Lyell’s wish comes true after drawing Matthew in British Nationals first round
Teenager Lyell Fuller will attempt to cause the biggest upset in Men’s British National Championship history on Wednesday after drawing defending champion and top seed Nick Matthew in the first round at the National Squash Centre in Manchester.
Lyell, who battled past Patrick Rooney in four games earlier in the day to advance into the qualifying finals, thrashed Will John 11-5, 11-1, 11-5 in 25 minutes to book his place in the main draw for the first time.
The 18-year-old, who reached the third round of the British Junior Open last month, was the player representative to pull the balls out of the bag and could barely contain his excitement after drawing his own number five ball with his first pick to setup a maiden meeting with the triple world champion.
Playing world champion and world number 1 Nick Matthew tomorow #letsdothis #noheartnochance
— Lyell Fuller (@fullerlylo) February 11, 2014
Elsewhere, top qualifying seed Douglas Kempsell of Scotland progressed through to the last 32 for a second consecutive year after easing past Nick Mulvey 11-3, 11-1, 11-8 in just over half an hour.
The world number 128 said: “My body’s feeling it after a tough match this morning so I’m happy to win in three tonight.”
Kempsell, who needed 82 minutes to defeat Joel Makin in the third round of qualifying, will now meet 9/16 seed Charles Sharpes for the second year running.
The Scotland number four was also joined in the main draw by Mark Fuller who overcame 19-year-old Richie Fallows after edging a contentious five setter in 83 minutes.
Fuller despatched English coach Danny Massaro in the preceding round but was forced to recover from a 2-1 deficit to prevail 8-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9 over Fallows in 83 minutes.
“He beat me 3-2 in Colwyn Bay in a similar match so I really wanted to win that one,” revealed the 28-year-old from Nottingham afterwards. “He’s a great fighter and I am too so it makes for an interesting match – it was a hard battle but fun too.”
Fuller will face 5/8 seed Joe Lee for a place in the last 16, while Fallows picked up one of the lucky losers spots and will now meet Peter Billson (pictured right) after the 33-year-old overcame teenage duo Matt Sidaway and George Parker.
Billson, who nearly squandered a 2-0 lead against Parker before triumphing 14-12 in a dramatic fifth game, said: “It’s getting harder and harder to get into the main draw.
“All credit to George he had a tough-match this afternoon [against Stuart Crawford] but still managed to up the pace after I’d taken the first two and I just couldn’t live with him for a while.”
James Earles, Anthony Graham and Ollie Holland also progressed through to the main draw, before experienced Englishman Keith Timms recovered from losing positions in his final two rounds to beat Dave Barnett and Julian Tomlinson in five games.
4 Scots through to the @NationalsSquash main draw. Been hanging about supporting teammates, now it's my turn tomorrow in the first round.
— Greg Lobban (@LobSquash) February 11, 2014
Qualifying Finals – Men’s Results:
Dougie Kempsell 3-0 Nick Mulvey 11-3, 11-1, 11-8 (32m)
Mark Fuller 3-2 Richie Fallows 8-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9 (83m)
Peter Billson 3-2 George Parker 11-5, 11-3, 3-11, 11-9, 14-12 (57m)
James Earles 3-0 Ashley Davies 11-3, 11-3, 11-8 (28m)
Lyell Fuller 3-0 Will John 11-5, 11-1, 11-5 (25m)
Anthony Graham 3-0 Taminder Gata-Aura 11-4, 13-11, 11-7 (29m)
Keith Timms v Julian Tomlinson 10-12, 11-5, 6-11, 11-8, 11-6 (71m)
Ollie Holland 3-0 Paul Rawden 12-10, 11-5, 11-7 (41m)
Qualifying Round One – Women’s Results:
Katrina Burrows 3-0 Lucy Townley 11-8, 11-6, 11-2 (22m)
Kirsty West 3-0 Roxanna Keshavarz 11-7, 11-3, 11-7 (13m)
Hannah Carey 3-2 Abby Hicks 12-14, 10-12, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9 (36m)
Alison Thomson 3-0 Rachel Cooper 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 (16m)
Olivia Howell 3-1 Jessica Davis 11-5, 3-11, 11-5, 11-5 (36m)
Hannah Williams 3-0 Hannah Shipley 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 (18m)
Qualifying round three – Men’s Results:
Richie Fallows 3-0 Nick Wall 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 (28m)
Mark Fuller 3-0 Danny Massaro 15-13, 13-11, 11-8 (45m)
Nick Mulvey 3-1 David Haley 4-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (51m)
Dougie Kempsell 3-1 Joel Makin 12-10, 12-10, 8-11, 8-11 (82m)
James Earles 3-1 Phil Nightingale 11-5, 5-11, 11-3, 11-2 (34m)
Ashley Davies 3-2 Jamie Henderson 13-11, 11-6, 10-12, 9-11, 11-4 (51m)
George Parker 3-1 Stuart Crawford 12-10, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9 (66m)
Peter Billson 3-0 Matt Sidaway 12-10, 11-4, 11-2 (34m)
Taminder Gata-Aura 3-0 Amir Manouchechri 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 (17m)
Anthony Graham 3-0 Dom Hamilton 11-4, 11-9, 11-3 (29m)
Lyell Fuller 3-1 Patrick Rooney 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8 (45m)
Will John 3-2 Adam Murrills 9-11, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6 (60m)
Ollie Holland 3-0 Daniel Soar 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 (25m)
Julian Tomlinson 3-2 Steve London 5-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8 (70m)
Paul Rawden 3-1 Kyle Finch 10-12, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 (46m)
Keith Timms 3-2 Dave Barnett 10-12, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 (56m)
Pictures by Steve Cubbins (SquashSite)
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Sixty eight qualifiers battle for eight spots in British National main draw
The first and second round of qualifying attracted nearly 70 competitors to the Men’s British National Championships as England’s young guns shone in Manchester on Monday.
