Yorkshire’s leading lights safely through in Manchester

JAMES Willstrop and Nick Matthew impressed as they safely negotiated their way through to the second round of the British Grand Prix in Manchester.

World No1 and top seed Matthew, from Sheffield, saw off the challenge of German wild card entrant Jens Schoor 11-3, 11-3, 11-6 in just 26 minutes, while fourth seed Willstrop took four games and just under an hour to beat Spanish qualifier Borja Golan 11-9, 11-4, 9-11, 11-3.

“When I saw the schedule, I felt I had one of the hardest draws,” said Willstrop. “But getting one of the strongest opponents in the first round can be a help.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Though I was in my home surroundings here in Manchester, it was my first match - whereas Borja has played his way through the qualifiers so had his eye in.

“It’s a great feeling at the start of the season, feeling fresh and really enjoying playing.”

Willstrop, 27, will now face fellow Englishman Adrian Grant who took five games to beat Finland’s Olli Tuominen.

Matthew - who missed last year’s event through food poisoning - was happy to get his first round ‘banana skin’ out of the way.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Luckily, I went on to have some good wins elsewhere on the Tour (after missing it last year,” said Matthew, who now faces Egyptian Ali Anwar Reda on Wednesday.

“I’ve got about 101 memories of playing on this court - and about 99 of them are good.

“A few players have put me under pressure in the first round of tournaments recently, so it was good to feel that a couple of things I’ve been working on came good tonight.

“I was pleased with the way I played - I got on top early in the game and was glad to come off 3-0.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Elsewhere, Peter Barker made it through to Wednesday’s second round after beating South Africa’s Stephen Coppinger 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 and will now face Malaysia’s Mohd Azlan Iskandar.

Fifth seed and former world No 1 Amr Shabana booked his second round slot after seeing off fellow Egyptian Hisham Mohamed Ashour 7-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-2.

Ramy Ashour, Matthew’s main rival both for the title and the world No 1 ranking, gets his campaign underway on Tuesday evening when he faces English qualifier Chris Ryder.

JENNY DUNCALF is favourite to win the Carol Weymuller Open when it starts in New York on Thursday afternoon.

The 28-year-old world No 2, from Harrogate, faces New Zealand’s Jaclyn Hawkes in Thursday’s first round and, as top seed, is expected to meet Ireland’s Madeleine Perry in Sunday’s final.