Walker Wilts In San Francisco

England's Chris Walker failed to survive the first round of the Tennyson West Fog City Open in San Francisco.

Competing in his first PSA Tour event for almost a year, the former world No4 found the going tough against Australia's third seed Cameron Pilley. The 37-year-old ex-England captain, who announced his retirement in May, was making an appearance in the event to help out an old friend and former Essex county team-mate Mark Allen, now the Head Squash Professional at the San Francisco Bay Club.

Pilley, a 21-year-old graduate of the Australian Institute of Sport, won 11-6 11-7 5-11 11-4 in 58 minutes. "Chris hasn't played on the Tour for a while so I tried to keep the ball tight and keep him moving to tire him out," said the world No40 from Queensland. "I lost the third game after slowing it down too much, but then increased the pace in the fourth which won me the match."

Unseeded Eric Galvez also staged an upset when he defeated England's sixth seed Lee Drew 8-11 5-11 11-6 11-9 11-3 in 80 minutes. The Mexican's reward is a quarter-final clash with top-seeded South African Rodney Durbach.

1st round:
[1] Rodney Durbach (RSA) bt [Q] Sam Miller (ENG) 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (3-1), 11-6 (52m)
Eric Galvez (MEX) bt [6] Lee Drew (ENG) 8-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (80m)
[3] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt Chris Walker (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 5-11, 11-4 (58m)
[5] Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) bt Raj Nanda (AUS) 7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-3
[8] Liam Kenny (IRL) bt [Q] Christopher Gordon (USA) 11-5, 11-3, 11-5 (29m)
Ian Power (CAN) bt Beau River (USA) 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-8 (64m)
[7] Matthew Giuffre (CAN) bt [Q] Wade Johnstone (AUS) 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (31m)
[2] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt [Q] Jose Angel Becerril (MEX) 11-8, 10-11 (0-2), 11-9, 11-10 (2-0)