Leona Maguire in quarter-finals

but Lisa and Rachel go down

There was mixed lucky for the Maguire twins from Ireland in today's first day of the match-play stages in the French lady junior championships at St Cloud, Paris.

Lisa Maguire, the No 5 seed, beat Alessandra De Luigi (Italy), the No 28 qualifier, by 5 and 3 in the first round but lost by 2 and 1 in the second round to the No 21 seed, Sophia Popov (Germany).

Meanwhile her sister Leona, the No 6 seed, cleared the first hurdle with a 5 and 4 win over Fanny Vuignier (Switzerland), the No 27 qualifier) and won again in the afternoon. Leona had a good 4 and 2 win over the French player Rosanna Crepiat who has figured prominently in both the Portuguese and Spanish women's open amateurs already this year.

Leona, pictured above, now plays Karianne Hillaas (Norway), the No 14 seed, in Sunday's quarter-finals.

Denmark's Daisy Nielsen, last of the 32 qualifiers, pulled off a shock win over the top seed, Mireia Prat (Spain) in the first round, beating her at the 19th.

Daisy showed that was no fluke by reaching the last eight with a 4 and 3 win over the No 17 seed, Manon Molle (France).

Defending champion Rachel Jennings (Izaak Walton) tumbled out in the first round. She lost at the 19th to France's Laura Chemarin.

England girl international Holly Clyburn swept into the quarter finals of the No 2 tournament, the Cartier Trophy.

The 18-year-old from Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, played excellent golf to defeat Spain’s Camilla Hedberg Bertrand by 7 and 6.

Now, Holly meets Mandy Goyos, whose mother, Angela, comes from Lancashire. The Cartier Trophy is contested by the top 16 girls, aged 18 and under, who missed out on a place in the championship match-play draw for the Esmond Trophy.

Full details (if you have the skill to navigate the French Federation website) are available on: www.ffgolf.org