after his opponent Mark Chaloner, the No8 seed, was forced to retire with a knee injury after three games. In the all-English clash, the PSA President took the opening game after a tie-break, but Heather came back to take the next two before Chaloner was forced to call it a day.
In the first match ever to be played on an all-glass court in the State of Virginia, Egypt's fifth seed Mohammed Abbas fought hard to overcome Irish champion Liam Kenny 11-5 9-11 11-2 11-6 in 50 minutes at the University of Richmond.
RESULTS: Davenport Virginia Pro Squash Championship, Richmond, USA
1st round:
[1] John White (SCO) bt [Q] Lee Drew (ENG) 11-5, 11-5, 11-7
Mark Heather (ENG) bt [8] Mark Chaloner (ENG) 10-11 (0-2), 11-5, 11-5 ret. (27m)
[3] Graham Ryding (CAN) bt Ryan Donegan (USA) 11-6, 11-5, 11-2 (30m)
[7] Dan Jenson (AUS) bt [Q] Dylan Bennett (NED) 11-3, 11-1, 11-1
[5] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt Liam Kenny (IRL) 11-5, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6 (50m)
[4] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Laurent Elriani (FRA) 10-11 (0-2), 11-6, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (3-1)
[6] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt Raj Nanda (AUS) 11-6, 11-3, 11-7
[2] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [Q] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 11-4, 11-3, 11-5