English Trio Celebrate World Championship Upsets

Englishmen Joe Lee, Joel Hinds and Andrew Whipp claimed notable upsets in Saturday's first qualifying round of the Hi-Tec World Open at the National Squash Centre at Sportcity in Manchester.

The world's leading players from more than 30 countries are competing in the Hi-Tec World Squash Championships - Manchester 2008, the first ever joint staging of the Men's World Open and Women's World Open in the UK.

England junior international Joe Lee, playing in his first event as a senior after celebrating his 19th birthday this week, twice came back from behind to beat Irish international John Rooney 7-11, 20-18, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6 in 69 minutes.

"My first impression of the draw was that it was not the best - but not the worst either," said the London-born teenager from Walton-on-Thames. "John beat me the last two times we played each other, so I was glad to get my first win over him," added Lee, ranked almost 40 places lower than his opponent.

Lee now takes on Egyptian Mohamed El Shorbagy, the world junior champion who took only 19 minutes to despatch Issa Kamara, from Sierra Leone, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9.

"He beat me 3/0 the last two times we played - but I've got stuff to think about from those matches, so I hope I can turn it to my advantage," said Lee.

Joel Hinds took full advantage of a late call-up for a place in the qualifying draw. "I was meant to be playing a tournament in Coventry this weekend, but got a call at two o' clock yesterday so obviously I had to come here," said the 21-year-old from Derbyshire after his shock 11-5, 11-8, 12-10 win over Bradley Hindle, an Australian ranked over 200 places higher in the world.

"I was just turning up to see how I played, with no expectations - so it's a big bonus to win, especially in three."

Hinds now faces the top-ranked qualifier Dylan Bennett after the Dutchman put out local prospect Morgan Hibberd 11-6, 11-7, 11-6.

Morgan and his 18-year-old twin brother Ky Hibbard were making their maiden appearance in the world championships just eight years after being introduced to the sport at school as the result of a promotional initiative run by the Manchester Squash Development Programme from the National Centre.

Coincidentally, the twins played simultaneously on adjacent courts - and both fell to experienced opponents, Ky going down 11-6, 11-1, 11-6 to 33-year-old world-ranked Englishman Ben Ford.

"It was a great experience - I'm happy with the way I played. I rallied with him but he's just a different level, I was always one step behind," said Morgan after his defeat by Bennett, the world No50. "But I always go on court hoping I can win."

A few weeks after their introduction to the game, the Hibberds joined junior county squads and quickly progressed. Morgan became the British U17 number one last year and both have now qualified as coaches and work at the centre.

"If it wasn't for the chance introduction to squash when we were at school, we might never have come across the sport." Ky explained. "Hopefully we'll now be able to inspire other youngsters to take up squash."

Local hero Andrew Whipp pulled off the most stunning upset when he beat American Christopher Gordon. The unranked 27-year-old from Stockport recovered from a game down to stun the 22-year-old world No75 from New York 6-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5 in 55 minutes.

In one of only two all-English clashes on the National Centre courts - and in a 69-minute match in which both players received conduct warnings from the referee - Robbie Temple recovered from two games down to beat Surrey's Philip Nightingale 10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6. The left-hander from Gloucestershire goes on to play London-based South African Jesse Engelbrecht for a place in the main draw.

1st qualifying round:
Dylan Bennett (NED) bt Morgan Hibberd (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (34m)
Joel Hinds (ENG) bt Bradley Hindle (AUS) 11-5, 11-8, 12-10 (42m)
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt Tom Dwyer (ENG) 11-2, 11-6, 11-9 (32m)
Ben Ford (ENG) bt Ky Hibberd (ENG) 11-6, 11-1, 11-6 (25m)
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt Peter Billson (ENG) 11-2, 11-8, 11-7 (28m)
Yann Perrin (FRA) bt Wade Johnstone (AUS) 11-6, 11-3, 13-11 (40m)
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) bt Issa Kamara (SLE) 11-5, 11-7, 11-9 (19m)
Joe Lee (ENG) bt John Rooney (IRL) 7-11, 20-18, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6 (69m)
Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira (MEX) bt Rob Sutherland (WAL) 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 5-11, 11-3 (63m)
Siddharth Suchde (IND) bt Martin Knight (NZL) 11-7, 11-7, 11-2 (64m)
David Phillips (CAN) bt Arthur Gaskin (IRL) 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 (45m)
Khawaja Adil Maqbool (PAK) bt Matthew Karwalski (AUS) 13-11, 11-5, 11-7 (31m)
Simon Rosner (GER) bt Chris Truswell (ENG) 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (29m)
Badr Abdel Aziz (SWE) bt Luca Mastrostefano (ITA) 15-13, 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 11-1 (60m)
Scott Arnold (AUS) bt Alex Stait (ENG) 11-9, 11-13, 14-12, 11-4 (62m)
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt Tom Pashley (ENG) 11-2, 11-6, 11-4 (30m)
Steve Finitsis (AUS) bt Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 (31m)
Arturo Salazar (MEX) bt Clinton Leeuw (RSA) 11-9, 12-10, 11-6 (45m)
Robbie Temple (ENG) bt Philip Nightingale (ENG) 10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (69m)
Jesse Engelbrecht (RSA) bt Waqar Mehboob (PAK) 9-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4, 11-8 (55m)
Shahid Zaman (PAK) bt Darren Lewis (ENG) 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 (43m)
Amr Mansi (EGY) bt James Snell (ENG) 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 (40m)
Chris Simpson (ENG) bt Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-2 (51m)
Liam Kenny (IRL) bt Nafzahizam Adnan (MAS) 11-5, 11-1, 11-7 (33m)
Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt Morten W Sorensen (DEN) 11-9, 11-2, 11-2 (31m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Jonathan Harford (ENG) 10-12, 11-3, 11-5, 11-3 (38m)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Andrew McDougall (CAN) 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 (41m)
Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) bt Lewis Walters (ENG) 11-6, 11-9, 11-2 (30m)
Andrew Whipp (ENG) bt Christopher Gordon (USA) 6-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5 (55m)
Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 (62m)
Gilly Lane (USA) bt Shaun le Roux (ENG) w/o
Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt Colin Ramasra (TRI) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (30m)