French Trio Excel In Toulouse

A trio of Frenchmen claimed unexpected places in the quarter-finals of the Movida International Open after upsetting seeded opponents in the opening round of the inaugural $10,000 PSA Tour squash event at Movida Castanet in Toulouse, France.

Unranked Stephane Galifi caused the most notable upset: The 29-year-old from Rouen, a former world No40 competing in his first Tour event for three years, despatched eighth-seeded Dutchman Tom Hoevenaars 11-7, 11-6, 11-5.

In a surprise all-French quarter-final clash, Galifi now faces unseeded Romain Tenant. The Sweden-based 27-year-old scored the biggest upset after fighting back from two games down to beat fellow Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet, the third seed, 7-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-4.

In one of two 80-minute marathons, unseeded tournament official Johan Bouquet defeated England's No7 seed Robbie Temple 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 15-13 - and will now meet compatriot Julien Balbo in the second match which guarantees a French semi-finalist.

Second seed Balbo beat English qualifier Philip Nightingale 11-8, 11-3, 12-10.

1st round:
[1] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt Fabien Verseille (FRA) 13-11, 11-8, 11-4 (41m)
[6] John Rooney (IRL) bt Rob Sutherland (WAL) 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 (43m)
Romain Tenant (FRA) bt [3] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 7-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-4 (54m)
[Q] Stephane Galifi (FRA) bt [8] Tom Hoevenaars (NED) 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (41m)
[5] Amr Mansi (EGY) bt [Q] Joe Lee (ENG) 4-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9 (80m)
[4] Bradley Hindle (AUS) bt [Q] Olivier Pett (ENG) 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 (70m)
Johan Bouquet (FRA) bt [7] Robbie Temple (ENG) 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 15-13 (80m)
[2] Julien Balbo (FRA) bt [Q] Philip Nightingale (ENG) 11-8, 11-3, 12-10 (42m)