Seeds Dismissed On Opening Day In Doha

There were surprises in both the men's and women's events in the Qatar Classic on the opening day of main draw action in the major squash event in Doha, Qatar.

Australia's Stewart Boswell was the highest-ranked player to fall in the men's $120,000 Super Series Platinum event. The tenth seed from Canberra took the opening against Ong Beng Hee, but the unseeded Malaysian fought back to clinch a notable 9-11, 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4 victory in 72 minutes.

Beng Hee's win was countered by the unexpected defeat of compatriot Mohd Azlan Iskandar. The No14 seed was forced to retire injured at the start of the third game against unseeded Joey Barrington, with the Englishman claiming an 11-5, 11-4, 1-0 ret. win after just 29 minutes.

Barrington will now face fifth seed Thierry Lincou after the Frenchman survived a scare against English qualifier Bradley Ball before winning 7-11, 11-4, 10-11 (1-3), 11-8, 11-8 in 87 minutes.

"I'm lucky to get away with a victory today," said former world number one Lincou to www.squashsite.co.uk . "It's a great warning for the rest of the tournament."

Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema also secured an unexpected place in the last sixteen. The 24-year-old from The Hague stemmed a comeback by 11th seed Lee Beachill before upsetting the Englishman 11-7, 11-9, 4-11, 7-11, 11-9 in 84 minutes.

Jaclyn Hawkes was the heroine in the $77,000 WISPA Gold championship. The 24-year-old New Zealander celebrated her return to the world's top 20 by defeating seventh seed Omneya Abdel Kawy 2-9, 9-0, 4-9, 9-4, 9-4 in 61 minutes.

Hawkes will now face England's 12th seed Alison Waters, a 9-3, 9-2, 9-3 victor over Pakistan qualifier Carla Khan.

Malaysia's top seed Nicol David began her Qatar campaign in confident style. Putting the disappointment of last week's second round World Open exit behind her, David despatched Mexico's Samantha Teran 9-3, 9-3, 9-3 and will now meet France's Isabelle Stoehr in a repeat of last week's first round clash in Madrid.

Men's 1st round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 (29m)
[12] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt [Q] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) 11-3, 11-9, 11-1 (29m)
[8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt Alister Walker (ENG) 4-11, 11-10 (3-1), 8-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5 (101m)
Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [10] Stewart Boswell (AUS) 9-11, 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4 (72m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (41m)
[15] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-10 (3-1), 6-11, 9-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5 (111m)
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 10-11 (0-2), 11-4 (60m)
[16] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [Q] Dylan Bennett (NED) 11-5, 9-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-4 (49m)
[13] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-4, 11-1, 11-2 (27m)
[7] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-7, 11-8, 11-10 (3-1) (60m)
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [11] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-7, 11-9, 4-11, 7-11, 11-9 (84m)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Mansoor Zaman (PAK) 11-6, 11-6, 11-1 (20m)
Joey Barrington (ENG) bt [14] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-5, 11-4, 1-0 ret. (29m)
[5] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [Q] Bradley Ball (ENG) 7-11, 11-4, 10-11 (1-3), 11-8, 11-8 (87m)
[9] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-2, 11-6, 11-3 (34m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Chris Ryder (ENG) 11-6, 11-4, 11-10 (2-0) (27m)

Women's 1st round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Samantha Teran (MEX) 9-3, 9-3, 9-3 (49m)
[16] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt Louise Crome (NZL) 9-7, 10-9, 9-6 (47m)
Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) bt [7] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 2-9, 9-0, 4-9, 9-4, 9-4 (61m)
[12] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [Q] Carla Khan (PAK) 9-3, 9-2, 9-3 (26m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Sarah Kippax (ENG) 9-7, 9-4, 9-0 (34m)
[10] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 9-4, 9-3, 9-4 (36m)
[6] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Aisling Blake (IRL) 9-1, 9-4, 9-0 (24m)
[14] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Manuela Manetta (ITA) 9-1, 9-0, 9-1 (36m)
[Q] Tenille Swartz (RSA) bt [15] Annelize Naude (NED) 2-9, 9-3, 9-6, 8-10, 9-5 (52m)
[8] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [Q] Emma Beddoes (ENG) 9-4, 9-10, 9-2, 7-9, 9-1 (54m)
[13] Engy Kheirallah (EGY) bt Lauren Briggs (ENG) 9-2, 9-2, 4-9, 4-9, 9-4 (70m)
[4] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 9-2, 9-0, 9-4 (25m)
[11] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) bt Christina Mak (HKG) 9-0, 9-1, 9-5 (28m)
[5] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt Raneem El Weleily (EGY) 9-0, 9-1, 9-5 (23m)
[9] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [Q] Laura Mylotte (IRL) 9-5, 9-0, 9-7 (29m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt Margriet Huisman (NED) 9-2, 9-3, 9-0