Victorian Open Seeds Safely Through In Melbourne

Defending champion Campbell Grayson led the top eight seeds in the Victorian Open safely through to the second round of the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event today at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

The top-seeded New Zealander - who won a 110-minute classic against Malaysia's Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan to win the title in 2012 - survived a tough opening match against Australian Nathan Stevenson 9-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-3.

Grayson, the world No41 from Auckland, now takes on South Australia's Justin Beard in the second round.

Domestic interest is being led by Zac Alexander, the Brisbane-born No3 seed (pictured at the Eureka Skydeck on "The Edge", a glass box that protrudes from the 88th floor of Melbourne's tallest building).

2010 champion Alexander, the 24-year-old world No51, eased to an 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 win in 33 minutes over Malaysian qualifier Mithran Selvaratnam.

Other winning seeds included second-seeded New Zealander Martin Knight, who beat Hong Kong's Cheuk Yan Tang 11-4, 11-3, 11-6, and 2009 champion Mike Corren, who defeated former PSA Tour player Cameron White - a five times winner of the title between 2001 and 2007 - 11-9, 11-9, 12-10.

But there were upsets in the lower order: Qualifier Jaakko Vahamaa provided unexpected Finnish interest in the last 16 round when he beat higher-ranked Australian Tim Cowell 11-7, 10-12, 12-10, 11-8 in 40 minutes.

And qualifier Chris Lloyd boosted Kiwi interest in the next round after dismissing Hong Kong's Hon Fung Wong 15-13, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5 in 41 minutes.

2nd round line-up:
[1] Campbell Grayson (NZL) v Justin Beard (AUS)
[6] Mike Corren (AUS) v Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND)
[5] Rex Hedrick (AUS) v [Q] Jaakko Vahamaa (FIN)
[4] Matthew Karwalski (AUS) v Paul Coll (NZL)
[3] Zac Alexander (AUS) v Evan Williams (NZL)
[7] Ivan Yuen (MAS) v Joshua Larkin (AUS)
[8] Steven Finitsis (AUS) v [Q] Chris Lloyd (NZL)
[2] Martin Knight (NZL) v Luke Sims (AUS)