Australians Hit The Buffers In Shocks At Grand Central Terminal

For the first time since the event has been staged at Grand Central Terminal in New York, there will be no Australian interest in the men's quarter-finals of the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions after both world number one David Palmer and defending champion Anthony Ricketts crashed out in a day of second round shocks in the established PSA Tour event in the USA.

"Today is a special day," said a beaming Gregory Gaultier after the Frenchman defeated title-holder Ricketts in four games on the all-glass court in the Vanderbilt Hall. "It is the first time that I beat him and my first time making it to the quarterfinals of this championship."

The charismatic 23-year-old from Aix-en-Provence had an extra measure of motivation going into the match as just two weeks ago he had lost to Ricketts in five games, having squandered two match balls in the quarter-finals of the ISS Canary Wharf Classic in London. Playing relaxed, confident squash, Gaultier pinned Ricketts to the back of the court - effectively nullifying the power hitting that is the Aussie's trademark - winning 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-1 in 64 minutes.

Gaultier will next meet three time champion Peter Nicol, who also came off the court smiling broadly after defeating Stewart Boswell of Australia 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 in 48 minutes. "That was some of the best squash I have played in a long while," said the 32-year-old Englishman who dominated the game in the late '90s and early part of this decade. It was vintage Nicol, as he covered all corners of the court and used a variety of shots to move Boswell around, giving the Aussie very few opportunities to attack.

Karim Darwish, the No12 seed, also had a reason to smile after eliminating world No1 David Palmer. Darwish, who beat Palmer in their last meeting in December, used his classic Egyptian shot-making to best advantage to keep the top seed off balance and off his game. Midway through the third game, Palmer shook hands with Darwish and conceded the match as a result of difficulty breathing from a sinus infection - with the score at 11-8, 11-6, 9-6.

Early in the day, both Amr Shabana and Thierry Lincou looked confident and relaxed in their second round victories. Lincou, who was No1 for all of 2005, has recently slipped to five in the rankings, but looked ready to make another move up the rankings ladder in a satisfying win over tenth seed John White.

"I made too many unforced errors," said the defeated Scotsman after the match. "It is very difficult to get Thierry off the T and I was frustrated that when I did manage to do so, I tinned the ball."

Lincou's next opponent will be third seed Amr Shabana. With five consecutive tournament wins from September through January, the world champion from Egypt is the player with momentum. Even though Finland's Olli Tuominen took a game off Shabana, the match's outcome never seemed to be in doubt. Shabana attributes some of his sharp play to an exhibition tour that he embarked on with Jonathon Power the week before coming to New York.

Although Power was victorious in three straight games over 35-year-old Alex Gough of Wales, it was a bit of a rough ride for the four-time ToC champion. The 69-minute match featured a few vigorous discussions with the referee as well as some superb shot-making from both players.

The evening's final second round match saw another minor upset when ninth seed Nick Matthew eliminated No6 seed James Willstrop 11-9, 11-10 (2-0), 11-8 in an all-English clash.

Four Britons came through the qualifying finals to earn places in the first round of the women's event which gets underway at Grand Central Terminal today (Tuesday). England's Rebecca Botwright dashed six-times US champion Latasha Khan's hopes of a main draw place with a 9-4, 10-8, 8-10, 9-6 victory.

Botwright meets Madeline Perry in the first round. A win over the Irish champion could take the 24-year-old from Manchester through to her first ever WISPA World Tour meeting with older sister Vicky Botwright, the second seed who faces France's Isabelle Stoehr.

Men's 2nd round:
[12] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [1] David Palmer (AUS) 11-8, 11-6, 9-6 ret. (40m)
[8] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [15] Graham Ryding (CAN) 7-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 (48m)
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [13] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 11-4 (33m)
[5] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [10] John White (SCO) 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (56m)
[7] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [14] Stewart Boswell (AUS) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (48m)
[11] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [4] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-1 (64m)
[9] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [6] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-9, 11-10 (2-0), 11-8 (53m)
[2] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [16] Alex Gough (WAL) 11-8, 11-10 (2-0), 11-7 (69m)

Women's qualifying finals:
Pamela Nimmo (SCO) bt Samantha Teran (MEX) 9-2, 9-2, 9-0
Rebecca Botwright (ENG) bt Latasha Khan (USA) 9-4, 10-8, 8-10, 9-6
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt Runa Reta (CAN) 9-3, 9-2, 9-3
Fiona Geaves (ENG) bt Suzie Pierrepont (ENG) 3-9, 9-6, 9-1, 5-9, 9-2