Nicol Survives Match Ball To Earn Second Round Place In World Open Farewell

England's Peter Nicol staged a trademark gritty fight-back to earn a dramatic five-game victory over Canada's Graham Ryding in the first round of the Al-Ahram World Open in Cairo.

The 33-year-old is competing in his 12th World Open - but the last PSA Tour event before he finally brings his illustrious squash career to an end.

Nicol, the 1999 World Open champion, was two points away from defeat at 4-9 in the fifth game, and clawed his way back to 10-10, then saved a match-ball before clinching his own match-ball to win the thrilling encounter 11-4, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-10 (2-0) in 73 minutes.

"I always used to have a tough first round and then win the tournament," said a relieved Nicol to www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "I'm not sure it will still work, but I'm going to give it a go!"

The sixth seed will now face Australia's Stewart Boswell for a place in the last eight after the 28-year-old No15 seed beat Egyptian qualifier Hisham Mohd Ashour 11-9, 11-5, 11-8.

Hisham's disappointment was contrasted by the joy of his younger brother Ramy Ashour, the 18-year-old record two-times world junior champion who was drawn to face fourth seed James Willstrop in the first round. The Englishman was forced to withdraw from the event due to gastro-enteritis, giving the Egyptian teenager an unexpected bye through to the second round - where he will now face Willstrop's England team-mate Lee Beachill, the 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 victor over Spanish qualifier Borja Golan.

There were mixed fortunes for the host nation: Early in the day, unseeded Mohammed Abbas caused the first upset in the main draw when he dismissed Malaysia's No12 seed Mohd Azlan Iskandar 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-10 (5-3) in 69 minutes.

But, in a later match on the all-glass court by the famous pyramids of Giza, the Egyptian No2 Karim Darwish suffered a shock defeat at the hands of lower-ranked compatriot Wael El Hindi. It was a bad day for ninth seed Darwish as El Hindi came from a game down to win 5-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-10 (2-0).

Event favourite Amr Shabana, the world No1 defending his title in front of a home crowd, had a tough test on the all-glass court, but - in his first PSA Tour event since May - beat English qualifier Peter Barker 11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6.

1st round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6
Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt [12] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-10 (5-3) (69m)
[7] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 11-10 (3-1), 11-3, 11-3 (53m)
Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [9] Karim Darwish (EGY) 5-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-10 (2-0)
Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [4] James Willstrop (ENG) w/o
[10] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [Q] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (41m)
[8] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (31m)
[11] John White (SCO) bt [Q] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8 (68m)
[15] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt [Q] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 (39m)
[6] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Graham Ryding (CAN) 11-4, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-10 (2-0) (73m)
[14] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Shahier Razik (CAN) 8-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 11-10 (4-2) (96m)
[3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [Q] Alister Walker (ENG) 4-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-6 (63m)
[16] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5 (100m)
[5] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-7, 11-5, 10-11 (1-3), 11-3 (41m)
[13] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 (34m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 11-4, 11-3, 11-1