Poulter and Rose crash out

Alvaro Quiros (L) is congratulated by Ian Poulter (R) after his victory over the Englishman

Holder Ian Poulter and second seed Justin Rose were amongst the casualties as England's five-strong contingent at the Volvo World Match Play all crashed out on Saturday morning.

Tom Lewis, Robert Rock and Richard Finch also departed in the round of 16 as the tournament's big-hitters took centre stage.

Poulter, after eight matches unbeaten in the event, was seen off 4&3 by Spain's Alvaro Quiros who has led the driving distance statistics for four of the last five seasons.

Rose, who crushed Rock 7&6 and Open champion Darren Clarke 6&4, went down by the same margin to Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts - the man who, with an average of 316 yards off the tee, is three yards longer than Quiros this season.

It was not so much of a surprise that 21-year-old Lewis lost to Garcia - another 4&3 game - or that Rock and tournament outsider Finch, conqueror of top seed Martin Kaymer on Friday, exited at the hands of Goosen and McDowell respectively.

Poulter refused to blame the defeat on a foot injury, bizarrely picked up when a buggy driver drove over his foot on day two.

"I don't need excuses. I had plenty of chances and didn't take them - simple. I just didn't play good enough," he said afterwards.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell did win through to face Sergio Garcia, though, and Scot Paul Lawrie set up a clash with Retief Goosen as his 500th European Tour event continued to go well.

Snedeker continues run

McDowell and Goosen both won 3&2, while American Brandt Snedeker won by the same margin against Colombian Camilo Villegas.

After topping his group former Open champion Lawrie thrashed Dane Thomas Bjorn 5&4 to take another step towards a Ryder Cup return.

Bjorn, who squeezed through his group in a play-off, bogeyed the first two holes and by the eighth had endured three more.

It is a big week for the 43-year-old from Aberdeen, already fifth in the Ryder Cup points race and with a chance to move to second - especially after beating Swede Peter Hanson, the man currently in that spot, when they met in the group stage.

Lewis, who led The Open as an amateur last July and then captured the Portugal Masters in only his third start as a professional, fell four down to Garcia after only eight holes.

It was uphill from then on and the Spanish star sealed his win by holing a 20-footer on the 15th and seeing Lewis miss from 12.

Rafael Cabrera-Bello was the last man to seal his spot in the quarter-finals as he beat Robert Karlsson on the final hole of a tense encounter.

All square heading down the last, both men found greenside bunkers with their second shots to the lengthy par-five, but it was the Spaniard who got up-and-down to seal a 1up victory that earns him a showdown with compatriot Quiros in the last eight.

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