Chaloner charges past former England captain

Squash

The new England recruit Mark Chaloner moved into the second round of the Detjen World Open in Nicosia yesterday with an impressive 15-10, 15- 10, 15-12 defeat of his experienced compatriot Philip Whitlock.

But the British champion, Stephen Meads, lost in straight games to the South African qualifier Craig Van der Wath 15-11, 15-6, 15-11. And Chris Walker, the English second string for next week's World Championships in Cairo, could take only a single game from the Australian No 4, Craig Rowland, in a 15-11, 15-12, 13-15, 15-7 defeat.

The 23-year-old Chaloner calmly absorbed the early attack of Whitlock, 10 years his senior and a former England captain. Chaloner then capitalised on a fortunate call on a backhand kill shot that seemed to hit the tin to capture 11 of the next 12 rallies.

Del Harris, of Essex, and Paul Johnson, of Kent, increased the English representation in the bottom half of the draw by respectively defeating Finland's Juha Raumolin, a qualifier, and the 10th-seeded Mark Cairns, of Oxford.