Giuffre Joins Draw In St Louis

Matthew Giuffre extended North American interest in the main draw of the St Louis Open when he defeated Germany's Simon Rosner in the qualifying finals of the 5-star PSA Tour event in the Missouri city.

The 24-year-old from Edmonton beat Rosner, the European Junior Champion, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 in 52 minutes - and now faces Egypt's World Junior Champion Ramy Ashour in the first round.

Egyptian Karim Darwish is seeded to reclaim the title he won in 2004. The world No10 from Cairo is expected to face second seed John White in the final - in a repeat of their quarter-final meeting in last week's Dunlop British Open

Back on home soil after his British Open upset over world number one Amr Shabana in his former hometown of Nottingham, White faces English qualifier Mark Heather in the opening round.

Qualifying finals:
Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt Shawn Delierre (CAN) 11-7, 10-11 (4-6), 11-7, 11-4 (40m)
Mark Heather (ENG) bt Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) 11-5, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7 (50m)
Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) bt Dylan Bennett (NED) 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 (51m)
Matthew Giuffre (CAN) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 (52m)