Selby Stuns Golan In Grasshopper Opener

England's Daryl Selby, ranked 15 in the world, upset the seedings on day one of the 2015 Grasshopper Cup in Switzerland, beating world No.11 Borja Golan 3/0 to move into the quarter-finals of the PSA International 70 squash event at Puls 5 in Zurich.

Selby is unseeded for the tournament but showed just why he was ranked as high as nine in recent years as he put in a commanding performance to record his second win over the Spaniard in quick-succession, to follow up a brutal 3/2 victory during the Canary Wharf Classic in London in March.

Selby control proceedings from the start and after spending a agonising 216 minutes on court during the recent El Gouna International, the 32-year-old was relieved to complete the 13-11, 11-9, 11-5 win over the No.7 seed in 78 minutes.

"It's massive to get a 3/0 win against Borja in the first round," said Selby.

"I had a tough tournament in Egypt last week and felt the effects against Gaultier in the quarters - so today was important for me, especially to try and give myself a better chance later in the week.

"I've been in good form recently and I want to finish the second half of the season strong and carry that form all the way through to the end. I'm unseeded here and took a bit of a chance as I knew whoever I got would be tough, but it paid off.

"In the last two weeks I've beaten the current World No.5 (Miguel Rodriguez) and a former No.5 (Golan) so hopefully I can push on."

The Essex man will now meet Gregory Gaultier, the top seed from France who wasted no time in securing his place in the last eight, ruthlessly despatching Australian Cameron Pilley 3/0.

The 32-year-old from Aix-en-Provence started the match slowly and it was the 6' 3" Australian who raced into an 8-4 lead in the first game, but Gaultier showed exactly why he's remained one of the sport's dominant players over the last decade, scoring seven unanswered points to take the opening game and set up the platform from which to dominate.

From then on the man known as 'The General' was in charge, and despite Pilley mounting a strong challenge in the third game to hold a 7-2 lead and take advantage of Gaultier's impatience as he tried to get off court before midnight, it was the top seed who saw out the match 11-8, 11-7, 11-9.

"At the beginning he was on fire and I was on the back foot but I managed to regroup and find my length and play with some better variation," said Gaultier.

"It was a tough match and obviously I'm happy to go through 3-0 especially because that was maybe the first time in my career that I've played that late, but you have to come prepared to deal with the conditions.

"I had a bit of a lack of concentration in the middle of the second and third games but I'm happy how I responded to get the win."

Grasshopper Cup image courtesy of Irena Vanisova