Willstrop remains focused on the here and now

James Willstrop is determined to avoid looking too far ahead as he gets his British Open bid underway at Hull’s KC Stadium

The 29-year-old, from Leeds, has been handed a tough first round challenge after being drawn to face world No 18 Stephen Coppinger.

World No 4 Willstrop goes into the ‘Wimbledon of Squash’ as the third seed, keen to eclipse the three runner-up finishes he has had before.

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And after what has amounted to a six-week break from the PSA World Tour, Willstrop is itching to get back on court and some top-level competition.

“We’ve had about six weeks off and, while we obviously work and train really hard and you can play practice matches it’s never the same – you just can’t get the same thing as you can from a proper, competitive match,” said Willstrop.

“As first round draws go it’s probably as tough as it could have been. He’s a quality player anyway, but he’s had even more of an improvement recently.”

Placed in the top half of the draw, Willstrop knows if he is to reach a fourth final – where he could potentially face fellow Yorkshireman Nick Matthew – he will have to end the 36-match unbeaten run of world No 1 Ramy Ashour. But Willstrop refuses to even think about the latter stages of the tournament just yet.

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“It’s such a long week that there’s no point even thinking about the weekend and what might happen there,” he added.

“I can’t really stress enough how strong the Tour is at the moment - you can’t take any of it for granted and the more I can just break it down into smaller chunks the easier it is for me.”

Should Willstrop prove successful and reach finals day on Sunday, he could meet long-time rival and fellow Yorkshireman Nick Matthew, a three-time winner and the man who defeated him in an epic two-hour plus final in Manchester in 2009.

The 32-year-old, from Sheffield, got his campaign for a fourth title off to a comfortable start at the KC Stadium on Monday night, defeating Finland qualifier Henrik Mustonen 11-8, 11-7, 11-3.

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Matthew will now meet the Netherlands’ Laurens Jan Anjema, who beat Australian qualifier Ryan Cuskelly 11-3, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6 in just under an hour.

Elsewhere, Pontefract-based Saurav Ghosal, from India, proved too strong for qualifier Jonathan Kemp in the opening match at the KC Stadium, dispatching the Englishman 11-9, 11-6, 11-6.

No 7 seed, Peter Barker, sailed to victory against Egyptian Mohd Ali Anwar Reda in match lasting 47 minutes.

Although Ali Anwar Reda achieved game ball early on Barker saw him off 12-10, 11-9, 11-4 as he dominated the later stages of the match.

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Gregory Gaultier, the No 4 seed, enjoyed a comprehensive victory over Botswana’s Alister Walker, a former PSL regular for Chapel Allerton SC.

The Frenchman started out aggressively and continued to dominate throughout, sending Walker packing 11-6, 11-9, 11-1.

As well as Willstrop, world No 1 Ramy Ashour gets his bid for a first British Open title underway in the top half of the draw when he takes on fellow Egyptian Omar Mosaad.

RESULTS

Men’s 1st Round draw (KC Stadium)

Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (Eng) 11/9, 11/6, 11/6 (35m)

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Tarek Momen (Egy) bt [Q] Marwan El Shorbagy (Egy) 11/9, 11/9, 11/4 (28m)

[7] Peter Barker (Eng) bt [Q] Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) 12/10, 11/9, 11/4 (47m)

Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) 3-1 [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (Aus) 11/3, 11/6, 10/12, 11/6 (56m)

[4] Grégory Gaultier (Fra) bt Alister Walker (Bot) 11/6, 11/9, 11/1

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Daryl Selby (Eng) bt Olli Tuominen (Fin) 11/7, 11/9, 13/11 (49m)

[2] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Henrik Mustonen (Fin) 11/8, 11/7, 11/3 (31m)

Women’s final qualifying round (Pontefract Squash Club)

Joshana Chinappa (Ind) bt Deon Saffery (Wal) 11/13, 11/9, 11/9, 11/5 (47m)

Emma Beddoes (Eng) bt Nada Elkalaawy (Eng) 11/4, 11/5, 11/6 (25m)

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Lauren Briggs (Eng) bt Melody Francis (Aus) 11/3, 11/5, 11/7 (30m)

Sam Cornett (Can) bt Olga Ertlova (Cze) 11/6, 11/5, 11/5 (29m)

Nicolette Fernandes (Guy) 3-0 Lucie Fialova (Cze) 11/8, 11/2, 11/9 (30m)

Latasha Khan (Usa) 3-2 Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn) 11/8, 15/13, 9/11, 7/11, 17/15 (73m)

Delia Arnold (Mas) 3-0 Birgit Coufal (Aut) 11/5, 11/5, 11/6 (15m)

Amanda Sobhy (Usa) 3-1 Lisa Aitken (Sco) 13/11, 11/4, 5/11 , 11/3

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