Matthew's top foe forced to withdraw

NICK MATTHEW'S hopes of becoming the first Englishman to land the World Open crown received a significant boost yesterday when his main rival was forced to withdraw injured in the second round.

The 30-year-old, from Sheffield, took care of business on court when he followed up his comfortable opening round win against Australia's Ryan Cuskelly with another confident performance in his triumph over Canada's Shahier Razik, triumphing 11-5 11-1 11-7 on Saturday.

Should he negotiate a path to the final as expected, top seed Matthew would have probably been met by world No 1 Ramy Ashour, the man who replaced him in September as the world's leading player after just three months. But Egypt's Ashour was forced to withdraw injured in his second-round match against Pakistan's Aamir Atlas Khan yesterday opening up the bottom half of the draw.

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Matthew will still have to beat an Ashour in today's third round if he is to be crowned world champion, however, coming up against Ramy's older brother Hisham, who caused a minor upset with his defeat of 12th seed Laurens Jan Anjema.

The 24th seed edged a tight game 11-7 11-9 11-7.

Elsewhere, Leeds's James Willstrop – placed in the bottom half of the draw – reached the last 16 after seeing off Spanish qualifier Borja Golan 11-6 11-3 11-3 in 37 minutes.

Willstrop, the sixth seed from Leeds, will now take on fellow Englishman Daryl Selby, the ninth seed who defeated Finland's Olli Tuominen 11-4

11-7 11-6 in 40 minutes.

Former world No 2 Willstrop – now at fifth in the PSA rankings – was relieved to get through against his Spanish opponent, having endured a number of tough battles with him in the past.

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The Spaniard suffered an injury setback earlier in the year, something alluded to by Willstrop.

"We've been playing since our junior days and there have been some tough matches, particularly the last couple," said Willstrop, who does not take on Selby until tomorrow.

"I'm in decent shape while he's (Golan) been off court for a while and that probably made the difference.

"I'd be happy to play again (on Monday) but it's been a long, hard season so I'll take the rest days when they come."

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Halifax-based Jonathan Kemp, seeded 21, followed up his quickfire 11-minute demolition of Brazil's Rafael Alcaron in the opening round by pushing former world No 1 David Palmer from Australia close in their second-round match.

Kemp, a much-improved player during 2010, came from behind to level twice in an exhilirating hour-long tussle before eventually going down 11-4 3-11 11-7 10-12 11-4 to the No 10 seed.

"It got a bit too close for comfort," admitted Palmer. "But I got there in the end. I would have taken 3-0, but I've had a good run-out."

Palmer will face Gregory Gaultier, the fifth seed from France, who dispatched Pakistan's Farhan Mehboob 11-6 11-5 11-4.

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Leeds-based Alister Walker continued his interest in the tournament, seeing off fellow Englishman Joey Barrington 11-3 11-4 11-3.

The 16th seed will face France's Thierry Lincou later today for a place in the quarter-finals.

The 2004 champion defeated Egypt's Omar Mosaad 11-6 11-8 11-3.