RESULTS: North American Open Squash Championship, Richmond, Virginia, USA
1st round (top half of draw):
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5 (53m)
[13] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt [Q] Steve Finitsis (AUS) 11-5, 2-11, 11-4, 13-11 (37m)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] David Phillips (CAN) 11-9, 7-11, 11-7, 14-12 (50m)
[9] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 (27m)
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Zac Alexander (AUS) 12-10, 11-6, 11-9 (33m)
[11] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [Q] Cesar Salazar (MEX) 11-3, 11-2, 7-11, 11-8 (34m)
[8] David Palmer (AUS) bt Shahier Razik (CAN) 13-11, 11-8, 11-2 (39m)
[14] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 11-5 (53m)
Defending champion Ramy Ashour made it through to the second round of the $93,750 North American Open Squash Championship in Richmond – but the world number one from Egypt was taken the full distance before overcoming unseeded South African Stephen Coppinger in the first round of the second PSA Super Series 2010 event of the year at the University of Richmond in Virginia.
In a surprise turnaround on the opening day of the tournament, world No45 Coppinger fought back from a game down to lead title-holder Ashour 2/1. But the event favourite from Cairo restored order to take the next two games to claim a dramatic 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5 win after 53 minutes.
The 22-year-old, who topped the world rankings for the first time in January, will now face Aamir Atlas Khan after the 19-year-old 13th seed from Pakistan despatched Australian qualifier Steve Finitsis 11-5, 2-11, 11-4, 13-11.
Ashour will be joined by two fellow countrymen in the last sixteen. Third seed Amr Shabana, the four times World Open champion from Giza, saw off Australian qualifier Zac Alexander 12-10, 11-6, 11-9, while Wael El Hindi, the New York-based No11 seed from Cairo, ended Mexican interest in the event by beating qualifier Cesar Salazar 11-3, 11-2, 7-11, 11-8.
Veteran campaigners David Palmer and Thierry Lincou, both aged 33, secured comfortable first round wins: Australian Palmer, the former world number one and world champion who next month begins his 17th year on the PSA World Tour, faced Canadian Shahier Razik, winner of the North American Open title in 2005.
After a see-saw first game, eighth seed Palmer made quick work of the 32-year-old from Toronto to win 13-11, 11-8, 11-2 – and set up a second round clash with career-long Finnish rival Olli Tuominen, the 14th seed.
Frenchman Thierry Lincou, also both a former world number one and World Open winner, took on Pakistan's Farhan Mehboob. But Lincou's experience was too great for the 21-year-old from Peshawar as the ninth seed clinched an 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 victory in just 27 minutes.
Outstanding 1st round line-up:
[12] Alister Walker (ENG) v [Q] Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
[7] James Willstrop (ENG) v Aaron Frankcomb (AUS)
[15] Joey Barrington (ENG) v Rafael F Alarcon (BRA)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [Q] Yasir Butt (PAK)
[10] Adrian Grant (ENG) v Simon Rosner (GER)
[5] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Amr Swelim (ITA)
[16] Julian Illingworth (USA) v [Q] Mohammed Abbas (EGY)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Esteban Casarino (PAR)
For more tournament details, please go to www.naosquash.com
PSA's SquashTV is the official live and video on-demand website of the Professional Squash Association.
Watch all the live action and highlights at www.psasquashtv.com