Seeds Slump As Perry & Brown Succeed In Seoul

Ireland's Madeline Perry and Australian Kasey Brown - both unseeded - pulled off significant upsets in the first round of the Women's Seoul Open to claim unexpected places in the quarter-finals of the $60,000 WISPA World Tour squash event in its second year in the South Korean capital Seoul.

After qualifying finals earlier in the day at the Lemilleur Club, first round action was set to be played on an all-glass court in the open air at Seoul Plaza, the central square of Seoul city - uncharacteristically awash with heavy rain!

Whilst the court itself was covered with a canopy - which only extended a few feet out from the court glass walls - the seating was uncovered. The court itself was dry, and after a cover was hastily erected to protect the match officials, it was decided that play would commence!

First on were Kasey Brown and New Zealander Shelley Kitchen - who were uncertain about the court conditions, but willing to 'give it a go'.

"As it turned out, there were no problems for them as they alone were in the only really dry area," explained WISPA Chief Executive Andrew Shelley. "Rain was pelting down feet from their feet!"

Kitchen had been in a rich vein of form and raced to a 7-2 lead in the first before Brown found her rhythm, and although the fourth-seeded Kiwi edged home, it had taken 23 minutes. The dynamics were reversed in the second with Brown rampant - but Kitchen won the third after saving a nine-all game ball.

But from that point the New Zealander was always being stretched. Brown was purposeful, hunting the ball and always just ahead in the last two games before claiming her 7-9, 9-1, 9-10, 9-5, 9-6 upset in 89 minutes.

"I have never played in the rain, this was a first," said the jubilant Brown afterwards. "But though it was a little weird at first, the court was fine and I blocked things out pretty quickly. Once I hit some good length and took the ball a little earlier it was better - especially as I haven't got a very good record on glass," added the 22-year-old from New South Wales.

The second upset of the session followed when Madeline Perry, the world No16 from Belfast, despatched Egypt's third seed Omneya Abdel Kawy. The 22-year-old from Cairo started brightly enough - but her game slowly subsided as Perry became crisper and romped to a 6-9, 9-2, 9-5, 9-0 victory in 41 minutes.

Perry was understandably delighted to have got the scalp of the seed, and professed to have been playing well recently so thought that she had a chance.

Abdel Kawy, put her downfall down to a wedding - that of her brother's, of which she was chief organiser! "I have only trained for four days. He is my brother and I had to help him. I hoped that I would play better than this but she played well. I just wasn't comfortable," concluded Abdel Kawy.

1st round (part):
[5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 10-8, 9-5, 9-4 (43m)
Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [4] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 7-9, 9-1, 9-10, 9-5, 9-6 (89m)
Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [3] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 6-9, 9-2, 9-5, 9-0 (41m)
[2] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 10-8, 4-9, 9-1, 9-6 (47m)