WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: West Edmonton Mall Canadian Open Squash Championship, Edmonton, Canada

1st round:
[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Matthew Giuffre (CAN) 15-8, 15-4, 15-8 (28m)
[12] Martin Heath (SCO) bt Shahier Razik (CAN) 15-7, 15-14, 15-13 (63m)
[8] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [Q] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 15-8, 15-8, 15-12 (49m)
Paul Price (AUS) bt [11] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) 9-15, 15-11, 15-11, 15-3 (58m)
[4] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [Q] Nick Taylor (ENG) 15-10, 15-13, 15-10 (51m)
[Q] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [10] Amr Shabana (EGY) 15-5, 7-15, 15-10, 15-9 (57m)
[7] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [Q] Stephen Meads (ENG) 15-7, 15-10, 15-11 (51m)
[14] Graham Ryding (CAN) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 13-15, 14-15, 15-7, 15-4, 13-9 ret. (84m)
[Q] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [15] Alex Gough (WAL) 15-7, 15-10, 15-10 (54m)
[5] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) w/o
[9] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Renan Lavigne (FRA) 15-12, 15-9, 14-15, 15-10 (93m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 15-12, 15-11, 15-5 (36m)
[16] Mark Chaloner (ENG) bt [Q] Tommy Berden (NED) 15-14, 15-12, 15-9 (63m)
[6] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Nick Matthew (ENG) 15-3, 15-5, 15-3 (26m)
Omar Elborolossy (EGY) bt [13] Simon Parke (ENG) 15-13, 15-3, 15-7 (50m)
[2] John White (SCO) bt [Q] Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) 9-15, 15-7, 15-8, 15-10 (56m)

Willstrop & Tuominen Maintain British Open Momentum In Canada

Four weeks after reaching the quarter-finals of the British Open as qualifiers, England's James Willstrop and Finland's Olli Tuominen again upset the seedings on the opening day's play in the $80,000 West Edmonton Mall Canadian Open Squash Championship to become the only two qualifiers to reach the second round of the new PSA Super Series event in Edmonton.

Willstrop, the 20-year-old world junior champion from Pontefract in Yorkshire, upset Welshman Alex Gough, the 15th seed, 15-7 15-10 15-10 in 54 minutes to earn a second round clash with local hero Jonathon Power.  The former world No1 and world champion from Montreal, seeded fifth, had the easiest ride of the day when his English opponent Jonathan Kemp, who qualified the previous day, conceded the match due to an injury sustained during qualification.

Power and Willstrop met for the first time in the British Open quarter-finals, with Power taking 77 minutes to quash the fast-improving youngster.

Olli Tuominen made up for Finland's disappointing show in last week's World Team Championship in Austria with a 15-5 7-15 15-10 15-9 victory over tenth-seeded Egyptian Amr Shabana in 57 minutes.  The flying Finn now meets France's fourth seed Thierry Lincou, who beat English qualifier Nick Taylor 15-10 15-13 15-10.

After the opening ceremony at the Ice Palace in West Edmonton Mall, at which all the main draw players were led into the court by two local children bearing the flag of Canada and the flag of the province of Alberta, top seed Peter Nicol and local Edmonton player Matthew Giuffre were introduced to the audience, to wild applause.

It was clear from the start that young Giuffre was outclassed by the world No1 from England.  In an entertaining match which thoroughly delighted the packed crowd, Nicol cruised to a 15-8 15-4 15-8 victory and a second round appointment with Scotland's 12th seed Martin Heath.

Official website:  www.wemcdnopen.com