Tuominen Topples Beachill In Tournament of Champions Upset

Finland's Olli Tuominen caused the only upset in the last sixteen round of the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions when he came back from a game down to beat England's No8 seed Lee Beachill in the PSA Super Series event in its tenth year at Grand Central Terminal in New York.

Beachill was competing in his first tournament since withdrawing from last week's British National Championships after sustaining a freak neck injury in practice. But the tenth seed from Helsinki was too strong for the former world number one from Pontefract in Yorkshire - a quarter-finalist for the past four years - winning 5-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9 in 56 minutes.

The victory marked Tuominen's first win over a world top ten player for almost a year - and he now meets Australia's world champion David Palmer, his previous top ten scalp some nine months earlier!

Palmer, the second seed, ended the history-making run of America's Julian Illingworth, the only US player to make it to the second round of a PSA Super Series event. "I wanted to dominate from the start and keep the crowd quiet," said Palmer after his 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 victory. "It's never easy when you are expected to win."

The buzz continued to build around Ramy Ashour, the Egyptian teen sensation who drew a big crowd to the glass court in Grand Central, even though it was the middle of a wintry workday. Those who came were not disappointed: Playing his countryman Wael El Hindi, the 19-year-old from Cairo found himself on the losing end of the first game.

"He had so much power," said Ashour of El Hindi. "And the balls I was hitting weren't going to the right place. So I had to get my concentration." Demonstrating a competitive maturity beyond his years, the two-time world junior champion found his focus and was able put the balls in the right place on the court for the next three games, ultimately winning 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-2 in 53 minutes.

Ramy's next opponent is the player who preceded him as World Junior Champion. 23-year-old James Willstrop of England was the talk of the tournament three years when he reached the quarterfinals in his inaugural ToC appearance. "This is my first meeting with Ramy," said Willstrop, who defeated Canada's Shahier Razik 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 in 27 minutes, the quickest match of the day. "I am exited to play him. He's physically so strong and his all around game is quite complete."

Defending champion Amr Shabana, also from Egypt, had his hands full with Ramy's older brother Hisham Mohd Ashour in the evening's second match. Up 2/0, Shabana was unable to convert two match balls in the third. Winning the third game in a tie-break fired up the older Ashour, who had the world No1 diving for balls in the fourth game.

It was neck and neck until seven all in the fifth, when the two-time World Champion exerted his authority and closed out the match in the fifth to win 11-4, 11-7, 10-11 (1-3), 9-11, 11-7 in 53 minutes.

"My legs weren't there in the third," said Shabana after the match. "I wouldn't have won this match a few years ago. But being number one, you have to continue to fight. You have a name and a reputation to defend."

The remaining quarter-final match up will see 2005 ToC champion Anthony Ricketts face off against two-time finalist Thierry Lincou. After closing out a 20-minute first game against Spain's Borja Golan, Australian Ricketts won the next two with a bit more ease. Frenchman Lincou defeated Ireland's Liam Kenny in straight games.

2nd round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [16] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-4, 11-7, 10-11 (1-3), 9-11, 11-7 (53m)
[6] John White (SCO) bt [12] Alex Gough (WAL) 11-7, 11-9, 11-10 (2-0) (51m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [9] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-2 (53m)
[5] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [15] Shahier Razik (CAN) 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 (27m)
[7] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [11] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 (51m)
[3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Liam Kenny (IRL) 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 (47m)
[10] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [8] Lee Beachill (ENG) 5-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9 (56m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 (34m)