Jones & Giuffre Jettison Pakistanis To Reach Last Sixteen In Melbourne

It was a disappointing day for Pakistan on today's opening day of squash action in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne when the country's two seeded players, cousins Shahid Zaman and Mansoor Zaman, were bounced out of the men's singles event by Canada's Matthew Giuffre and Welshman Gavin Jones, respectively.

Jones, the 26-year-old world No39 from Maesteg who became Welsh national champion for the first time in November, made his killing in the first round at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre when he beat Mansoor Zaman, the 15th seed, 9-7, 9-6, 5-9, 2-9, 9-6 in 64 minutes.

The Welshman went on to overcome Zambian O'Neil Chilambwe in the second round to earn a surprise slot in the last sixteen, where he will face fellow Briton James Willstrop. The No2 seed from Pontefract in England made it into the third round without even getting his racket out of the bag when Scotsman Harry Leitch - who earlier beat St Vincent's James Bentick 9-5, 9-3, 9-5 to earn his place in the second round - conceded the match.

Matthew Giuffre followed a whirlwind 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 first round victory over Fiji's Andrew McGoon in just 10 minutes by upsetting 11th seed Shahid Zaman 9-4, 10-8, 10-9 in 43 minutes. The 23-year-old from Edmonton now faces England's Peter Nicol, the 1998 gold medallist who despatched South Africa's former world No23 Rodney Durbach 9-5, 9-1, 9-1 in 29 minutes.

In the women's event Australia's Natalie Grinham celebrated her 28th birthday in fine style with a strong win over the Cayman Island's Chantelle Day 9-0, 9-0, 9-1. In the next round, the third seed who married Dutch player Tommy Berden on the eve of the event, will meet Malaysia's Tricia Chuah who enjoyed a straight games victory over Vanessa Florens from Mauritius 9-3, 9-0, 9-5.

"I think that Vanessa played very well for a newcomer and it was tough at times," commented Chuah, the 23-year-old 16th seed from Kuala Lumpur.

There was a notable upset in the event when South African teenager Tenille Swartz became the youngest and only unseeded player to reach the last sixteen when she shocked New Zealand's No14 seed Tamsyn Leevey 9-5, 9-6, 9-4 in 22 minutes.

The 18-year-old from Parys will now face England's Vicky Botwright for a place in the quarter-finals. The fourth seed from Manchester dashed Zambian hopes with a 9-0, 9-1, 9-3 dismissal of Sharon Chimfwembe in just 11 minutes.

England Players Storm Into Last Sixteen

All eight of the England players comfortably secured places in the last sixteen at the MSAC.

In addition to Peter Nicol and James Willstrop, British National champion Nick Matthew also made it through to the men's third round. The No7 seed from Sheffield, defeated Zambian Chiluba Chilufya 9-2, 9-1, 9-2 in 29 minutes and will now take on Malaysia's ninth seed Ong Beng Hee.

Fellow Yorkshireman Lee Beachill, the fifth seed from Pontefract, despatched South African veteran Craig van der Wath 9-1, 9-2, 9-1 in 28 minutes. The former world No1 will now meet Welshman Alex Gough, the 13th seed who earned his place in the last sixteen when his Bermudan opponent James Stout retired injured midway through their third game.

In the women's event, Lincolnshire's Tania Bailey, from Stamford, convincingly beat Diana Argyle of South Africa 9-3, 9-1, 9-0.

Commenting on her victory, eighth seed Bailey said: "I don't think I have ever played this early in the tournament before but it was nice to get the first match out of the way. My preparation has gone really well.

"I had not played the South African before so she was a bit of an unknown to me," she added. "It took me a few points to get used to her style of play as she played better than I expected."

Team England's players dominated all their matches. Jenny Duncalf, the fifth seed from Harrogate in Yorkshire, beat Scotland's Louise Philip 9-2, 9-3, 9-0.

Manchester's Vicky Botwright, the No4 seed, beat Sharon Chimfwembe of Zambia 9-0, 9-0, 9-3, while sixth seed Linda Elriani, from Eastbourne, beat Jamaica's Karen Anderson 9-4, 9-1, 9-2.

Men's 2nd round:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) bt David Evans (WAL) 9-2, 9-4, 9-6 (31m)
[14] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt Chris Simpson (GUE) 9-3, 2-9, 9-3, 9-6 (50m)
[6] John White (SCO) bt Nicholas Kyme (BER) 9-7, 9-1, 9-1 (21m)
[16] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) bt Joseph Desira (MLT) 9-4, 9-1, 9-1 (18m)
[3] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Colin Ramasra (TRI) 9-0, 9-0, 9-1 (18m)
[10] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt Steve Richardson (NIR) 9-4, 9-0, 9-4 (39m)
[5] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Craig van der Wath (RSA) 9-1, 9-2, 9-1 (28m)
[13] Alex Gough (WAL) bt James Stout (BER) 9-4, 9-1, 1-7 ret. (17m)
[12] Graham Ryding (CAN) bt Clinton Leeuw (RSA) 9-1, 9-6, 9-0 (37m)
[8] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt Christopher Binnie (JAM) 9-0, 9-1, 9-1 (18m)
Matthew Giuffre (CAN) bt [11] Shahid Zaman (PAK) 9-4, 10-8, 10-9 (43m)
[4] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Rodney Durbach (RSA) 9-5, 9-1, 9-1 (29m)
[9] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Shawn Delierre (CAN) 9-3, 9-1, 9-2 (27m)
[7] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Chiluba Chilufya (ZAM) 9-2, 9-1, 9-2 (29m)
Gavin Jones (WAL) bt O'Neil Chilambwe (ZAM) 9-3, 9-3, 9-4 (35m)
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Harry Leitch (SCO) w/o

Women's 1st round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bye
[13] Runa Reta (CAN) bt Eli Webb (PNG) 9-1, 9-1, 9-2 (16m)
[8] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt Diana Argyle (RSA) 9-3, 9-1, 9-0 (16m)
[12] Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt Marlene West (JAM) 9-1, 9-0, 9-1 (19m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt Chantelle Day (CAY) 9-0, 9-0, 9-1 (12m)
[16] Tricia Chuah (MAS) bt Vanessa Florens (MRI) 9-3, 9-0, 9-5 (17m)
[7] Madeline Perry (NIR) bt Tehani Guruge (SRI) 9-1, 9-0, 9-0 (10m)
[10] Sharon Wee (MAS) bt Nicolette Fernandes (GUY) 4-9, 9-6, 7-9, 9-6, 9-2 (54m)
[9] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt Naluge Guy (PNG) 9-2, 9-1, 9-0 (13m)
[5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Louise Philip (SCO) 9-2, 9-3, 9-0 (18m)
Tenille Swartz (RSA) bt [14] Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) 9-5, 9-6, 9-4 (22m)
[4] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Sharon Chimfwembe (ZAM) 9-0, 9-1, 9-3 (11m)
[11] Tegwen Malik (WAL) bt Nirasha Guruge (SRI) 9-3, 9-0, 9-0 (16m)
[6] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt Karen Anderson (JAM) 9-4, 9-1, 9-2 (15m)
[15] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Frania Gillen-Buchert (SCO) 9-3, 9-0, 9-4 (22m)
[2] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bye