2007 Kuwait Open Squash Men's Preview

PALMER STARTS SLOW BUT ADVANCES

The richest tour event of 2007 got underway with some nerves accompanying first round play.

World champion David Palmer also struggled to a five-game win in his opener. David Palmer started very slowly, dropping his first two games against Italian Davide Bianchetti before charging ahead, losing only 8 points over the final three come-from behind games. The fifth-seeded Australian recovered from two games down to beat Italian qualifier Davide Bianchetti 9-11, 4-11, 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 in 71 minutes.

Anthony Ricketts, who has been fighting some elbow difficulties since early this year, went down surprisingly to journeyman Jonathan Kemp.

English qualifier Jonathan Kemp pulled off the only upset in today's (Saturday) first round action in the Sheikha Al Saad Kuwait Open when he beat Australia's No5 seed Anthony Ricketts in the world's richest squash tournament at the Al Qadsia Sports Centre in Kuwait City.

Ricketts was attempting his Tour comeback after treatment for an elbow injury which caused his retirement from the final of last month's Tournament of Champions in New York. Kemp, 26, from Telford in Shropshire, recovered from a game down to upset the former world No3 from Sydney 10-11 (1-3), 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 in 44 minutes.

The Englishman, Kemp, will now face 12th seed Wael El Hindi in the second round of the PSA Super Series Platinum event after the Egyptian despatched another English qualifier Bradley Ball 11-5, 11-8, 11-4.

John White, meeting the always-difficult competitor, Cameron Pilley, won yet another five game contest, following on his recent performance at Canary Wharf.

#1 Seed Amr Shabana, in the nightcap, survived a sixty minute battle with Alister Walker.

Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee will have to defeat both of the sport's most talented brothers if he is to make the event's last eight. Today the 15th seed defeated Egyptian qualifier Hisham Mohd Ashour 10-11 (0-2), 11-9, 11-5, 11-10 (3-1), and will now face his younger sibling Ramy Ashour, the No4 seed, in the quarter-finals. Ashour junior, the 19-year-old who already has a Super Series title to his name this year, beat English qualifier Joey Barrington 11-7, 11-1, 11-5.

"I was a little nervous to start with, Hisham is so talented and unpredictable," said Ong Beng Hee. "He can hit you with eight winners from nowhere, and his boasts are the best around. He's playing so much better than his ranking.

"I'm very excited - one Ashour down, now to take on the other one. If I can beat the two Ashours, my ball sense must be the best in the world!"

Sheikha al Saad Kuwait Open
1st round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Alister Walker (ENG) 11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 6-11, 11-7 (60m)
[14] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 6-11, 11-10 (2-0), 5-11, 11-9, 11-3 (86m)
[7] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-10 (3-1) (52m)
[9] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (28m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 9-11, 4-11, 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 (71m)
[10] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt Shahier Razik (CAN) 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 2-11, 11-5 (90m)
[6] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-7, 5-11, 11-3, 11-7 (54m)
[13] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt Bader Al Hussaini (KUW) 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 (31m)
[12] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [Q] Bradley Ball (ENG) 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 (31m)
[Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt [5] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 10-11 (1-3), 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (44m)
[15] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [Q] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 10-11 (0-2), 11-9, 11-5, 11-10 (3-1) (46m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-7, 11-1, 11-5 (31m)
[16] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-8, 11-4, 11-3 (48m)
[8] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 11-6, 11-2, 11-2 (33m)
[11] John White (SCO) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 11-3 (62m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (37m)

NEW ... Get the New Jonathon Power Instruction Video at the SquashTalk eStore!