RESULTS: North American Open Squash Championship, Richmond, Virginia, USA
2nd round (top half of draw):
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [13] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 11-4, 11-4, 10-12, 11-4
[9] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [6] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-8, 11-7, 11-9
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [11] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-5, 11-7, 3-5 ret. (32m)
[14] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [8] David Palmer (AUS) 11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-8 (67m)
Flying Finn Olli Tuominen, the 14th seed, produced an impressive upset in the second round of the $93,750 North American Open Squash Championship in Richmond when he beat long-time rival David Palmer, the eighth seed from Australia, to claim a place in the quarter-finals of the second PSA Super Series 2010 event of the year at the University of Richmond in Virginia.
The 30-year-old from Helsinki is clearly at home in the Richmond surroundings as Tuominen was repeating his unexpected victory over the US-based former world number one at the same stage two years ago.
But, this time, the Finn went onto court 3-16 down on a career PSA Tour head-to-head record which dates back to November 1999 and includes three successive losses to Palmer over the past 16 months.
Tuominen twice led, and twice Palmer drew level before the underdog maintained the pattern to close out the match 11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-8 after 67 minutes.
Tuominen will now face third seed Amr Shabana after the four-time world champion from Egypt beat compatriot Wael El Hindi 11-5, 11-7, 3-5 (ret.).
"El Hindi pulled his hip in the first point of the match though hung around until the third game," said event spokesman Martin Heath. "Shabana fully took advantage of his opponent's lack of mobility with devastating length and devastating volley drops."
Veteran Frenchman Thierry Lincou, the No9 seed, also upset the form book with a straight games win over England's sixth seed Peter Barker to secure a quarter-final berth for the third year in a row.
"Both players have similar styles, with low risk, attacking length, always pushing forward looking to volley and increase the pace," explained Heath. "It was Lincou's deft volley drops and ability to control the middle that made the difference - with Barker only creeping in front of Lincou at 6-5 in the third, two games down."
The 33-year-old from Marseille will now line up against top seed Ramy Ashour, the defending champion from Egypt who took four games to quash 13th seed Aamir Atlas Khan 11-4, 11-4, 10-12, 11-4 in his first Tour meeting with the 19-year-old from Pakistan.
"Ramy started the game as relaxed as ever, dropping his racket head to cut in some devastating straight and crosscourt drops," said Heath. "Aamir fought bravely to clinch the third game – but eventually his lack of tactical experience meant he was going for the winning shot too early, exposing himself to Ashour's wristwork and artistry."
Remaining 2nd round matches:
[7] James Willstrop (ENG) v [12] Alister Walker (ENG)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [15] Joey Barrington (ENG)
[5] Karim Darwish (EGY) v [10] Adrian Grant (ENG)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Q] Mohammed Abbas (EGY)
Official event website: 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