SEEDS TUMBLE IN KENT OPEN AS HOUSEMATES CLEAN UP

Jonny Harford and his housemate Chris Truswell meet each other in the
quarter-finals of the Kent Open after knocking out two of the top seeds
in this new $10,000 PSA World Tour event.
Harford produced a storming performance to remove Malaysia's No.2 seed
Muhamed Asyraf Azan and Truswell finished strongly to oust No.7 seed
Harinderpal Sandhu from India in a thrilling five-game encounter.
Harford and Truswell, who live in Birmingham, both emerged from the
qualifying competition to delight the packed galleries with their
stunning victories at The Mote Squash Club in Maidstone.
A former world No.59, Harford's PSA ranking had slumped to 236
following a long injury lay-off. But he was clearly back on top form as
he outplayed world No.64 Azan, winning 11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8 in 65
minutes.
Truswell, the world No.137, was in a similarly inspired mood to achieve
a notable victory against Sandhu, who is ranked 47 places above him in
the rankings. Truswell hit back from 2-1 down to win 8-11, 11-2, 10-12,
11-8, 11-7 in 54 minutes.
Ironically, a third housemate, British Under-23 champion Joel Hinds,
failed to make it a hat-trick as he fell to top seed Alan Clyne. Hinds
fell away after a promising start as Scotland's world No.62 clinched a
fourth game tiebreak to win 4-11, 11-8, 11-2, 12-10 in 53 minutes.
He meets Malaysian fifth seed Ivan Yuen in what is sure to be a
high-speed encounter. Yuen had too much guile and control as he
nullified the hard hitting Egyptian Karim Samy , winning 11-3, 12-10,
11-4 in 28 minutes.
Another Egyptian to exit was the hugely talanted qualifier Wael Farag,
who mounted fierce resistance before falling to sixth seed Piedro
Schweertman. The Dutchman combined ferocious power with sublime touch
to triumph 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 14-12 in 46 minutes.
Schweertman now meets 20-year-old rising star Joe Lee, the No.4 seed
from Surrey, who beat fellow Englishman Neil Hitchens in four games.
Ben Ford, the 34-year-old Kent county capatin, enjoyed massive vocal
support from his home crowd as he beat Sussex qualifier Tom Pashley in
four games.
Ben Ford, the 34-year-old Kent county capatin, enjoyed massive vocal
support from his home crowd as he beat Sussex qualifier Tom Pashley in
four games.
Ford began strongly and although Pashley won the second game to draw
level, he made too many mistakes as the silver fox from Bexley produced
an array of stylish winners.
Ford now meets 30-year-old No.3 seed John Rooney, who ended
the hopes of Kent wild card Steven London with a straight-games victory
in 28 minutes. Rooney is a class act. It promises to be a great match
but I have a feeling they might have a slight delay to their published
start time as the Brummie housemates battle for bragging rights in
Edgbaston.

Kent Open first round results:
1 Alan Clyne (Sco) bt Joel Hinds (Eng) 4-11, 11-8, 11-2, 12-10 (53 mins)
5 Ivan Yuen (Mas) bt Karim Samy (Egy) 11-3, 12-10, 11-4 (28 mins)
4 Joe Lee (Eng) bt Neil Hitchens (Eng) 6-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 (44 mins)
6 Piedro Schweertman (Ned) bt (Q) Wael Farag (Egy) 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 14-12 (46 mins)
8 Ben Ford (Eng) bt (Q) Tom Pashley (Eng) 11-5, 7-11, 11-8, 11-3 (49 mins)
3 John Rooney (Ire) bt Steven London (Eng) 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (28 mins)
(Q) Chris Truswell (Eng) bt 7 Harinderpal Sandhu (India) 8-11, 11-2, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7 (54 mins)
(Q) Jonathan Harford (Eng) bt (2) Muhamed Asyraf Azan (Mas) 11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8 (65 minutes)

Quarter-finals:
18.00: Q Harford v Q Truswell
19.00: 3 Rooney v 8 Ford
20.00: 4 Lee v 6 Schweertman
21.00 1 Clyne v 5 Yuen.