WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Bermuda Open Squash Championship, Hamilton, Bermuda

1st round:
Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 15-11, 11-15, 15-11, 13-15, 15-7 (89m)
[5] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 15-6, 14-15, 15-13, 15-11 (64m)
[4] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [Q] Graham Ryding (CAN) 15-13, 15-8, 14-15, 15-7 (74m)
[8] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) bt [Q] Adrian Grant (ENG) 15-7, 15-10, 15-10 (55m)
[7] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [Q] Mark Chaloner (ENG) 15-3, 15-9, 15-8 (68m)
[3] John White (SCO) bt James Willstrop (ENG) 13-15, 10-15, 15-12, 15-6, 15-9 (81m)
[6] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 9-15, 15-9, 15-12, 12-15, 15-9 (81m)
[2] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Nicholas Kyme (BER) 15-9, 15-11, 15-10 (35m)

Matthew Lashes Lincou In Bermuda Opener

The PSA Tour's inaugural Bermuda Open Squash Championship began in dramatic style in the island's tiny city of Hamilton when England's unseeded Nick Matthew unseated the event's top seed Thierry Lincou in the opening first round match of the day.

Lincou, the 27-year-old from Paris whose remarkable consistency in 2003 earned him the world No1 ranking for the first time in January, battled hard to keep the Englishman at bay in a seesaw encounter which lasted 89 minutes.  But by the fifth game, Matthew seemed to have the measure of the Frenchman as the 23-year-old from Sheffield clinched his impressive 15-11 11-15 15-11 13-15 15-7 victory.

The success takes Matthew into his fifth successive PSA Tour quarter-final and avenges his loss to Lincou in last year's World Open in Pakistan, where the Frenchman went on to contest the final.

After conquering a former world No1, Matthew now faces the world champion after Amr Shabana defeated Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee, the winner of last year's eight-man invitational tournament on the island.  The fifth seed, who in December became the first Egyptian to win the world title, has struggled to emulate his success in Lahore, with only one match win behind him this year before arriving in Hamilton.

At the other end of the day, another unseeded Englishman also came near to a famous upset.  World junior champion James Willstrop, like Matthew also from Yorkshire, led 2/0 and 7-6 against the current world No1 John White.  This was the pair's third successive meeting on the PSA Tour - with the Scot avenging his earlier defeat in their last clash in the Tournament of Champions in New York.

But, remembering that he is the world's best player, third seed White refocused and after 81 minutes recorded his anticipated win in a 13-15 10-15 15-12 15-6 15-9 scoreline.

White now takes on seventh seed Jonathon Power after the Canadian swept to a straight games win over English qualifier Mark Chaloner.  White last faced Power on his home soil in the Canadian Classic in November, when the 29-year-old from Montreal beat the Scot to end a four-match sequence of defeats by the new world No1.

Local interest was provided in two other first round matches - a disappointment in one when Bermuda's No1 Nicholas Kyme, a wildcard entrant, lost 15-9 15-11 15-10 to England's second seed Peter Nicol - and joy in the other when Australian resident David Palmer, the sixth seed, was fully tested by Finnish qualifier Olli Tuominen, but ultimately prevailed 9-15 15-9 15-12 12-15 15-9 in 81 minutes.

Official website: www.bermudaopen.com