RESULTS: ROWE British Grand Prix, Wolverhampton, England
Qualifying finals:
Laurence Delasaux (ENG) bt Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) 11-8, 11-13, 11-5, 11-3 (57m)
Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 (79m)
Chris Simpson (ENG) bt Siddharth Suchde (IND) 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 (52m)
Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt Matthew Karwalski (AUS) 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 (42m)
Robbie Temple (ENG) bt Steve Finitsis (AUS) 12-10, 14-16, 11-4, 11-9 (78m)
Alan Clyne (SCO) bt Joe Lee (ENG) 8-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6 (80m)
Max Lee (HKG) bt Clinton Leeuw (RSA) 11-8, 11-9, 11-4 (37m)
Amr Swelim (ITA) bt Christopher Gordon (USA) 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 (50m)
Home interest in the ROWE British Grand Prix has been significantly boosted after four Britons battled through the qualifying finals of the $92,500 Professional Squash Association (PSA) Super Series event which gets underway at the National Squash Centre in Manchester on Wednesday (15 September).
Qualifying for the ROWE British Grand Prix - Manchester 2010, Europe's biggest squash event this year and the sixth of ten 2010 PSA Super Series championships being held around the world, took place at the Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis & Squash Club in Wolverhampton.
Yorkshireman Laurence Delasaux claimed an unexpected place in the main draw after beating local hope Jaymie Haycocks, the long-time Wolverhampton club member who despatched South African Stephen Coppinger, the highest-ranked player in the event, in the first round.
But Haycocks was unable to repeat his heroics against compatriot Delasaux as the 25-year-old from Hull claimed his first Super Series event appearance of the year following his 11-8, 11-13, 11-5, 11-3 victory. Delasaux's reward is a first round clash with Ramy Ashour, the second seed from Egypt who is the world number one.
Guernsey-born Chris Simpson is also celebrating his first appearance in a Super Series event this year after beating India's Siddharth Suchde 11-8, 11-8, 11-4. The Harrogate-based 23-year-old will now face fellow countryman Nick Matthew, the top seed and former world number one from Sheffield, in the main draw.
In the final match of the evening, Gloucester's Robbie Temple overcame Australia's Steve Finitsis. The match was halted for 27 minutes at 11-11 in the second game after Finitsis sustained a blood injury.
The Australian went on to win the game to level the match, but London-based Temple fought back to take the next two games to win 12-10, 14-16, 11-4, 11-9 after 78 minutes of playing time. The success also takes left-hander Temple into his first Super Series event of the year.
Scotland will also be represented in Europe's biggest championship in 2010 after Alan Clyne survived the longest match of the day to beat England's Joe Lee 8-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6 in 80 minutes.
The 24-year-old from Edinburgh will now face rising Pakistan star Farhan Mehboob, the 16th seed from Peshawar.
Teenager Ivan Yuen will provide Malaysia's sole interest in Manchester after upsetting England's Adrian Waller 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 in 79 minutes. The 19-year-old from Selangor - at 81 in the world, the lowest-ranked player in the draw - will line up against England's No10 seed Alister Walker, from Leeds, in the first round.
New Zealand's Kashif Shuja overcame Matthew Karwalski of Australia 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8, while Italy's Amr Swelim recovered from a game down to beat USA's Christopher Gordon 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8.
Late addition Clinton Leeuw, the South African who had defeated Egypt's up-and-coming star Karim Abdel Gawad in the previous round, could not continue his form - losing out to Hong Kong's Max Lee 11-8, 11-9, 11-4.
Updated 1st round draw:
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Q] Chris Simpson (ENG)
[14] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Chris Ryder (ENG)
[5] James Willstrop (ENG) v [Q] Max Lee (HKG)
[11] Stewart Boswell (AUS) v [Q] Kashif Shuja (NZL)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Martin Knight (NZL)
[9] Adrian Grant (ENG) v Jens Schoor (GER)
[7] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [Q] Robbie Temple (ENG)
[10] Alister Walker (ENG) v [Q] Ivan Yuen (MAS)
[12] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) v [Q] Amr Swelim (ITA)
[8] David Palmer (AUS) v Julian Illingworth (USA)
[13] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) v Rafael F Alarcon (BRA)
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) v Davide Bianchetti (ITA)
[15] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) v Campbell Grayson (NZL)
[6] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY)
[16] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) v [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [Q] Laurence Delasaux (ENG)
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