Ong Beng Hee Continues His Advance In Qatar

Within days of his unexpected home triumph in the Malaysian Open, unseeded Ong Beng Hee continued his success against higher-ranked players in the Qatar Classic when he deposed 14th seed Graham Ryding in the only men's upset on the opening day of action at the Khalifa International Squash Complex in Doha.

Beng Hee, rediscovering the form which took him to a career-high world No7 in December 2001, beat his Canadian opponent 8-11 11-5 11-10 11-8 in exactly an hour. The UK-based 25-year-old, currently ranked 17 in the world, now faces top seed Thierry Lincou after the Frenchman also recovered from a game down to defeat Dutch qualifier Laurens Jan Anjema 10-11 11-8 11-6 11-2 in 57 minutes.

Lincou, the world No1 from Marseille, became world champion for the first time last December on the same all-glass court in Doha. "I have always done well out here. This is the first match and you will see the best of me in the matches to come," Lincou told the Gulf Times.

By contrast, England's Peter Nicol needed just 16 minutes to reserve his place in the second round of the $125,000 PSA Super Series Platinum event. The sixth seed, twice a winner of the Qatar Classic title, beat Kuwait's Ali Alramezi 11-6 11-4 11-2, and now meets Scottish rival John White, the 11th seed who knocked out Pakistan's Mansoor Zaman 11-9 11-7 11-8.

The draw for the women's event was also completed at the Khalifa Complex, with players from New Zealand, England, Canada, Malaysia, Australia and Egypt claiming places in the main draw from the qualifying finals.

New Zealand's Louise Crome, ranked 43 in the world, pulled off a significant upset by overcoming Australia's Melissa Martin, ranked 15 places higher, 9-5 7-9 4-9 9-4 10-9 in 48 minutes. But the longest battle was claimed by Egypt's 16-year-old Raneem El Weleily who edged out Mexico's world No30 Samantha Teran 10-8 9-6 7-9 9-4 in 51 minutes.

Australia's world No1 Rachael Grinham is seeded to win the $105,000 WISPA Platinum event after finishing as runner-up twelve months ago. The 28-year-old Queenslander faces Malaysian qualifier Tricia Chuah in the first round.

Defending champion Vanessa Atkinson is the No2 seed and expected to meet Grinham in a repeat of last year's final. The Dutch world champion takes on Tegwen Malik, from Wales, in the opening round.

Men's 1st round:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [Q] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 10-11 (1-3), 11-8, 11-6, 11-2 (57m)
Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [14] Graham Ryding (CAN) 8-11, 11-5, 11-10 (3-1), 11-8 (60m)
[6] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Ali Alramezi (KUW) 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (16m)
[11] John White (SCO) bt Mansoor Zaman (PAK) 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 (25m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Liam Kenny (IRL) 11-4, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 (44m)
[9] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 (46m)
[5] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Ben Garner (ENG) 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 (28m)
[10] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Peter Barker (ENG) 11-6, 11-10 (2-0), 11-7 (50m)

Women's qualifying finals:
Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt Sarah Kippax (ENG) 9-3, 9-6, 5-9, 9-1 (43m)
Suzie Pierrepont (ENG) bt Kasey Brown (AUS) 9-3, 9-6, 9-7 (41m)
Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Samantha Teran (MEX) 10-8, 9-6, 7-9, 9-4 (51m)
Tricia Chuah (MAS) bt Aisling Blake (IRL) 10-8, 9-6, 9-0 (36m)
Runa Reta (CAN) bt Eman El Amir (EGY) 10-8, 9-4, 9-2 (44m)
Rebecca Botwright (ENG) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 9-5, 9-2, 9-0 (21m)
Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) bt Nicolette Fernandes (GUY) 1-9, 9-5, 9-3, 9-3 (41m)
Louise Crome (NZL) bt Melissa Martin (AUS) 9-5, 7-9, 4-9, 9-4, 10-9 (48m)