Snell Upsets FAJR International Field In Iran

Englishman James Snell produced the sole upset on the opening day of action in FAJR International to claim a surprise quarter-final berth in the $12,000 PSA Tour squash event in its third year at Kish Island in Iran.

The unseeded 20-year-old from Exeter in Devon took just 19 minutes to despatch fifth-seeded Fabian Kalaitzis, from Greece, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5.

Snell now faces Amr Swelim, the second seed from Egypt who ended Iranian wildcard entry Mohammad Reza Sadeghpour's chances in an 11-3, 6-11, 11-3, 11-4 defeat.

Seyed Mohammad Hossein Sanaee, the only Iranian to qualify for the event, also went down to an Egyptian - top seed Omar Abdel Aziz winning 11-5, 11-2, 11-5.

1st round:
[1] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt [Q] Seyed Mohammad Hossein Sanaee (IRI) 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 (16m)
[8] Gary Wheadon (RSA) bt [Q] Chris Truswell (ENG) 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (39m)
[3] Yasir Butt (PAK) bt [Q] Joe Lee (ENG) 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 11-8 (32m)
[6] Martin Knight (NZL) bt Rob Sutherland (WAL) 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7 (47m)
[7] Bilal Zaman (PAK) bt [Q] Eddie Charlton (ENG) 10-11 (1-3), 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9 (55m)
[4] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt Neil Hitchens (ENG) 11-10 (4-2), 11-0, 11-4 (25m)
James Snell (ENG) bt [5] Fabian Kalaitzis (GRE) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (19m)
[2] Amr Swelim (EGY) bt Mohammad Reza Sadeghpour (IRI) 11-3, 6-11, 11-3, 11-4 (25m)