WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Mamut English Open Squash Championship, Sheffield, England

Qualifying finals:
Peter Barker (ENG) bt Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 15-14, 15-7, 15-10 (70m)
Simon Parke (ENG) bt Farrukh Zaman (PAK) 15-7, 15-9, 15-13 (60m)
Scott Handley (ENG) bt Mike Corren (AUS) 17-14, 15-8, 15-5 (37m)
Joey Barrington (ENG) bt Gavin Jones (WAL) 14-17, 15-8, 17-14, 15-6 (113m)

Home Players In Clean Sweep In English Open Qualifiers

England grabbed all four places reserved for qualifiers in the Mamut English Open Squash Championship, hosted by Sheffield City Council, which gets underway at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield tomorrow (Wednesday).

Yorkshireman Simon Parke led the rout when he beat Farrukh Zaman in straight games in tonight's first qualifying final.  The former world No3, originally from Harrogate but now based in Nottingham, swept to a 15-7 15-9 15-13 victory in exactly one hour to claim a place against ex-England team-mate Mark Chaloner, the eighth seed from Lincolnshire.

Oxfordshire's Scott Handley overcame Australia's Mike Corren in the swiftest match of the evening.  It took just 37 minutes for the 29-year-old from Wallingford to win 17-14 15-8 15-5 to earn a first round clash with James Willstrop, the world junior champion and sixth seed from Pontefract..

Joey Barrington needed almost two hours to despatch Welshman Gavin Jones.  The Somerset-based son of the legendary six-times British Open champion Jonah Barrington fought back from a game behind to overcome Jones 14-17 15-8 17-14 15-6 - and now takes on fifth seed Anthony Ricketts, the Australian who is making his PSA Tour comeback after knee surgery..

In the last match of the night, 20-year-old Peter Barker made it a clean sweep of English wins when he upset Davide Bianchetti.  The Essex man's 15-14 15-7 15-10 victory over the higher-ranked Italian takes him into the first round where he will meet seventh seed Adrian Grant, the former European Junior champion from Halifax.

Updated 1st round draw:
[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) v Olli Tuominen (FIN)  
[5] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) v [Q] Joey Barrington (ENG)  
[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Alex Gough (WAL)  
[8] Mark Chaloner (ENG) v [Q] Simon Parke (ENG)  
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) v [Q] Scott Handley (ENG)  
[3] John White (SCO) v Ben Garner (ENG)  
[7] Adrian Grant (ENG) v [Q] Peter Barker (ENG)  
[2] Lee Beachill (ENG) v Mansoor Zaman (PAK)