The win, coupled with the walkover received by second-ranked Mike Curry over Tony Readwin, kept everything on track for their highly-anticipated meeting in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, in the B section, top-ranked Gary Weller was fully extended before defeating Mark Melvin 7-6, 6-4.

In other games, Howard Cross had mixed fortunes during the day, defeating Joe Morley 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a two-hour morning battle before losing to Mike Levon 7-6, 6-3 in the afternoon.

Mark Ward beat Phillip Nearon in straight sets 6-0, 6-2 while Gina Sousa won by default over women's B second seed Ellen Kelly.

Another disappointment was the no-show of Michael Way, thus forcing his partner to default in their doubles fixture against Simon Pratt and Bernd Miller. Way and Gregg Frigerio were the third seeds.

The weekend is loaded with potential highlight matches starting at noon today when unranked Monty Nearon clashes with top seed Ricky Mallory. Two quality men's doubles matches are scheduled for 3 p.m. Second seeds Mike Curry and Stuart Smith take on Mark Ward and Mark Cordeiro, while top seeds Mallory and Steve Bean face Earl Leader and Eldon Daniels.

In mixed doubles, Brian Way and Wendy Gelhay face MacDonald and Ailsa Campbell.

SQUASH SQU The duo of Richard Brewer and Jeff McKay emerged victorious over last year's winners Colin Alexander and John Stout in the final of the Sir Michael Edwardes Doubles Squash tournament on Thursday night.

In the end it appeared the strain of playing five matches in one evening had worn out the defending champs, allowing Brewer and McKay to roll to a decisive 3-1 triumph.

"They were too strong,'' said Stout following the match. "We won the second game comfortably and were leading in the fourth, but I never felt we had an effective game plan to deal with them.'' Brewer's superiority was evident throughout the match, while McKay, a former hardball player, was adept at playing angles, lobs and cross-court drives.

Left-hander McKay was content to rally with Alexander on the backhand court, where the former was most proficient.

Earlier, during the semifinals, Kirk Caza and Andy McComb, runners-up a year ago, lost 2-0 to Stout and Alexander in a gruelling encounter that had the second game ending at 17-16.

The all-female team of Liz Davies and Jacqui White played some excellent touch squash and showed well against their male counterparts.

SOCCER SOC The following changes have been made to the Saturday schedule: Commercial Division: Somerset Extros v KPMG Peat Marwick (Somerset Cricket Club, 1 p.m.); Genesis v Fire Services (Prospect, 1 p.m.).

Minor Division: North Village v Wolves (Bernard Park, 10.15 a.m.).

Mini-Minor B Division: BAA Kids v Hotels Blue (Victor Scott, 11.15 a.m.), Paget v Somerset Eagles Yellow (White Hill field), BAA Youth v North Village Whites (Gym field), Southampton v Wolves Black (Elliott School), North Village Kids v Devonshire Colts Whites (Victor Scott), St. David's v Somerset Blues (Gym field, 11.15 a.m.), St. George's White v Dandy Town Green (East End, 11.15 a.m.), PHC Black v Boulevard Red (Purvis, 11.15 a.m.). Games start at 10 a.m. unless stated otherwise.