September 23, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 10, 1428

MANCHESTER, Sept 22: England’s Peter Barker ensured there would be local interest in all but one of the quarter-finals in the British Open Squash Championships after pulling off an impressive upset over No.7 seed Wael El Hindi in the second round of the event here on Friday.

Barker, the 23-year-old left-hander, dropped the first two games against El Hindi but the 12th seed Barker, who had never before beaten the Egyptian, fought back to take the match 9-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 in 72 minutes to earn a place in the event’s last eight for the first time.

Barker will now face Gregory Gaultier, the third seed from France who was taken to four games by Barker’s England team-mate Adrian Grant before winning 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8 in 69 minutes.

Defending champion England’s Nick Matthew comfortably made it through to his third successive quarter-final with an 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 defeat of Malaysia’s 14th seed Mohammed Azlan Iskandar.

Matthew now faces his toughest test – against top seed Amr Shabana, the world number one from Egypt. The stylish left-hander defeated England’s former world number one Lee Beachill 11-5, 2-11, 11-10 (4-2), 11-3.

Fifth seed James Willstrop became the last Englishman to win a place in the quarter-finals after beating Egypt’s Karim Darwish 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9.

An all-English quarter-final clash will guarantee domestic interest in the last four in the women’s event. England number one Tania Bailey needed four games to quash Dutch opponent Annelize Naude 9-4, 3-9, 9-1, 9-2 and will now face England team-mate Vicky Botwright.

Botwright, the sixth seed from Manchester playing in front of a home crowd, despatched another England team-mate Jenny Duncalf 9-4, 9-5, 9-5.

Top seed Nicol David, the defending champion from Malaysia bidding to win her third successive crown, took 42 minutes to overcome England’s unseeded Laura Lengthorn-Massaro 9-5, 9-6, 9-4. The in-form world number one will now take on USA’s Manchester-born Natalie Grainger, the fifth seed.

Grainger, runner-up in 2004, is making the first appearance in the city of her birth since becoming a US citizen in February, then winning the Pan American Games gold medal for her new country in July. Grainger dismissed New Zealand qualifier Jaclyn Hawkes 9-5, 9-1, 9-1 in 28 minutes.

Friday’s results (x denotes seeding):

Men:

Second round: Peter Barker (ENG x12) bt Wael El Hindi (EGY x7) 9-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4; Gregory Gaultier (FRA x3) bt Adrian Grant (ENG x13) 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8; Nick Matthew (ENG x6) bt Mohammed Azlan Iskandar (MAS x14) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5; Amr Shabana (EGY x1) bt Lee Beachill (ENG x10) 11-5, 7-11, 14-12, 11-3; Ong Beng Hee (MAS x16) bt Stewart Boswell (AUS x8) 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9.

Women:

First round: Vanessa Atkinson (NED x8) bt Alison Waters (ENG) 9-7, 9-3, 9-6; Rachael Grinham (AUS x3) bt Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 9-5, 9-3, 5-9, 9-2; Madeline Perry (IRL x7) bt Lauren Briggs (ENG) 9-3, 9-4, 9-5; Natalie Grinham (AUS x2) bt Laura Mylotte (IRL) 9-4, 9-3, 9-4; Vicky Botwright (ENG x6) bt Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-4, 9-5, 9-5; Tania Bailey (ENG x4) bt Annelize Naude (NED) 9-4, 3-9, 9-1, 9-2.—Agencies