Yorkshire fares well on opening weekend in Philadelphia

The two great rivals, Matthew a previous winner in 2007 and Willstrop his defeated opponent back then, are scheduled to face each other in Thursday’s semi-finals should they negotiate their way through a tricky bottom half of the draw at Drexel University.

World No 4 Matthew, from Sheffield, got off to a flier against Kuwait qualifier Abdullah Al Muzayen taking the first game 11-0.

But his younger opponent certainly found his feet, and with it his confidence, pushing the third seed close in the following two games before succumbing 12-10, and 14-12 to give a relieved Matthew victory in 52 minutes.

“In some ways that first game was the worst thing that could happen,” said Matthew. “He played really well after that, and it was very tough, but I’d rather have it that way than win all the games 11-0.”

Matthew will on Monday now face another qualifer in New Zealand’s Campbell Grayson, who caused something of a surprise when defeating Swiss number one Nicolas Mueller 13-11, 11-7, 13-11. In four previous encounters, the world No 41 from Auckland had never beaten Mueller.

As expected, second seed Willstrop, from Pontefract, was triumphant against Harrogate-based Chris Simpson, but he was given plenty to think about before coming through 11-7, 11-2, 11-7 in 42 minutes. He will now face Egypt’s Karim Abdel Gawad, who beat English qualifier Eddie Charlton 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 in just under an hour.

In the women’s draw, Harrogate’s Jenny Duncalf, seeded seventh, booked a second round clash on Monday with Australia’s Kasey Brown after gliding past US wild card entrant Kristen Lange 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 in just 22 minutes.

Ninth seed Brown was given a tougher examination in her first round encounter before overcoming English qualifier Lisa Aitken 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 42 minutes.

WEEKEND RESULTS

Saturday, Men 1st round (lower half of draw):

[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) 11-0, 12-10, 14-12 (52m)

[Q] Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 13-11, 11-7, 13-11 (52m)

Joe Lee (ENG) bt Henrik Mustonen (FIN) 11-0, 11-5, 11-4 (36m)

[6] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 11-9, 11-5, 4-11, 11-5 (54m)

[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [Q] Matthew Karwalski (AUS) 6-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (51m)

Simon Rosner (GER) bt Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 (42m)

Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [Q] Eddie Charlton (ENG) 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (57m)

[2] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-7, 11-2, 11-7 (42m)

Women

1st round (lower half of draw):

[6] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt [Q] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (30m)

[16] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Nicolette Fernandes (GUY) 10-12, 11-4, 11-1, 11-8 (47m)

[11] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [Q] Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy (EGY) 5-11, 11-6, 11-3, 7-11, 11-6 (61m)

[3] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Samantha Teran (MEX) 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 (25m)

[7] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [WC] Kristen Lange (USA) 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 (22m)

[9] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [Q] Lisa Aitken (ENG) 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (42m)

[14] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [Q] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) 11-7, 11-3, 11-2 (17m)

[2] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt Victoria Lust (ENG) 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 (26m)

SUNDAY

Men, 2nd round (top half of draw):

[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-1, 11-4, 11-7 (29m)

Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [7] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8 (105m)

[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (37m)

[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 11-5, 11-2, 12-10 (44m)

Women, 2nd round (top half of draw):

[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [10] Camille Serme (FRA) 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 (36m)

[8] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [15] Line Hansen (DEN) 6-11, 11-2, 11-3, 11-8 (41m)

[4] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [12] Donna Urquhart (AUS) 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10 (58m)

[5] Joelle King (NZL) bt [13] Sarah Kippax (ENG) 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (31m)