By VINO

BVI’s squash player, Joe Chapman has reached the quarter finals of the Colony Ford Lincoln NSA Open, PSA M5 event in Toronto, Canada with a superb straight games victory over qualifier, James Bamber of England.

Chapman, who is number 5 seed in the tournament, needed 29 minutes for his 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 victory over Bamber. Chapman now faces number 2 seed, Arthur Gaskin of Ireland in the quarter-finals.

The biggest shock of the tournament so far, however, was Mexico’s qualifier, Jesus Camacho completing a huge upset in the first straight games victory over number 3 seed Dane Sharp.

The first game was the closest of the lot when Camacho, who reached the final of the British Virgin Islands Open Squash Championship at his last PSAWorld Tour appearance, narrowly emerged with a victory from the opening game courtesy of a tense tie-break. Despite playing on home soil, Sharp failed to live with Camacho’s exuberance around court and the Mexican No.5 finished off a 13-11, 11-8, 11-8 triumph in style to move on through to the quarter-final.

He will meet another Canadian there in David Baillargeon after the World No.199 recorded an impressive victory over compatriot Fred Reid while top seed Chris Hanson dispatched wildcard, Cameron Seth in three games.

Ireland’s Arhur Gaskin is also through to the next round after he claimed a confident victory against Albert Shoihet. Gaskin struggled to pull away in the second game in particular and he narrowly edged out a tight 15-13 win but that victory, sandwiched by triumphs in the first and third games, means that he moves on to the last eight with Joe Chapman.

Shahjahan Khan will meet Babatunde Ajagbe in the quarter-final after respective wins over Nicolas Caballero and Kale Wilson with a semi-final tie against Hanson or Michael McCue, who saw off Rahul Sehrawat, awaiting the victor.

Results – First Round
[1] Chris Hanson (USA) bt [WC] Cameron Seth (CAN) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 12-10 (30m)
[6] Michael McCue (CAN) bt [Q] Rahul Sehrawat (CAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (42m)
[8] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) bt [Q] Kale Wilson (TRI) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-4 (27m)
[4] Shahjahan Khan (PAK) bt Nicolas Caballero (PAR) 3-2: 6-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 (60m)
[Q] Jesus Camacho (MEX) bt [3] Dane Sharp (CAN) 3-0: 13-11, 11-8, 11-8
David Baillargeon (CAN) bt [7] Fred Reid (CAN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (24m)
[5] Joe Chapman (IVB) bt [Q] James Bamber (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 (29m)
[2] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) bt Albert Shoihet (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 15-13, 11-6 (38m)

Draw – Quarter-Final
[1] Chris Hanson (USA) v [6] Michael McCue (CAN)
[8] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) v [4] Shahjahan Khan (PAK)
[Q] Jesus Camacho (MEX) v David Baillargeon (CAN)
[5] Joe Chapman (IVB) v [2] Arthur Gaskin (IRL)