Nicol & Power Crash Out In Qatar

A dramatic day of action in the men's Qatar Classic in Doha saw England's Peter Nicol and Canada's Jonathon Power both exit in major second round upsets. The shock departure of two of the biggest stars to grace the famous all-glass court at the Khalifa International Squash Complex means that it is the first time since 1996 that neither player will feature in the last eight of this established PSA Super Series event.

By contrast, the top eight seeds sailed through the second round of the women's event - with only three of the matches going beyond three games.

Sixth seed Nicol faced fellow Briton John White (pictured) - and, though the Scot won their previous battle in Doha in the PSA Masters in 2003, Nicol is enjoying a good run of form with two major titles to his credit since July, while White has been battling to keep his place in the world top ten after reaching the top spot in March 2004.

But it was the US-based 11th seed who ultimately prevailed in the pair's latest meeting in Doha, winning 11-7 8-11 11-10 10-11 11-8 in 67 minutes - the longest match men's match of the day - to keep alive his hopes of repeating his 2003 run when he reached the final.

"I'm very happy with the way I played," White told www.squashsite.co.uk . "Since I've dropped out of the top eight, it makes things even more difficult, as I'm playing people like Peter, a former number one, in the second round."

White now faces top seed Thierry Lincou after the Frenchman beat unseeded Malaysian Ong Beng Hee 11-10 11-4 11-5 in 38 minutes.

For Jonathon Power, it was the second time this month that injury has caused his downfall. After severe cramp in his right hand led to his withdrawal from the US Open quarter-finals, the world No2 from Montreal suffered back spasms in his match against Stewart Boswell. The Australian qualifier was two games up when Power signalled his decision to retire, giving Boswell an 11-7 11-6 victory in just 27 minutes - and an unexpected place in the quarter-finals.

Alex Gough became the second qualifier to reach the last eight when he defeated fellow qualifier Davide Bianchetti, from Italy, 11-8 7-11 11-4 11-7 in 57 minutes. The rejuvenated 34-year-old Welshman, who made his Classic breakthrough when he upset England's fourth seed Lee Beachill in the first round, is celebrating his first appearance in a PSA Super Series quarter-final since April 2002.

In the women's event, England's sixth seed survived a 83-minute marathon and twice had to come from behind to overcome Ireland's tenth seed Madeline Perry 3-9 9-1 0-9 9-5 9-4. The 28-year-old from Manchester now meets top seed Rachael Grinham after the world No1 from Australia despatched England's unseeded Dominique Lloyd-Walter 9-4 9-3 9-0.

There will also be English interest in the quarter-final between fifth seed Linda Elriani and Malaysia's No2 seed Nicol David. Elriani, the England No1 playing in her first event since a hamstring injury layoff, beat Hong Kong's Asian Games champion Rebecca Chiu 9-3 9-7 9-0, (26m), while David defeated Dutch opponent Annelize Naude 9-4 9-6 9-2.

Men's 2nd round:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 11-5 (38m)
[11] John White (SCO) bt [6] Peter Nicol (ENG) 11-7, 8-11, 11-10 (2-0), 10-11 (0-2), 11-8 (67m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [9] Karim Darwish (EGY) 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 (45m)
[10] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [5] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-10 (2-0), 11-9, 11-7 (43m)
[8] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [12] Nick Matthew (ENG) 11-8, 11-5, 11-10 (2-0) (58m)
[Q] Alex Gough (WAL) bt [Q] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-8, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7 (57m)
[7] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [15] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 (33m)
[Q] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt [2] Jonathon Power (CAN) 11-7, 11-6 ret. (27m)

Women's 2nd round:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 9-4, 9-3, 9-0 (32m)
[6] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt [10] Madeline Perry (IRL) 3-9, 9-1, 0-9, 9-5, 9-4 (83m)
[3] Nicol David (MAS) bt [12] Annelize Naude (NED) 9-4, 9-6, 9-2 (38m)
[5] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt [15] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9-3, 9-7, 9-0 (26m)
[8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [16] Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) 9-7, 9-4, 9-7 (45m)
[4] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [13] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 9-0, 9-3, 9-5 (38m)
[7] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [14] Alison Waters (ENG) 4-9, 9-5, 9-1, 9-6 (55m)
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [9] Tania Bailey (ENG) 10-8, 6-9, 9-4, 9-6 (57m)