National Stars Progress At Canary Wharf

Four players returning to international competition after battling for national honours recorded impressive victories on the second day of first round action in the ISS Canary Wharf Classic at East Wintergarden in Canary Wharf, London.

Unlike Nick Matthew, who crashed out on Monday after only a 24-hour break since his British National Championship triumph in Manchester, runner-up Lee Beachill clearly benefited from his two-day break when he faced fellow Englishman Ben Garner. The fifth seed from Yorkshire beat Surrey champion Garner 11-8 11-8 11-4 in 35 minutes - and will now face fourth seed Peter Nicol, his England team-mate, for a place in the last four.

Third seed James Willstrop, beaten by Beachill in the British semi-finals, played what he described on the official website www.cwsquash.com as "probably the worst match I ever played in my life" when he pipped Pakistan's Shahid Zaman 11-9 11-10 11-10 in 43 minutes.

The 22-year-old from Pontefract will no doubt hope for a better performance in the quarter-finals against fellow former world junior champion Karim Darwish, the seventh seed from Egypt.

The contest for the top player in France produced a significant upset at the weekend when Gregory Gaultier beat the 2005 world number one Thierry Lincou in the final of the French Nationals in Nimes. Gaultier, the eighth seed at Canary Wharf, continued his winning ways with an 11-2 11-8 11-5 defeat of English qualifier Jonathan Kemp in just 28 minutes.

Second seed Lincou was taken to four games by left-hander Peter Barker, but ultimately triumphed 11-6 7-11 11-8 11-4 over the English qualifier in 44 minutes.

Gaultier will now meet Australia's top seed Anthony Ricketts, while Lincou takes on unseeded Welshman Alex Gough in tonight's quarter-finals at London's Docklands.

1st round:
[8] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 (28m)
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Shahid Zaman (PAK) 11-9, 11-10 (4-2), 11-10 (6-4) (43m)
[5] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Ben Garner (ENG) 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 (35m)
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [Q] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4 (44m)