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Ryding eliminated in second round at British Open squash tournament
MANCHESTER, England- Graham Ryding of Toronto lost his second round match to sixth seed Anthony Ricketts of Australia on Thursday at the British Open squash tournament, one of the highlight events on the professional squash circuit.
Ricketts won 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6 in 53 minutes over Ryding, seeded 10th and ranked 14th in the world.
Meanwhile less than 48 hours after a fire caused a power cut which resulted in unfinished matches being continued the following day, a further incident in Thursday's action will lead to Australia's defending champion David Palmer resuming his second round clash with 15th seed Ong Beng Hee of Malaysia after an overnight injury break.
The Malaysian was 2/1 ahead in games and 2-1 up in the fourth when Palmer was awarded a stroke for interference by his opponent. But the third-seeded Australian, seeking his fourth British Open title in five years, was unable to stop himself colliding with Beng Hee, which resulted in the Malaysian sustaining an injury to his right calf.
As a 'contributed' injury, Beng Hee was entitled to a recovery break – but as further matches in the same round are also being played the following day, the period is ruled to be up to 24 hours.
After lengthy discussions between event officials, the injured party and a less-than-happy Palmer, it was eventually agreed that the match would be reconvened at 11.00am on Friday.
England's Peter Nicol came through his second round match in straight games – but the fifth seed admitted afterwards that unless his game improves before Saturday's quarter-finals "I haven't got a chance".
The former world number one and world champion - and twice British Open champion - beat Pakistan's top player Shahid Zaman 11-7 11-6 11-10 in 39 minutes, but was far from happy with his performance.
Nicol's next opponent, World number-one and top-seed Thierry Lincou of France was fully stretched by unseeded Welsh champion Alex Gough, who took the opening game and had game-balls in the third before the Frenchman fought back to claim his 8-11 11-4 11-10 11-3 win in 59 minutes.
Jonathon Power of Montreal, seeded fourth and ranked second in the world, plays his second round match Friday against ninth-seed Thierry Gaultier of France.
RESULTS: Dunlop British Open Squash Championships, National Squash Centre, Manchester, England
Men's 2nd round:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Alex Gough(WAL 8-11, 11-4, 11-10 (3-1), 11-3 (59m) [5] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [14] Shahid Zaman (PAK) 11-7, 11-6, 11-10 (3-1) (39m) [3] David Palmer (AUS) v [15] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) (match unfinished) [6] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [10] Graham Ryding (CAN) 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6 (53m)
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