Castagnet Leads French Revolution In Oxfordshire

Qualifier Mathieu Castagnet led a French revolution in the first round of the Hithercroft Open by upsetting second-seeded Englishman Bradley Ball to join two other French compatriots in the last eight of the PSA Tour event in its second year at the Hithercroft Squash Club in the English county of Oxfordshire.

The 20-year-old from Le Mans came from two games down to beat Ball, the world No34 from Suffolk, 10-11 (1-3), 4-11, 11-8, 11-4, 5-1 ret. in 51 minutes.

But Castagnet was not the only surprise quarter-finalist: Unseeded Yann Perrin also upset an Englishman when he beat fifth seed Jonathan Harford 10-11 (4-6), 11-3, 11-3, 11-5 in 59 minutes. The 21-year-old from Marseille will now face Irish qualifier John Rooney, who downed Germany's No4 seed Simon Rosner 11-7, 11-5, 11-5.

Event favourite Joey Barrington took his anticipated place in the quarter-finals when he defeated fellow Englishman Darren Lewis 11-6, 11-4, 11-7. Barrington will take on the third Frenchman who made the last eight when he faces seventh seed Laurent Elriani, an 11-8, 11-2, 11-7 winner over Namibian Ryan Thompson.

1st round:
[1] Joey Barrington (ENG) bt [Q] Darren Lewis (ENG) 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (34m)
[7] Laurent Elriani (FRA) bt Ryan Thompson (NAM) 11-8, 11-2, 11-7 (46m)
[3] Scott Handley (ENG) bt [Q] Robbie Temple (ENG) 6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 (42m)
[8] Alex Stait (ENG) bt Rob Sutherland (WAL) 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 (30m)
Yann Perrin (FRA) bt [5] Jonathan Harford (ENG) 10-11 (4-6), 11-3, 11-3, 11-5 (59m)
[Q] John Rooney (IRL) bt [4] Simon Rosner (GER) 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (40m)
[6] Badr Abdel Aziz (SWE) bt David Barnett (ENG) 8-11, 11-2, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4 (60m)
[Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [2] Bradley Ball (ENG) 10-11 (1-3), 4-11, 11-8, 11-4, 5-1 ret. (51m)