French Trio To Contest Qualifying Finals In Paris

Three French players will contest the qualifying finals of the Internationaux de France following successes in the first qualifying round of the $62,000 5-star PSA Tour event, the first major squash championship to be held in Paris since 1995.

Joan Lezaud upset Czech champion Jan Koukal - ranked more than 100 places higher in the world list - 14-12, 11-9, 11-8. The 22-year-old from Aix-en-Provence will now face Englishman Chris Ryder, the highest-ranked player in the qualifying draw, who beat Frenchman Yann Perrin 6-11, 11-6, 11-2, 12-10.

Mathieu Castagnet also pulled off a ranking upset in beating Dylan Bennett, the world No50 from the Netherlands, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5. Castagnet, the world No80 from Le Mans, now faces Indian champion Saurav Ghosal, an 11-8, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9 victor over South African Jesse Engelbrecht.

Julien Balbo, from Chambery, despatched Australian Bradley Hindle 11-7, 13-11, 11-4 to set up a qualifying final clash with England's Tom Richards, the world No53 from Surrey who beat Frenchman Romain Tenant 11-9, 14-12, 11-3.

1st qualifying round:
Chris Ryder (ENG) bt Yann Perrin (FRA) 6-11, 11-6, 11-2, 12-10 (54m)
Joan Lezaud (FRA) bt Jan Koukal (CZE) 14-12, 11-9, 11-8 (54m)
Julien Balbo (FRA) bt Bradley Hindle (AUS) 11-7, 13-11, 11-4 (46m)
Tom Richards (ENG) bt Romain Tenant (FRA) 11-9, 14-12, 11-3 (39m)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Dylan Bennett (NED) 11-13, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (62m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Jesse Engelbrecht (RSA) 11-8, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9 (70m)
Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 (46m)
Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) bt Fabien Verseille (FRA) 11-9, 11-7, 12-14, 11-5 (90m)