Verseille & Binns Progress At Pacific Club

Qualifiers Fabien Verseille and Jethro Binns secured unexpected places in the quarter-finals of the Pacific Athletic Club Open after impressive upsets on the opening day of the $15,000 PSA Tour squash event, sponsored by NetSuite, at the Pacific Athletic Club in Redwood City in the US state of California.

Welshman Binns scored the biggest scalp, beating fifth-seeded Mexican Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 13-11 in 71 minutes.

The 24-year-old world No 117 from Bristol now takes fellow Briton Jonathan Kemp - ranked almost 80 places higher. The No2 seed from England recovered from a game down to beat Colombian qualifier Bernardo Samper 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7.

Verseille - at 185, the lowest-ranked player in the draw - conquered Canadian David Phillips, the No8 seed, 11-5, 11-2, 13-15, 11-8.

The 23-year-old Frenchman now tackles the top seed Shahier Razik, also a Canadian. Razik, the world No30 from Toronto, was taken to four games by LA-based Belgian Stefan Casteleyn, a former world No7, before winning 4-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 in 55 minutes.

1st round:
[1] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt Stefan Casteleyn (BEL) 4-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 (55m)
[Q] Fabien Verseille (FRA) bt [8] David Phillips (CAN) 11-5, 11-2, 13-15, 11-8
[4] Julian Illingworth (USA) bt Arshad Iqbal Burki (PAK) 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-2 (42m)
[7] Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt Regardt Schonborn (RSA) 11-2, 11-8, 11-4 (27m)
[6] Yasser El Halaby (EGY) bt Amr Mansi (EGY) 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 (40m)
[3] Eric Galvez (MEX) bt [Q] Patrick Chifunda (ZAM) 11-7, 12-10, 11-5 (38m)
[Q] Jethro Binns (WAL) bt [5] Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira (MEX) 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 13-11 (71m)
[2] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt [Q] Bernardo Samper (COL) 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 (41m)