Ghosal & Simpson Maintain Momentum In Montreal

India's Saurav Ghosal and England's Chris Simpson - both of whom recorded career-high positions in the October Dunlop PSA world rankings - scored notable first round victories in the Financière Banque Nationale Montreal Open, the PSA World Tour International 35 squash event in its fifth year in Montreal, Canada.

Playing on an all-glass court at the Montreal Forum, third seed Ghosal faced Australian qualifier Steven Finitsis. After dropping the opening game, the new world No17 Ghosal - India's highest-ranked player of all-time - recovered to beat the 30-year-old Queenslander, ranked 41 places lower, 7-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-5 in 57 minutes.

"Won my match 3-1 today after losing the 1st game," tweeted the 27-year-old from Kolkata later. "Finitsis played a good match & am happy to win that one."

Finitsis was upbeat to his Twitter followers: "Lost 3-1 tonight. Taking the positives out of this one & looking fwd to the US Open next week."

Simpson, the Guernsey-born 26-year-old who leapt four places to 21 to become England's fifth highest-ranked player for the first time, beat France's Gregoire Marche 11-7, 11-7, 12-10.

"Very happy to win 3/0 tonight over Frenchie Gregoire Marche, especially when he saved 3 match balls to force a tie-break in the 3rd," the fourth seed told his Twitter followers.

Simpson goes on to face fellow countryman Adrian Waller in the quarter-finals, while Ghosal gets Egyptian Omar Abdel Aziz.

Waller despatched one of three Canadians trying to get into the last eight, beating Toronto-based qualifier Dane Sharp 11-3, 11-5, 11-9.

"Despite the crowd's support for Canadian Sharp, Waller went up easily 6-0 in the first game and looked in control," said event spokesman Radu Neacsu. "Sharp was able to scrape together three points, but Waller's deception and patience helped him to win the first game."

Aziz, the world No45 from Cairo, also beat a qualifier, England's Jaymie Haycocks 11-8, 12-10, 11-6.

While top seed Borja Golan, the world No9 from Spain, overcame his first round opponent Henrik Mustonen, from Finland, in straight games 11-4, 11-4, 11-5, second-seeded Englishman Daryl Selby was taken to four games by Canadian wildcard Andrew Schnell.

The world No98 from Calgary kept Selby on court for almost an hour before the world No14 prevailed 11-7, 13-11, 9-11, 11-3.

"Snuck through first round here 3-1," tweeted 30-year-old Selby, runner-up in 2010, later. "@a_schnell91 played a great match and fully deserved the third game. Hopefully get stronger for tomorrow."

Quarter-final line-up:
[2] Daryl Selby (ENG) v Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[4] Chris Simpson (ENG) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
[3] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY)
[1] Borja Golan (ESP) v Alan Clyne (SCO)