Olli Ousts El Hindi In Saudi

Olli Tuominen produced the only shock on the second day of second round Saudi International action when he upset eighth seed Wael El Hindi to reach the quarter-finals of the PSA Super Series Platinum squash event in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

The determined No15 seed from Finland battled for 61 minutes to overcome El Hindi 11-7, 11-6, 11-10 (3-1) to reach his fourth PSA Tour event quarter-final this year.

Tuominen, 28, from Helsinki, will now face Egypt's latest squash star Ramy Ashour, the 20-year-old world number two who was taken to four games by Ong Beng Hee before beating the 16th seed from Malaysia 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-6, 11-5 in 63 minutes.

"That was very tough - I expected him to play faster than me but he slowed it down and slowed it down. I wasn't expecting that at all," Ashour told the official website www.atcosquash.com

"I had to just keep playing my way and learn to cope with what he was doing. I learned a lot from that game today, a lot," added the winner of five Tour titles already this year.

In the all-English clash which opened the day's play, Yorkshireman James Willstrop beat his club, county and national team-mate Lee Beachill 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 in 38 minutes.

"It's not the easiest or most enjoyable matches to play, although it's always fair game, but you just have to get on with it," said Willstrop - who only earlier this year secured the first ever win over his close friend in years of competition on an off the Tour.

"Lee wasn't moving so fluently, you could see it wasn't there - but he hung in well and made it hard for two games before he dropped off in the third," said the 24-year-old sixth seed.

"I performed as well as I had to and played some pretty decent squash. He's done that to me so many times, so I'm not going to get embarrassed to get one back!"

Willstrop will face Frenchman Gregory Gaultier in the quarter-finals for the third time in three months. The 24-year-old fourth seed, winner of the British Open title in September, defeated Willstrop's England team-mate Peter Barker, the 14th seed, 11-7, 11-4, 11-7.

"I've played him twice this year, he fights for all the points and is a good defender so you have to make your shots count and that worked for me today," explained Gaultier, the world No3.

"Winning the British Open was a huge thing for me, it's one of my main targets. With Thierry already having won the world championship and been number one, it was nice to be the first to get something for France. But you can't afford to dwell on it too long, now I try to stay focussed on my upcoming matches and events."

2nd round (bottom half):
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [11] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (38m)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [14] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 (49m)
[15] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-7, 11-6, 11-10 (3-1) (61m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [16] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-6, 11-5 (63m)