Parke On Song At Symphony Hall

English qualifier Simon Parke claimed the biggest scalp on the second day of first round action in the US Open in Boston when he fought back from two games down to overcome France's in-form world No3 Thierry Lincou at the Symphony Hall.

The 32-year-old Yorkshireman is rediscovering the form which led him to the US Open final four times, the title once (in 1999), and a career-high world No3 ranking in October 2000. After a major training regime this summer, he fought his way through to the final of the English Open last month as a qualifier, and has now defeated the Frenchman who won both the Super Series Finals crown in May and the Hong Kong Open title earlier this month.

The day's longest match, at 66 minutes, was by far the most riveting. After Lincou won the first game from nine-all, Parke came into the second looking strong. He stayed with the Frenchman point-for-point when at nine-all an unintentional elbow to the ribs delayed the game approximately five minutes. The injury may have broken Lincou's stride, but not his spirit as he went on to take the game 11-10 after a tie-break which went to 4-2.

As midnight approached, the Englishman caught his second wind and took the third game for the loss of only three points. Despite breaking a string in the fourth, Parke went on to level the match.

Game five started out with a couple of impressive rallies before Parke shot ahead quickly via some masterful shots and commanding control of the T. Whilst the first two games took 42 minutes, Parke's cruise back to tie things up and claim his 9-11 10-11 11-3 11-7 11-1 victory was accomplished in just 24.

Following the match, Parke enthused: "Those first two games were very close, but I still had a lot in me. I'm pumped and am looking forward to tomorrow's match against Joe (Kneipp)."

Top seed Peter Nicol, a shock second round casualty in the recent Hong Kong Open, enjoyed a confidence-boosting first round win over Anthony Ricketts, though the unseeded Australian extended the world No1 from England to five games.

After Ricketts took the opening game, the world number one went up 6-0 in the second before drawing level in just 10 minutes. Nicol then took the third but Ricketts again came back to force the match into a decider. Aggressive play on both men's parts brought the fifth and final game to eight-all when Nicol reminded everyone why he's number one and took the match cleanly 8-11 11-7 11-5 9-11 11-9 in 55 minutes.

"Anthony was a little tired in the third, but that was certainly not the case in the fourth. So, I collected myself ... got my game going and now I'm moving forward. The downtime can be tough, but I feel good now and I'm ready for the quarter-finals," said Nicol, who will meet compatriot Nick Matthew.

In the other two matches, second seed Lee Beachill had a comfortable 11-4 11-6 5-11 11-4 win over fellow Englishman Peter Barker, a qualifier, and Australia's fourth seed David Palmer beat England's world No12 James Willstrop 11-6 11-9 11-5.

Palmer said later: "I'm happy to get through to the quarter-finals. James and Anthony [Ricketts] are probably the toughest draws, so to beat him feels good. I'm still adjusting to the new 11-point scoring, but my game plan is solid and obviously working for me."

The quarter-final line-up is:
[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) v [7] Nick Matthew (ENG)
[8] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) v [Q] Simon Parke (ENG)
[4] David Palmer (AUS) v [Q] Dan Jenson (AUS)
[2] Lee Beachill (ENG) v Graham Ryding (CAN)

1st round results:
[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 (55m)
[Q] Simon Parke (ENG) bt [3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 9-11, 10-11 (2-4), 11-3, 11-7, 11-1 (66m)
[4] David Palmer (AUS) bt James Willstrop (ENG) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (39m)
[2] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [Q] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-4, 11-6, 5-11, 11-4 (47m)