Delierre Delights Midtown Fans In Montreal

Local star Shawn Delierre delighted the crowd at the Midtown Sanctuaire Open when he held off the challenge of Spaniard David Vidal in the first round of the inaugural $21,000 PSA Tour squash event at Midtown Le Sporting Club Sanctuaire in Montreal, Canada.

The 26-year-old from Montreal, seeded eight, beat the 30-year-old qualifier 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 in 45 minutes to set up a quarter-final clash with North American rival Julian Illingworth.

The fourth seed from the USA, fresh from his appearance in the final of last week's National Capital Open in Maryland, also prevailed in straight games, beating Australian Wade Johnstone 11-7, 11-7, 11-5.

Shahier Razik, winner of the Maryland PSA Tour title, will also provide Canadian interest in the last eight in Montreal. The second seed needed 54 minutes to overcome South African Stephen Coppinger 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 - and will now face sixth-seeded Hungarian Mark Krajcsak for a place in the semi-finals.

1st round:
[1] Alister Walker (ENG) bt Michal Reid (CAN) 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 (43m)
[5] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [Q] Andrew McDougall (CAN) 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (49m)
[3] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt Scott Arnold (AUS) 12-10, 11-6, 11-3 (31m)
[7] Julien Balbo (FRA) bt [Q] Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 4-11, 11-3 (85m)
[8] Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt [Q] David Vidal (ESP) 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (45m)
[4] Julian Illingworth (USA) bt Wade Johnstone (AUS) 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (30m)
[6] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt [Q] David Phillips (CAN) 8-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-6 (75m)
[2] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 (54m)