25-Jul, Final:
Barker Bags Oklahoma Title
England's Peter Barker foiled fellow Briton David Evans' bid to win two US titles within a week when he beat the former British Open champion in straight games in the final of the James Baker & Associates Oklahoma Open in Oklahoma.

Top seed Barker, the 20-year-old world No37 from Upminster in Essex, reached his fourth PSA Tour final in North America, without dropping a game. Welshman Evans, the third seed from Pontypool, was taken to four games in the quarter-finals before overcoming Mexican No1 Eric Galvez in 80 minutes - then upset second-seeded Joey Barrington in a 60-minute straight games semi-final.

It was the eight-times Welsh National champion's second successive win over Barrington in seven days, following his victory over the higher-ranked Englishman in last week's final of the Squashworks Salt Lake City Open in Utah.

Left-hander Barker was in commanding form in the Oklahoma final, however, and despatched the experienced Evans 15-14 15-10 15-7 in 50 minutes to earn the fourth PSA Tour title of his short career.

David Evans

Joey Barrington

Qualifying:

Qualifying Finals:
David Phillips bt Beau River  15-11, 15-7, 15-5 (45m)
Kumail Mehmood bt Chris Gordon  15-12, 15-10, 15-2 (52m)
Jose Becerril bt Jago Nardelli 15-6, 15-13, 15-7 (40m)
Laurent Elriani bt Shadid Kahn  15-12, 15-8, 15-10 (45m)

First Round:
David Phillips bye
Beau River bt Rizwan Farooq  15-2, 15-6, 15-6 (27m)
Kumail Mehmood bt Abdul Razzaq  15-7, 15-8, 6-15, 15-10 (33m)
Chris Gordon bt Mark Krojcsak  11-15, 15-13, 14-17, 15-13, 17-16 (115m)
Jago Nardelli bt Marton Szaboky  15-7, 15-3, 15-9 (30m)
Jose Becerrill bt Andre Holderegger  11-15, 15-14, 15-14, 5-15, 15-11 (113m)
Shadid Kahn bt Patrick Bedore  15-11, 15-13, 15-8 (43m)
Laurent Elriani bt Simon Pickering 15-8, 15-3, 15-11 (55m)

23-Jul, Quarter-Finals:
Evans on fire in Oklahoma
Paul Molloy reports ...

In the quarter finals Peter Barker was on top of his game. Giuffre was not able to get into the flow and thus this game went quickly. Phillip Barker and Bradley Ball into this match both wanted victory.

Ball had suffered another injury to an already sore calf. Barker had lost to Ball in Salt Lake. Barker knew he had a great chance to take the match. There was much on the line. The action was very tough and competitive. It could have gone either way. Ball prevails in a well fought tight match.

The David Evans vs. Eric Galvez match was much anticipated by the good crowd here to witness a strong quarter final round. But this Evans - Galvez match showed much promise. No one was disappointed with this showdown. Everybody witnessed a very fine contest between two completely different players. Long, tall, and smart Evans versus quick, gutsy, and fearless Galvez.

Game 1 was all Evans. Game 2 Galvez won. Could we be witnessing a major upset? However going into game 3 Evans was just too effective. This match was power packed from the beginning all the way to the last point. Galvez earns one game and a lot of respect for his play during each point. This victory was no easy job for Evans.

The crowd on hand gave a standing applause for both players. This was squash played in superb fashion. Evans wins 3-1. Next up in the semis Barrington vs. Evans.

Can Evans be pushed? Who will bring enough game to handle the odds on favourite to win the James Baker Squash Championship?

Barker Brothers in Baker Quarters
 
England's top seed Peter Barker was joined in the quarter-finals of the James Baker Open by brother Phillip as main round action got under way in Oklahoma. A possible all-Barker semi-final looms, with Matthew Giuffre and Bradley Ball standing in the way.

In the bottom half of the draw Joey Barrington and David Evans could be on course to repeat last week's Squashworks final at the semi-final stage. Evans meets Eric Galvez in the quarters, while Barrington faces Viktor Berg.

Berg showed his experience as he surprisingly schooled young Jose Becerril. Viktor had an effective game plan of moving the young Mexican around the court with style and precision.

Evans is showing all would be opponents that to beat the Welshman you better bring your “A” game. Evans stroked local pro Ben Howell to a quick 3-0 38 minute victory.

The last match of the day saw Ian Power and Joey Barrington face each other in a match that was full of rough and tumble action, but  Barrington held his ground for a 3-0 72-minute win.

Hot Qualifying in Oklahoma
Paul Molloy reports from Oklahoma

The report from Oklahoma City is that the weather is mild, low 90's, but the play on the court has been hot. The four qualifiers moving on from qualifying round 2 are : Laurent Elriani, Kumail Mehmood, David Phillips, and Jose Becerril

Round one qualifying gave Phillips a bye. Chris Gordon came thru with a very exciting match with Mark Krajcsak. In the 5th game Krajcsak took a 11-4 lead. Gordon scored the next 8 straight points to go ahead 12-11, and then had match ball 14-12. Krajcsak tied the game 14 all, then extends the overtime to 16-14. Gordon then ties 16-16. The last point had the crowd on the edge of their seat to see who would take the grueling 1hour 55 minutes thriller. Game and match went to Gordon.

The other qualifying round one match that deserves attention was the match Becerril vs. Holderegger. This match, much like the Gordon - Krajcsak match, went to the 5th game and lasted 1 hour 55 minutes. This contest between two fine players ended with Becerril winning with a flair that had those watching thinking that this qualifier has a chance go deep in this tournament.