[THE DRAW]

OCT 23rd. Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia - Most of the seeded players advanced to the round of 16 of the $210,000 Saudi International. With its rich purse, this event becomes one of the season's most crucial tournaments for the PSA top 25 rankings.

One player sure to make progress in the rankings already is Holland's L J Anjema who scored a hard-fought match over Egyptian top 12 player, Mo Abbas.

Unseeded Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema scored the sole upset on the opening day's play in the Saudi International when he defeated No12 seed Mohammed Abbas in the first round of the PSA Super Series Platinum squash event in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

"It's the win I've been looking for for two years," said the delighted 24-year-old from The Hague after his 11-10 (2-0), 10-11 (1-3), 11-2, 11-9 victory over the Egyptian in 52 minutes. 

The Dutchman's first big win in a major event takes Anjema through to a second round meeting with England's Nick Matthew, the No7 seed from Sheffield who beat training partner and good friend Alister Walker, a qualifier from Leeds, 11-6, 11-6, 10-11 (0-2), 11-6 in 61 minutes.

Elsewhere it was a good day for the English with Matthew joined by James Willstrop, Lee Beachill, Peter Barker and Adrian Grant - though Grant needed 92 minutes to overcome compatriot Joey Barrington 3-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-10 (3-1).

But the longest battle was an Egyptian/Spaniard clash between Wael El Hindi and Borja Golan, in which the No8 seed from Cairo prevailed 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5 in 96 minutes.  El Hindi had been elevated to eighth seed after the last-minute withdrawal of Scotland's John White through injury.

The quickest win of the day belonged to Olli Tuominen, who lived up to the 'Flying Finn' tag as he swept Italy's Davide Bianchetti aside in just 20 minutes.

"I got a good start that lasted for two and a half games," said Olli after his 11-1, 11-2, 11-7 victory.  "That just about sums it up," agreed the Italian qualifier

The battle between second seed Ramy Ashour and English qualifier Jonathan Kemp started off on the glass court - but after a quick-fire first game, where rallies over four shots were a rarity, it was decided to move the match to the inside courts, where the Egyptian completed his 11-10 (3-1), 10-11 (1-3), 11-3, 11-7 win.

"It wasn't slippery as such," said Kemp, "but neither of us could push off.  If you knew where the ball was going you were ok," explained the Englishman.

Ramy was so nearly joined by elder brother Hisham, who lost out in a tense five games to Ong Beng Hee, the newly-promoted 16th seed.

After the Opening Ceremony, local wildcard Mohammed Al-Saif found Australian Stewart Boswell too much of a handful - both players struggling a little with footing. 

Egyptians Amr Shabana, the world No1 and defending champion, and Omar Mosaad rounded off the day back on the inside courts with Shabana coming through 11-7, 11-6, 10-11 (2-4), 11-7 to set up another all-Egyptian clash with ninth seed Karim Darwish.

SAUDI INTERNATIONAL, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia

1st round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) v [Q] Omar Mosaad (EGY)
[10] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[5] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS)
[11] Stewart Boswell (AUS) v Mohammed Taher Al-Saif (KSA)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) v Chris Ryder (ENG)
[14] Adrian Grant (ENG) v [Q] Joey Barrington (ENG)
[7] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Q] Alister Walker (ENG)
[13] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) v Laurens Jan Anjema (NED)
[12] Lee Beachill (ENG) v Alex Gough (WAL)
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) v [Q] Daryl Selby (ENG)
[15] Peter Barker (ENG) v [Q] Chris Simpson (ENG)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Ong Beng Hee (MAS)
[16] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v [Q] Davide Bianchetti (ITA)
[8] John White (SCO) v Borja Golan (ESP)
[9] Wael El Hindi (EGY) v [Q] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG)

2nd round line-up:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) v [9] Karim Darwish (EGY)
[5] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v [10] Stewart Boswell (AUS)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) v [13] Adrian Grant (ENG)
[7] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Laurens Jan Anjema (NED)
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) v [11] Lee Beachill (ENG)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [14] Peter Barker (ENG)
[8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) v [15] Olli Tuominen (FIN)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [16] Ong Beng Hee (MAS)