English Qualifiers Simpson & Ryder Cruise Into Royal Oak Quarters

English qualifiers Chris Ryder and Chris Simpson cruised into the last eight of the Barfoot & Thompson Royal Oak Open after double upsets over seeds on the opening day of action in Auckland, New Zealand.

Ryder, from Hertfordshire, made his breakthrough in the first round when he beat Kuwait's No2 seed Abdullah Almezayen in the first round. Later in the day, he knocked out local player Martin Knight, the tenth seed, 11-4 11-7 11-8 in the second round.

After also beating a Kuwaiti - eighth seed Nasser B Al-Ramzi - in the first round, Brighton-based Chris Simpson went on to upset New Zealand's 15th seed Sam Atkins 11-2 8-11 11-6 11-8 to take his place in the quarter-finals.

2nd round:
[1] Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt [16] Ali Alramezi (KUW) 8-11 11-8 11-8 11-7
[5] David Barnett (ENG) bt Robbie Temple (ENG) 11-4 6-11 8-11 11-5 11-2
[3] Simon Carruthers (AUS) bt [13] Scott Arnold (AUS) 11-4 11-5 7-11 11-5
[Q] Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [15] Sam Atkins (NZL) 11-2 8-11 11-6 11-8
[14] Luke Margan (AUS) bt [6] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 11-10 (2-0) 11-3 10-11 (0-2) 11-7
[4] Bader Al Hussaini (KUW) bt [11] Josh Greenfield (NZL) 9-11 11-5 10-11 (0-2) 11-4 11-7
[7] Robin Clarke (CAN) bt [12] Mohammed Hajeyah (KUW) 11-8 11-10 (2-0) 11-6
[Q] Chris Ryder (ENG) bt [10] Martin Knight (NZL) 11-4 11-7 11-8