Barrington Bursts Into Paris Quarters

England's Joey Barrington pulled off the only surprise on the opening day of main draw action in the Internationaux de France when he upset Miguel Angel Rodriguez, the seventh seed from Colombia, to reach the quarter-finals of the $62,000 5-star PSA Tour event in Paris.

With three Frenchmen already through to the last eight of the first major squash championship to be held in the French capital since 1995, Barrington's unexpected success also brings the English quarter-final count to three - and both rival nationalities are certain to feature in the semi-finals!

Barrington, eight places below the Colombian in the world rankings, recovered from losing the second game to beat the new world No20 11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-7 in 68 minutes.

The 28-year-old from Somerset will now face England team-mate James Willstrop for a place in the last four. Willstrop, glad to be back on the Tour after sustaining an ankle injury in training, twice had to come back from behind before claiming a 10-12, 11-9, 3-11, 11-5, 11-4 victory over English qualifier Chris Ryder, the former World University champion from Wolverhampton.

Favourite Gregory Gaultier delighted the local crowds with an 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 win in just 30 minutes over Aaron Frankcomb, the Australian who 24 hours earlier survived the longest match recorded on the PSA Tour this year to win his qualifying final in 125 minutes!

World No2 Gaultier, from Aix-en-Provence, now takes on fellow countryman Renan Lavigne. In a battle between the oldest and youngest players in the draw, 33-year-old Lavigne took 35 minutes to overcome 18-year-old Gregoire Marche, the European Junior Champion, 12-10, 11-9, 11-2.

1st round:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 (30m)
[8] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 12-10, 11-9, 11-2 (35m)
[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 10-12, 11-3, 11-9, 11-5 (67m)
[5] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Tom Richards (ENG) 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6 (55m)
[6] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 13-11 (68m)
[3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [Q] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-2, 11-5, 11-9 (35m)
Joey Barrington (ENG) bt [7] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-7 (68m)
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Chris Ryder (ENG) 10-12, 11-9, 3-11, 11-5, 11-4 (48m)