BIG UPSET SENDS RICKETTS PACKING

Ong Beng Hee who edged Wael el Hindi on Monday, beat Anthony Ricketts in three games this afternoon. (photo © 2006 Fritz Borchert.)

Today's afternoon session in Hamilton Bermuda ended with two unexpected results. In a minor upset, France's Gregory Gaultier upended England's Lee Beachill.

Ong Beng Hee, whose career has been in free fall for the past eighteen months, shocked the squash world in the day's opening match, but ousting second seed Anthony Ricketts in straight games.

In what he later described as "definitely my best win", Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee despatched second seed Anthony Ricketts in straight games in the second round of the Virtual Spectator Bermuda PSA Masters on the all-glass court at the Jessie Vesey Sports Centre in Hamilton, Bermuda, to cause the biggest upset of the PSA Super Series Platinum tournament presented by Logic and hosted by Endurance.

Since winning the British Open title last year, Ricketts has made major strides on the PSA Tour, reaching a career-high world No3 ranking in November.  But the 27-year-old Australian had no response to the determined play of 14th seed Ong Beng Hee, the 26-year-old world No15 from Kuala Lumpur who had not previously beaten Ricketts in five Tour meetings since February 2002.

"To beat Anthony, especially in three games, will give me a lot of confidence," Beng Hee said to the press after his 11-9, 11-8, 11-10 (2-0) win in 55 minutes.  "I won here in 2003 and I always seem to play well here – I think it's my lucky tournament."

In the quarter-finals, the Malaysian will now face Frenchman Gregory Gaultier - who also produced a significant upset when he beat England's No7 seed Lee Beachill 11-5, 11-5, 5-11, 11-7 in 60 minutes.

Gregory Gaultier scores a big win over Lee Beachill (photo © 2006 Fritz Borchert.)

After the 11th seed dominated the first two games, Beachill rediscovered his touch to take the third.  The 2004 champion and runner-up last year looked as if he were about to turn the game around – but Gaultier came back to win the fourth to record his notable triumph.(was Beachill thinking back to their infamous 2003 bruiser in the world teams matchup?)

Later in the evening, England's Peter Nicol celebrated his 33rd birthday in some style when he fought back from two games down to beat Egypt's Karim Darwish 1-11, 10-11 (1-3), 11-5, 11-1, 11-8.

Playing in his first Tour event since winning two gold medals in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Nicol admitted that he didn't enjoy the first two games and "couldn’t get going".  But the England hero, seeded six, refused to give up and ultimately overpowered his 24-year-old opponent in 69 minutes.

"After I won the third he didn’t compete in the fourth, and after coming back from two down I knew I wasn’t going to let it go,” said the left-hander afterwards.

In a repeat of last month's Commonwealth Games singles final, Nicol will meet David Palmer in the Bermuda quarter-finals - after the third seed beat fellow Australian Cameron Pilley 11-9, 11-10 (2-0), 11-6 in 47 minutes.

“This gives me another chance to have a crack at Peter," said Palmer after his second round win.  "I’d like that before he retires.”

RESULTS:        Virtual Spectator Bermuda PSA Masters, Hamilton, Bermuda
[Complete Draw]

Round of 16 (bottom half of the draw) (WEDNESDAY):
[6] Peter Nicol (ENG) def [11] Karim Darwish (EGY) 1-11 10-11(1-3) 11-5 11-1 11-8
[3] David Palmer (AUS) def Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-9 11-10(2-0) 11-6
[11] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) def [7] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-5 11-8 5-11 11-7
[14] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) def [2] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 11-9 11-8 11-10(2-0)

David Palmer rushed past Cameron Pilley to set up a meeting with Nicol (photo © 2006 Fritz Borchert.)