Tommy Sherratt and James Stout negotiated their way through the quarter-finals of the Shell Divisional Handicap squash tournament last night, writes Matt Westcott.

Sherratt saw off Harry McKenzie while Stout defeated Norman Furtado at the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association's Middle Road courts.

Bermuda national team player Sherratt started the tie on minus ten points and won the first game 15-13. The second went his way 15-5 and the clincher 15-6.

"It's safe to say that Tommy executed his gameplan to perfection," said Ross Triffitt, Bermuda's director of squash.

"The idea was that he was going to go on and make Harry work as much as possible in the first game until Harry could not run the ball down any more. He did that perfectly which is why the scores were so low in the second and third games. It was a reflection of how well Tommy controlled the match."

Stout, meanwhile, took five games to defeat Furtado.

"The scores were seesawing back and forth," said Triffitt. "James won the first 15-9, Norman the second 15-11, James the third 15-6 and Norman the fourth 15-13. James then won the fifth 15-7."

Stout was actually down minus 1-12 in the fourth game and brought it back before eventually losing.

"It was Norman's attacking volleys that were giving James the trouble and did not allow him to get into a real rhythm," Triffitt said. "But when James was able to knuckle down and concentrate he did very well, winning the three games convincingly."

Last night's other quarter final featuring title holder Nick Wiffen and Stephen Smith was still on court at press time, though Wiffen was looking in control.

In the Junior Division, Alex Furtado's run continues.

The 11-year-old defeated number two seed Mark James 3-2 in what Triffitt described as a "nail-biting finish".

Latest results on Scoreboard, Page 14.