Silver Celebrations Subdued By Golan Injury

Hopes that Borja Golan would lead the silver anniversary celebrations at his home club Squash Club Santiago were dashed when the Spanish star withdrew injured midway through his first round match in the 25th Anniversary Squash Club Santiago Open in Santiago de Compostela.

The top-seeded world No20 faced French qualifier Julien Balbo in the opening round of the $30,000 3-star PSA Tour event. After dropping the first game, Golan slipped over at 2-1 in the second game and took a 3-minute injury break. But it was clear that the 24-year-old Spanish number one was unable to move properly when he returned to the court - and conceded the match after losing the second game.

After qualifying the previous day, Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet was also hoping for an unexpected first round win to celebrate his 21st birthday. But third seed Renan Lavigne had other plans - and dismissed his younger compatriot 11-5, 11-5, 11-9 in 55 minutes to set up a quarter-final clash with Dutchman Dylan Bennett.

There were numerous upsets in the women's WISPA World Tour 4 event, led by Egyptian qualifier Nour El Tayeb who defeated France's No4 seed Celia Allamargot 9-4, 9-1, 9-0. The 14-year-old from Cairo now meets fellow qualifier Lucie Fialova for a place in the semi-finals. The Czech player upset fifth seed Milou van der Heijden 9-6, 9-4, 9-5.

Men's 1st round:
[Q] Julien Balbo (FRA) bt [1] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-9, 11-9 ret.
[6] Liam Kenny (IRL) bt Jonathan Harford (ENG) 11-8, 11-1, 11-1 (34m)
[3] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt [Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 11-5, 11-5, 11-9 (55m)
[8] Dylan Bennett (NED) bt David Vidal (ESP) 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 (25m)
[5] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt [Q] Shaun le Roux (ENG) 11-3, 11-1, 11-1 (26m)
[4] Joey Barrington (ENG) bt Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (29m)
[7] Stacey Ross (ENG) bt [Q] Simon Rosner (GER) 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (50m)
[2] Alex Gough (WAL) bt Chris Ryder (ENG) 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 (45m)

Women's 1st round:
[1] Aisling Blake (IRL) bt Birgit Coufal (AUT) 9-5, 9-2, 9-0 (16m)
[7] Emma Chorley (ENG) bt [Q] Fiona Moverley (ENG) 9-5, 10-8, 9-6 (34m)
[3] Dagmar Vermeulen (NED) bt Carla Fernandez Vazquez (ESP) 9-0, 9-3, 9-4 (22m)
[Q] Faustine Gilles (FRA) bt [8] Kerri Shields (IRL) 9-3, 9-7, 9-6 (28m)
[Q] Lucie Fialova (CZE) bt [5] Milou van der Heijden (NED) 9-6, 9-4, 9-5 (37m)
[Q] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [4] Celia Allamargot (FRA) 9-4, 9-1, 9-0 (21m)
[6] Kylie Lindsay (NZL) bt Vicky Hynes (ENG) 9-2, 9-3, 6-9, 10-9 (44m)
[2] Camille Serme (FRA) bt Lotte Eriksen (NOR) 9-2, 9-0, 9-0 (14m)