English Trio Boosts Windy City Draw

English trio Chris Simpson, Joe Lee and Adrian Waller will make their debuts in the METROsquash Windy City Open after surviving the qualifying finals of the second PSA World Series squash event of the year at the University Club of Chicago in Chicago, USA.

Simpson became the highest-ranked player to qualify after beating Mexican No1 Cesar Salazar 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 in 35 minutes.

"I'm pleased to qualify for the main draw, especially with a relatively comfortable 3/0 against speedy Cesar Salazar," said the world No22 from Guernsey, who was later drawn to face the top-ranked German Simon Rosner, the World No.11.

"I play Simon in the main draw, who I have grown up playing against throughout the junior ranks, so I'm looking forward to renewing the rivalry!!"

Later, Enfield's Adrian Waller beat Hong Kong No2 Leo Au 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 - and, in the first Tour battle between the sport's highest-ranked Lees, London-born Joe Lee dismissed Hong Kong No1 Max Lee 11-7, 11-8, 11-9.

Englishman Lee, who arrived in Chicago after winning his biggest Tour title at the Oregon Open in Portland, will now face No.2 seed Gregory Gaultier, the joint world No1 from France, in the main draw.

Home hopes were dashed when Julian Illingworth and Christopher Gordon - both from New York - went down in the qualifying finals. US No1 Illingworth lost 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 in just 24 minutes to Australian Ryan Cuskelly, while US champion Gordon fell in four games to rising Finn Henrik Mustonen 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 12-10.

North American interest was boosted, however, by a surprise win by Canadian Shawn Delierre. The 31-year-old from Montreal became the lowest-ranked player to qualify after upsetting Scotland's world No38 Alan Clyne 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 in 59 minutes. Delierre, ranked 69 in the world, will now meet Egypt's world No13 Omar Mosaad.

Egypt's Karim Ali Fathi and Malaysian Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan completed the list of successful qualifiers. Fathi foiled higher-ranked Frenchman Gregoire Marche 4-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-9, while Adnan saw off Egyptian Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 12-10.

Updated 1st round draw:
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v [Q] Henrik Mustonen (FIN)
Alister Walker (BOT) v Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[8] Peter Barker (ENG) v Adrian Grant (ENG)
[5] James Willstrop (ENG) v [Q] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
Amr Shabana (EGY) v [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG)
Tom Richards (ENG) v Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY)
[3] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[4] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v Stephen Coppinger (RSA)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Q] Shawn Delierre (CAN)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [WC] Peter Creed (WAL)
[6] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Tarek Momen (EGY)
[7] Borja Golan (ESP) v Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Simon Rosner (GER) v [Q] Chris Simpson (ENG)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [Q] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [Q] Joe Lee (ENG)