Matthew forced to outwit brothers

The world No 2, from Sheffield, was handed his first serious test of the tournament so far when facing Hisham Ashour, the older brother of Egyptian Ramy who replaced Matthew as world No 1 in September.

The younger Ashour was forced to retire injured from his second round match with Pakistan's Aamir Atlas Khan on Sunday giving increased hope to Matthew on becoming the first Englishman to take the world title.

But the world's leading player was on hand to give his older brother some tips during yesterday's match with Matthew, who was forced to battle for 49 minutes before running out an

11-8 11-6 13-11 winner.

"With Ramy coaching him in between games, it felt like I was playing both of them," said Matthew. "I don't think I played at my best but I have got better each day.

"Now I have to prepare for the real crunch part of the event."

Chapel Allerton SC's Alister Walker was defeated by seventh seed Thierry Lincou, but made the Frenchman fight hard for over an hour before the 2004 winner of the event went through 11-5 11-9 7-11 11-5.

Leeds's James Willstrop, seeded six and in the same half of the draw as the withdrawn Ashour, takes on fellow Englishman Darly Selby later today in their third round match.