WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Chartres Open Squash Championship, Chartres, France

1st round:
[Q] Stephane Galifi (FRA) bt [1] Jan Koukal (CZE) 15-8, 15-5, 15-11
Eric Galvez (MEX) bt [8] Rafael Alarcon (BRA) 15-7, 15-12, 15-4
[3] Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) bt Callum O'Brien (NZL) 15-5, 15-12, 15-7
[7] Mohamed Hafiz (EGY) bt Ian Power (CAN) 15-10, 15-12, 15-12
Julien Balbo (FRA) bt [6] Arshad Iqbal Burki (PAK) 9-15, 15-2, 13-15, 15-4, 12-3 ret.
[Q] Andrew Whipp (ENG) bt [4] John Rooney (IRL) 3-15, 15-11, 13-15, 15-13, 15-13
[5] Alex Stait (ENG) bt [Q] Sam Miller (ENG) 15-6, 11-15, 15-9, 15-12
[2] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Alexandre Muller (FRA) 15-9, 15-12, 15-3

Galifi Galvanises Koukal Collapse

French qualifier Stephane Galifi delighted local fans on the opening day of the first Chartres Open Squash Championship when he engineered a mighty upset to defeat top seed Jan Koukal in straight games.

Galifi, at 269, the lowest-ranked of the 13 Frenchman in the PSA World Rankings, overwhelmed the Prague-based Czech No1 15-8 15-5 15-11.  It was a stunning comeback for the former world No70 who is competing in his first PSA Tour event since November 2000 - and had not won a first round match since the previous July!

Galifi now takes on unseeded Mexican Eric Galvez, who also sprung a surprise when he defeated eighth-seeded Brazilian Rafael Alarcon 15-7 15-12 15-4.

Unseeded Julien Balbo became the third Frenchman through to the last eight when he forced sixth-seeded Pakistani Arshad Iqbal Burki to retire with cramp towards the end of a five-game marathon - with the score at 9-15 15-2 13-15 15-4 12-3 in Balbo's favour.