Qualifying finals:
Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt Shawn Delierre (CAN) 11-7, 10-11 (4-6), 11-7, 11-4 (40m)
Mark Heather (ENG) bt Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) 11-5, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7 (50m)
Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) bt Dylan Bennett (NED) 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 (51m)
Matthew Giuffre (CAN) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 (52m)
Matthew Giuffre extended North American interest in the main draw of the St Louis Open Squash Championship when he defeated Germany's Simon Rosner in the qualifying finals of the 5-star PSA Tour event in the Missouri city.
The 24-year-old from Edmonton beat Rosner, the European Junior Champion, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 in 52 minutes – and now faces Egypt's World Junior Champion Ramy Ashour in the first round.
Egyptian Karim Darwish is seeded to reclaim the title he won in 2004. The world No10 from Cairo is expected to face second seed John White in the final - in a repeat of their quarter-final meeting in last week's Dunlop British Open
Back on home soil after his British Open upset over world number one Amr Shabana in his former hometown of Nottingham, White faces English qualifier Mark Heather in the opening round.
Updated 1st round draw:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[8] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [Q] Matthew Giuffre (CAN)
[4] Stewart Boswell (AUS) v [Q] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY)
[6] Alex Gough (WAL) v Michael Puertas (USA)
[5] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) v Laurens Jan Anjema (NED)
[3] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v Shahier Razik (CAN)
[7] Wael El Hindi (EGY) v [Q] Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA)
[2] John White (SCO) v [Q] Mark Heather (ENG)