Gordon Advances, Faces First Seed in Quarters

Gavin Jones survived an intramural Welsh battle in first round action in Atlanta. (photo © 2006 Andre Maur.)

Christopher Gordon, fresh off a victory in the US U23 Championships, carried home hopes single-handedly through to the quarter-finals of the Atlanta Squash Open when he beat Canada's Ian Power in the first round of the PSA Tour event at the Concourse Athletic Club in Atlanta, USA.

The 19-year-old eighth seed from New York beat Power 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 and will now go on to face top seed Gavin Jones for a place in the last four.

Jones survived a Welsh classic against compatriot Scott Fitzgerald, beating his national squad team-mate 11-8, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7.

Robby Lingashi and Patrick Chifunda, two Zambians who survived the qualifiers, had mixed fortunes in the first round.  Lingashi dropped the first game against Ritwik Bhattacharya, then was forced to concede the match to the fourth seed from India.

Chifunda, the Washington DC-based 31-year-old, stretched Australia's No7 seed Timothy Manning to four games, including two tie-break games, but ultimately went down 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-1, 11-10 (2-0).

RESULTS:        Atlanta Squash Open, Concourse Athletic Club, Atlanta, USA

1st round:
[1] Gavin Jones (WAL) bt Scott Fitzgerald (WAL)                             11-8, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7
[8] Christopher Gordon (USA) bt Ian Power (CAN)                            11-5, 11-6, 11-4
[3] Eric Galvez (MEX) bt [Q] Michael Joint (GER)                             11-5, 11-6, 11-4
[6] Bernardo Samper (COL) bt David Phillips (CAN)                           11-6, 11-5, 11-7
[5] Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt Wade Johnstone (AUS)                        11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5
[4] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) bt [Q] Robby Lingashi (ZAM)             11-3 ret.
[7] Timothy Manning (AUS) bt [Q] Patrick Chifunda (ZAM)               11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-1, 11-10 (2-0)
[2] Alister Walker (ENG) bt [Q] Luke Margan (AUS)                         11-7, 11-3, 11-4