Laurens Lashes Lee In St Louis

Dutch qualifier Laurens Jan Anjema pulled off a major upset in the first round of the MPM St Louis Open when he knocked out second seed Lee Beachill on the opening day of action in the five-star PSA Tour event at the Garden Court in the St Louis Galleria in Missouri, USA.

Anjema, ranked 33 in the world, needed 41 minutes to claim one of the biggest scalps of his life - beating the world No2 from England 11-9 11-6 11-7 to take an unexpected place in the quarter-finals.

His opponent Anthony Ricketts reached the last eight in the shortest of the first round battles - overcoming USA wildcard Michael Puertas 11-5 11-1 11-4 in just 20 minutes.

The eagerly-anticipated all-Australian clash between third seed David Palmer and qualifier Stewart Boswell ended without an upset, but former world No4 Boswell stretched his former national team-mate all the way in the first game before going down 11-10 11-6 11-3 to the reigning world No3 in 43 minutes.

The quarter-final certain to attract the biggest crowd in St Louis will be the latest clash in a well-documented series of matches since October 1995 between former world number ones Peter Nicol and Jonathon Power.

Nicol, the fifth-seeded Englishman who is enjoying a newfound enthusiasm for the game with two tournament titles to his credit over the past two months, despatched Australian qualifier Raj Nanda 11-1 11-9 11-9 in 32 minutes. Power, the fourth seed from Canada with three PSA titles to his name this year, defeated Australian Joseph Kneipp 11-4 11-4 11-4 in one minutes less to set up his third meeting with Nicol this year.

1st round:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt John White (SCO) 11-6, 11-9, 11-10 (2-0) (44m)
[8] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Matthew Giuffre (CAN) 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (27m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Stewart Boswell (AUS) 11-10 (2-0), 11-6, 11-3 (43m)
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Graham Ryding (CAN) 11-1, 11-9, 11-9 (25m)
[5] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [Q] Raj Nanda (AUS) 11-1, 11-9, 11-9 (32m)
[4] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt Joseph Kneipp (AUS) 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (31m)
[6] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Michael Puertas (USA) 11-5, 11-1, 11-4 (20m)
[Q] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [2] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (41m)