Rosner & Delierre Fight Through To Saudi Qualifying Finals

Germany's Simon Rosner and Canadian Shawn Delierre claimed unexpected places in the qualifying finals of the richest ever PSA Tour squash event after upsetting higher-ranked opponents on the opening day of the Saudi International qualifying event in the English county of Somerset.

The world-renowned Millfield School, in Street, is hosting the two-day qualifying event of the $250,000 PSA Super Series Platinum event which will take place in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, from 14-19 December.

Star pupil Mohamed El Shorbagy - the 17-year-old from Egypt who became the World Junior champion in August - was one of the 32 players from 15 countries bidding to secure a place in the main draw of the event in its fourth year.

But El Shorbagy faced a stiff challenge from world No40 Julian Illingworth, the four-time US champion who battled to an 11-8, 11-6, 13-11 victory in 43 minutes.

The 24-year-old from New York will now take on a second Millfield star - Joey Barrington, son of the illustrious six-time British Open champion Jonah Barrington who is the school's Director of Squash. Barrington junior eased to an 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 first round win over Malaysian Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan.

Simon Rosner, ranked 58 in the world, defeated Kashif Shuja, the world No41 from New Zealand, 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 - and will now take on England's Alister Walker for a place in the main draw.

Chris Ryder was the highest-ranked player to fall. But the world No33 from Wolverhampton arrived in Street after a demanding schedule, which included a Premier League match in Yorkshire the night before, and a stunning title victory in the Leinster Open in Dublin two days earlier!

Ryder took the opening game against Shawn Delierre, but the world No48 then took the upper hand to claim his unexpected 8-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-7 victory.

1st qualifying round:
Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt Joe Lee (ENG) 6-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 (57m)
Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt Jesse Engelbrecht (RSA) 11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 11-3 (42m)
Alister Walker (ENG) bt Tom Richards (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (33m)
Simon Rosner (GER) bt Kashif Shuja (NZL) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (38m)
Joey Barrington (ENG) bt Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (41m)
Julian Illingworth (USA) bt Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) 11-8, 11-6, 13-11 (43m)
Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 (43m)
Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (36m)
Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt Chris Ryder (ENG) 8-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-7 (48m)
Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt Peter Creed (WAL) 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 (30m)
Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 (48m)
Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Julien Balbo (FRA) 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 (71m)
Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) bt Charles Sharpes (ENG) 11-9, 11-3, 11-3 (24m)
Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt Jonathan Harford (ENG) 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 (23m)
Amr Swelim (EGY) bt James Snell (ENG) 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 (34m)
Farhan Mehboob (PAK) bt Liam Kenny (IRL) 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4 (50m)