World number one and defending champion Nick Matthew awaits one of eight qualifiers in the first round, while second seed James Willstrop and world number 10 Daryl Selby are also yet to find out who they face in the last 32.
Highly rated teenagers George Parker and Ashley Davies produced dominant performances to advance in straight games in just over 20 minutes, while Welsh and French Under 19 Junior Open champion Richie Fallows overcame a second game wobble to defeat Scott Young in four games and advance into the third qualifying round.
Elsewhere, Zimbabwe-born Anthony Graham secured a resounding 3-0 victory over Michael Craig of Ireland and was also joined in the next round by local hopes Peter Billson, Julian Tomlinson, Danny Massaro and Adam Murrills.
In the longest match of the day, world number 280 Matt Sidaway needed 65 minutes to beat Miles Jenkins 11-9, 9- 11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, before Scotland’s Jamie Henderson edged past Manchester coach Chris Lengthorn in a five game thriller,Â
The men’s qualifying rounds conclude on Tuesday, with the women’s qualifying spread over two days and ending on Wednesday.
Men’s Qualifying Round Two:
Dougie Kempsell 3-0 Isaac Rawcliffe 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (26m)
Joel Makin 3-0 Chris Longman 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 (23m)
David Haley 3-0 Joshua Taylor 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (46m)
Nick Wall 3-0 Robert Dadds 11-8, 11-2, 11-6 (32m)
Danny Massaro 3-0 Jon Geekie 11-6, 11-3, 11-5 (27m)
Richie Fallows 3-1 Scott Young 11-9, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7 (44m)
Mark Fuller 3-0 Neal Brooker 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (37m)
Peter Billson 3-0 Liam Gutcher 11-9, 11-5, 12-10 (30m)
Stuart Crawford 3-1 Connor Sheen 11-6, 8-11, 11-0, 11-4 (37m)
Ashley Davies 3-0 Daniel Bergin 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 (21m)
Matt Sidaway 3-2 Miles Jenkins 11-9, 9- 11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6 (65m)
James Earles 3-0 Joseph Green 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (31m)
Phil Nightingale 3-0 Henry Beach 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 (24m)
Jamie Henderson 3-2 Chris Lengthorn 11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 6-11, 11-6 (60m)
Will John 3-0 James Asher 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 (23m)
George Parker 3-0 Jack Alcock 11-7, 11-2, 11-8 (29m)
Lyell Fuller 3-0 Adam Pritchard 11-4, 11-1, 11-4 (25m)
Adam Murrills 3-0 Edward Shannon 11-3, 11-5, 11-8 (16m)
Patrick Rooney 3-1 Daniel McGinn 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-9 (51m)
Nick Mulvey 3-0 Sam Watts 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (22m)
Taminder Gata-Aura 3-0 Alex Hodgetts 11-8, 11-6, 13-11 (27m)
Dominic Hamilton 3-0 Ryan Atherton 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (25m)
Anthony Graham 3-0 Michael Craig 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (31m)
Julian Tomlinson 3-2 Luke Bishop 9-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2, 11-1 (39m)
Steve London 3-1 Issa Kamara 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3 (49m)
Keith Timms 3-0 Matt Hardy 11-7, 11-5, 11-1 (26m)
Dave Barnett 3-0 Adam Turner 11-5, 11-7, 12-10 (29m)
Paul Rawden 3-0 Sam Ellis 11-9, 11-9, 13-11 (42m)
Kyle Finch w/o
Daniel Soar 3-1 Luke Parker 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 (46m)
Ollie Holland 3-0 George Willis 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 (29m)
Men’s qualifying round one:
Jack Alcock 3-0 Joel Shields 11-6, 11-3, 11-2 (22m)
Jamie Henderson 3-1 Chris Leiper 11-3, 11-2, 7-11, 11-8 (34m)
Alex Hodgetts 3-0 Richard Johnson 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (23m)
Luke Bishop 3-2 Tom Bamford 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-2 (36m)
Pictures by Steve Cubbins (SquashSite)