Hinds & Keo Claim Quarters Berths In Baltimore

Just five days after beating Bernardo Samper in the final of the Pittsburgh Open, English qualifier Joel Hinds scored a second upset over the higher-ranked Colombian in the Baltimore Cup to reach the quarter-finals of the $10,000 PSA Tour squash event at Baltimore Country Club in Baltimore, USA.

New York-based Samper has enjoyed significant recent success - winning two PSA Tour titles since September and only losing twice, to Hinds on both occasions. Hinds, ranked 163 in the world - almost 100 positions below Samper - needed four games to beat his eighth-seeded opponent 15-13, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3.

The 22-year-old from Derby goes on to face Mexican Arturo Salazar, the top seed who defeated South African Regardt Schonborn 11-3, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4.

There was a further qualifying success when Malaysian Elvinn Keo won his second five-game match in a row, this time defeating Canadian Robin Clarke, the No7 seed, 5-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-13, 11-6.

Second seed Amr Swelim survived a real scare, saving a match ball at 10-9 down in the fifth against Malaysian teenager Ivan Yuen before sneaking through 12-10 in the decider.

"It was great to see former world No13 Mohammed Abbas return to action after a long injury lay-off," said tournament organiser Ben Garner. "With the smooth strokes and movement that saw him move to the top of the game, Abbas was very impressive and it will be interesting to watch his progress through the tournament."

Egyptian Abbas, now ranked 65 in the world, beat Czech qualifier Lukas Jelinek 12-10, 11-7, 11-1.

1st round:
[1] Arturo Salazar (MEX) bt Regardt Schonborn (RSA) 11-3, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4
[Q] Joel Hinds (ENG) bt [8] Bernardo Samper (COL) 15-13, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3
[4] Scott Arnold (AUS) bt [Q] Graeme Wilson (NZL) 11-7, 11-9, 11-4
[Q] Elvinn Keo (MAS) bt [7] Robin Clarke (CAN) 5-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-13, 11-6
[6] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt Ben Garner (ENG) 11-7, 11-9, 11-6
[3] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt [Q] Lukas Jelinek (CZE) 12-10, 11-7, 11-1
[5] David Phillips (CAN) bt Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) 11-7, 13-11, 11-4
[2] Amr Swelim (ITA) bt Ivan Yuen (MAS) 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10