Renan Lavigne of France was the only one of the top eight qualifiers not to make it through to the main draw. He was comprehensively beaten by Borja Golan of Spain who will now play Gregory Gaultier of France in the main draw.

LUCKY BEN GARNER
Luckiest man of the day was Ben Garner of England who just managed to outlast the new boy wonder of squash Miguel Rodriguez of Columbia. Rodriguez has a shrewd sqush brain and coupled with his blinding speed and ability to hit drop shots from anywhere is already a force to reckon with.

Garner started off by winning the first game 15-13, lost the next 7-11, came back to win the third 11-9 and then fell off the pace completely as Rodriguez won the fourth 11-1 and then went on to lead the fifth 6-2. Garner hung in: he told me later that he knew that
Rodriguez started each game strongly but tired towards the end. He did just that to win the fifth as Rodriguez collapsed on the last point, unable to cover his back wall boast, which Garner put away with a deft backhand drop.

"He's the fastest player I've ever played," said Garner, who has played everybody. "He's a bit raw now, but when he matures ... ," he said, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Rodriguez is just 20 years old and has been on the PSA just one year but is already ranked 73 in the world. He is trained by his father and also plays with Bernardo Samper. He has no sponsor which means he has to find the money to travel the tour. So if there is anyone who wants to sponsor a future world champion, remember the name: Miguel
Angel Rodriguez.

JONES WAKES UP TO BEAT GORDON
Chris Gordon looked good for the first game against Gavin Jones of Wales, winning11-4 with ease, But then Jone, in his own words 'Woke up' and took the next three games to earn a place in the main draw against Mo Azlan Iskander.

"I was asleep for the first game, couldn't move and did not hit one volley," he commented later.

BIANCHETTI TAKES IT EASY
The easiest passage of the day went to David Bianchetti of Italy who knocked out Burki of Pakistan. It wasn't hard: Burki played sloppily hit a thousand errors and gave Bianchetti the 27minute match on a plate. Bianchetti gets to play Karim Darwish in the main draw and it is not a prospect that he will find daunting. He has the game and the shots to match the Egyptian. The winner will be the one that retains his concentration longest.

JENSON BACK ON FORM
Dan Jenson survived the heat of Patrick Bedore - the only Canadian in the qualifying draw - to win in four. Bedore plays with the intensity of the sun - sometimes you think he will succumb to spontaneous combustion. He won the second game, but all his self-motivating ploys could not help him deal with Jenson's experience.

I asked Jenson what happened in the second.

"I lost concentration and I also wanted to keep the rallies going to get used to the court. Maybe I overdid it."

Did Bedore's intensity get to him ?

"No. I felt like telling him to calm down. He'd play better," Jenson replied.

I'm glad to report that Jenson's back problems have subsided and never bothered him in winning a gold medal at the World Doubles last week.His meeting with Olli Tuominen on Friday should be a pretty good test for him.

WEDNESDAY JAN 18 2006.
FINAL QUALIFYING RESULTS
Liam Kenny (IRE) def Laurent Elriani (FRA)11-9,11-10 (3-1), 11-10 (3-1)(57mins)
Gavin Jones (WAL) def Chris Gordon (USA) 4-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-5 (51 mins)
Simon Parke (ENG) def Mark Heather (ENG)11-6, 11-10 (3-1),11-9 (50mins)
Davide Bianchetti (ITA) def Arshad Iqbal Burki (PAK) 11-4, 11-4, 11-6(27mins)
Mark Chaloner (ENG) def Darryl Selby (ENG) 11-9, 11-10 (5-3), 7-11,11-3 (64 mins)
Ben Garner (ENG) def Miguiel Rodriguez (COL) 11-10 (5-3), 7-11, 11-9, 1-11, 11-9 (62 mins)
Dan Jenson (AUS) def Patrick Bedore (CAN) 11-4, 10-11 (2-4),11-5, 11-2 (34 mins)
Borje Golan (ESP) def Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 934 mins

[ Main Draw]