Kemp Crafts Kuwait Conquest

English qualifier Jonathan Kemp pulled off the only upset in today's first round action in the Sheikha Al Saad Kuwait Open when he beat Australia's No5 seed Anthony Ricketts in the world's richest squash tournament at the Al Qadsia Sports Centre in Kuwait City.

Ricketts was making his Tour comeback after treatment for an elbow injury which caused his retirement from the final of last month's Tournament of Champions in New York. Kemp, 26, from Telford in Shropshire, recovered from a game down to upset the former world No3 from Sydney 10-11 (1-3), 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 in 44 minutes.

The Englishman will now face 12th seed Wael El Hindi in the second round of the PSA Super Series Platinum event after the Egyptian despatched another English qualifier Bradley Ball 11-5, 11-8, 11-4.

Egypt's world number one Amr Shabana was another player returning to the Tour after an injury. Seemingly untroubled by his wrist, the top seed sailed through the first two games against Alister Walker.

But the English qualifier from Leeds gained the upper hand in the next two games to force the match into a fifth game decider. However, the left-hander from Cairo rediscovered the form which has seen him win two PSA Super Series titles already this year - and went on to clinch an 11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 6-11, 11-7 victory in exactly one hour.

World champion David Palmer also struggled to a five-game win in his opener. The fifth-seeded Australian recovered from two games down to beat Italian qualifier Davide Bianchetti 9-11, 4-11, 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 in 71 minutes.

"I was a bit slow out of the blocks, to be sure," Palmer told www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "It's a bit of a wake-up call."

Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee will have to defeat both of the sport's most talented brothers if he is to make the event's last eight. Today the 15th seed defeated Egyptian qualifier Hisham Mohd Ashour 10-11 (0-2), 11-9, 11-5, 11-10 (3-1), and will now face his younger sibling Ramy Ashour, the No4 seed, in the quarter-finals. Ashour junior, the 19-year-old who already has a Super Series title to his name this year, beat English qualifier Joey Barrington 11-7, 11-1, 11-5.

"I was a little nervous to start with, Hisham is so talented and unpredictable," said Ong Beng Hee. "He can hit you with eight winners from nowhere, and his boasts are the best around. He's playing so much better than his ranking.

"I'm very excited - one Ashour down, now to take on the other one. If I can beat the two Ashours, my ball sense must be the best in the world!"

Egypt's Engy Kheirallah, France's Isabelle Stoehr, Australia's Kasey Brown and New Zealand's Shelley Kitchen came through today's qualifying finals in the women's WISPA Gold event. Brown, from New South Wales, was drawn to face compatriot Natalie Grinham, the No2 seed, in the first round.

Grinham junior is expected to face favourite Nicol David, the defending champion and world number one from Malaysia, in Wednesday's final.

Men's 1st round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Alister Walker (ENG) 11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 6-11, 11-7 (60m)
[14] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 6-11, 11-10 (2-0), 5-11, 11-9, 11-3 (86m)
[7] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-10 (3-1) (52m)
[9] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (28m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 9-11, 4-11, 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 (71m)
[10] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt Shahier Razik (CAN) 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 2-11, 11-5 (90m)
[6] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-7, 5-11, 11-3, 11-7 (54m)
[13] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt Bader Al Hussaini (KUW) 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 (31m)
[12] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [Q] Bradley Ball (ENG) 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 (31m)
[Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt [5] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 10-11 (1-3), 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (44m)
[15] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [Q] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 10-11 (0-2), 11-9, 11-5, 11-10 (3-1) (46m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-7, 11-1, 11-5 (31m)
[16] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-8, 11-4, 11-3 (48m)
[8] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 11-6, 11-2, 11-2 (33m)
[11] John White (SCO) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 11-3 (62m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (37m)

Women's qualifying finals:
Engy Kheirallah (EGY) bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 9-6, 2-9, 9-3, 9-1 (54m)
Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 9-4, 9-6, 4-9, 7-9, 9-3 (68m)
Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Annelize Naude (NED) 9-2, 9-5, 9-7 (66m)
Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt Raneem El Weleily (EGY) 9-1, 9-5, 9-6 (36m)