Olli & Azlan Celebrate Bermuda Upsets

Unseeded Olli Tuominen and Mohd Azlan Iskandar claimed notable upsets on the second day of first round action in the Virtual Spectator Bermuda PSA Masters to secure places in the last sixteen of the $120,000 PSA Super Series event presented by Logic and hosted by Endurance at the Jessie Vesey Sports Centre in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Tuominen, the fighting Finn from Helsinki, despatched 15th seed Joseph Kneipp, the world No14 from Australia, 11-6 11-4 11-5 in 27 minutes to set up a second round clash with Egypt's eighth seed Karim Darwish, the 11-6 11-10 11-3 victor over another Australian Dan Jenson.

In their last two meetings on the PSA Tour last year (in the German Open and Hong Kong Open), Iskandar extended Adrian Grant to five games, but was unable to beat the higher-ranked Englishman. Now ranked 18 in the world, the Malaysian this time had the edge on the left-hander from London, beating 14th seed Grant 11-9 11-9 2-11 11-6 in 62 minutes.

Sarawak-born Iskandar, 22, now has another Englishman in his sights: Peter Nicol, the former world No1, celebrated his 32nd birthday in fine style, beating Egypt's Wael El Hindi in straight games.

Any doubts about Nicol's intentions were dispelled by his 39-minute match over the unseeded Egyptian who, the pundits were predicting, might pull off a first round upset over the third seed. Hindi started positively, playing aggressive attacking shots on a hot humid court, but Nicol had all the answers. The first game stood at 8-all before Nicol took complete control and won the next three points in quick succession.

The former Scot stormed through the second game, during which he dispatched the ball to all corners of the court almost at leisure. Left-hander Nicol was simply stronger in every element of the game, but his most effective weapon was a series of front wall drop shots which consistently hit the nick for at least a dozen outright winners.

Nicol's 11-8 11-3 11-6 win may have sent a slight shiver through some of the other players in his half of the draw - with the possible exception of last year's Bermuda Open winner Lee Beachill, who systematically despatched fellow Englishman Bradley Ball in just 30 minutes, 11-3 11-4 11-6. Ball has lots of power, but he paid the price for costly unforced errors against a man who seldom made mistakes and practically camped out on the tee.

In the toughest match of the day, England's James Willstrop defeated South African Rodney Durbach in a close encounter after losing the first game. Willstrop, the fifth seed who eventually triumphed 7-11 11-10 11-6 11-10, may rue the 64-minute match when he meets Anthony Ricketts in the next round. The Australian cruised to a comfortable 11-6 11-6 11-4 win over Shahier Razik of Canada.

In other action, Canadian Graham Ryding lost the first game but managed to pip Pakistan's Mansoor Zaman at the post in each of the next three games to take the match 8-11 11-9 11-9 11-9 in 46 minutes.

1st round:
[11] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Shahier Razik (CAN) 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (44m)
[5] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Rodney Durbach (RSA) 7-11, 11-10 (4-2), 11-6, 11-10 (4-2) (64m)
Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [14] Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-9, 11-9, 2-11, 11-6 (62m)
[3] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 (39m)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [15] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (27m)
[8] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Dan Jenson (AUS) 11-6, 11-10 (2-0), 11-3 (39m)
[13] Graham Ryding (CAN) bt Mansoor Zaman (PAK) 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 (46m)
[2] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Bradley Ball (ENG) 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 (30m)