Ryder & Koukal Progress In Portland

The anticipated Egyptian involvement in the quarter-finals of the Oregon Open was reduced by 50% when Czech qualifier Jan Koukal and unseeded Englishman Chris Ryder upset two of the event's top seeds in the first round of the $50,000 5-star PSA Tour squash event at Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland, USA.

Koukal, the Czech number one from Prague competing in his fourth Tour event this year, despatched Omar Elborolossy, the eighth seed from Cairo, 11-6, 11-10 (3-1), 11-4 in 40 minutes.

The 24-year-old world No60 will now face Ryder for a place in the last four. In what will rank as his best international scalp to date, the 27-year-old World University champion from Wolverhampton defeated fourth seed Mohammed Abbas, the world No13 from Giza, 10-11 (0-2), 11-5, 11-10 (2-0), 11-0 in 44 minutes.

Second seed Karim Darwish is leading Egyptian interest in the event. The No2 seed from Cairo beat Australian qualifier Ryan Cuskelly 11-2, 11-4, 11-5 and will now face Frenchman Renan Lavigne, the sixth seed.

Darwish is expected to meet top seed Thierry Lincou in Saturday's final. Fresh from his tenth title in the French National championships, Lincou beat New Zealand's Kashif Shuja 11-10 (3-1), 11-8, 11-7.

1st round:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Kashif Shuja (NZL) 11-10 (3-1), 11-8, 11-7 (38m)
[7] Alister Walker (ENG) bt Wade Johnstone (AUS) 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4 (43m)
[3] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [Q] Tom Richards (ENG) 11-9, 11-5, 11-10 (2-0) (53m)
[5] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Yasser El Halaby (EGY) 8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 (58m)
[Q] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [8] Omar Elborolossy (EGY) 11-6, 11-10 (3-1), 11-4 (40m)
Chris Ryder (ENG) bt [4] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 10-11 (0-2), 11-5, 11-10 (2-0), 11-0 (44m)
[6] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Julian Illingworth (USA) 8-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-7, 11-3 (60m)
[2] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-2, 11-4, 11-5 (33m)