Ryding Weathers The Storm In Windy City

A five-game battle between two fellow countrymen was one of the highlights of the second day of first round action in the Infor Windy City Open - the second PSA Super Series Silver event of the year, in Chicago, USA.

It took Graham Ryding, the Canadian number one ranked 23 in the world, five games to overhaul Shawn Delierre, ranked more than 20 places lower, in the Coastal Contacts Jericho Open in Vancouver last November.

And again, the unseeded 24-year-old from Montreal fully stretched his senior compatriot in Chicago - leading 2/1 before 15th seed Ryding fought back to win 11-4, 3-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-3 in 55 minutes.

Ryding, 31, from Toronto, now goes on to face defending champion David Palmer, the second seed from Australia, for a place in the quarter-finals.

Egyptian teenager Ramy Ashour began his bid for a second successive PSA Super Series title in North America with a swift straight games win over Swedish qualifier Badr Abdel Aziz. The PACE Canadian Classic champion took just 30 minutes to overcome Aziz 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 to set up a second round clash with England's Adrian Grant.

"We are very good friends, I always wanted to play him, it was a great experience for me," Aziz told www.squashsite.co.uk. "Both my parents are Egyptians, but I was born in Sweden. I think that the 'Egyptian style' comes naturally to us. I always admire the way those guys play, it's the way squash should be played for me."

Full 1st round results:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Dan Jenson (AUS) 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 11-6 (32m)
[12] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [Q] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) 10-11 (2-4), 11-5, 11-1, 11-10 (3-1) (47m)
[7] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Daryl Selby (ENG) 11-5, 11-8, 11-2 (35m)
[13] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt [Q] Amr Mansi (EGY) 11-5, 11-1, 11-1 (26m)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 (40m)
[9] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt [Q] Tom Richards (ENG) 11-8, 11-9, 11-3 (32m)
[8] John White (SCO) bt Mark Heather (ENG) 8-11, 11-9, 11-10 (2-0), 11-4 (51m)
[14] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [Q] Stacey Ross (ENG) 11-7, 11-10 (3-1), 11-6 (38m)
[10] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-10 (3-1), 11-9, 11-10 (3-1) (52m)
[6] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Badr Abdel Aziz (SWE) 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 (30m)
[11] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 (37m)
[3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Liam Kenny (IRL) 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 (47m)
[16] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Scott Handley (ENG) 11-3, 11-9, 11-8 (38m)
[5] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) 11-10 (2-0), 11-1, 11-6 (44m)
[15] Graham Ryding (CAN) bt Shawn Delierre (CAN) 11-4, 3-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-3 (55m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 (64m)