There was anguish, despair and wild card joy in equal measure on the opening day of the British Open on Sunday.
For home players, the cut and thrust of traditional plaster courts was quite simply laid bare at Edgbaston Priory Club.
The eye-catching match saw James Willstrop, a three-time runner-up stretching back to 2005, up against in-form Frenchman Baptiste Masotti.
Two of those finals went the distance, as did Easter Sunday’s afternoon serving. It was nip and tuck all the way; Willstrop letting out uncharactheretic yelp when denied a stroke late on.
Willstop, 40 in August, couldn’t hold on as Masotti prevailed 9-11, 11-3, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8. As an amateur dramatic, the Birmingham Rep stage would have been a fine setting for the Englishman. As it is, could this be his last British Open?
“You need to play good squash to win against him, even with him being older and older,” said Masotti, who was eager to converse with Willstrop at the end after several hugs.
“I think he is a legend of the game, growing up watching his matches. His squash is so accurate, he sweats squash. He is squash.”
The clean contest was in contrast to the final match of the day when George Parker lost his patience in another five-game opening day tussle. The Briton was handed a conduct stroke in the last game, and after the match ended, as Scotland’s Greg Lobbhan advanced 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 4-11, 11-4.
Sunday proved memorable elsewhere as British Open wild cards Curtis Malik and Katie Maliff pulled off superb wins across the two draws.
Malik beat dangerous Malaysian Eain Yow Ng in straight games 11-7, 11-9, 11-5, while Maliff beat his compatriot Rachel Arnold 11-8, 11-5, 11-7. The English duo now face Kiwi No.1s in Paul Coll, the double defending champion, and Joelle King.
The longest match of the day saw Egypt’s Karim El Hammamy edge compatriot Omar Mosaad 11-13, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6 over 93 minutes.
British Open results:
| Court 1 | |||
| Mariam Metwally (Egy) 3-2 Lee Ka Yi (Hkg) | 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 9-11, 14-12 (50m) | ||
| Iker Pajares (Esp) 3-1 Henry Leung (Hkg) | 11-7, 12-10, 6-11, 11-7 (60m) | ||
| Hollie Naughton (Can) 3-0 Enora Villard (Fra) | 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 (27m) | ||
| Patrick Rooney (Eng) 3-0 Todd Harrity (Usa) | 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 (33m) | ||
| Aifa Azman (Mas) 3-1 Emilia Soini (FIN) | 11-2, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4 (28m) | ||
| Dimitri Steinmann (Sui) 3-0 Lucas Serme (Fra) | 11-6, 11-6, 12-10 (48m) | ||
| Sana Ibrahim (Egy) 3-0 Nadine Shahin (Egy) | 11-3, 11-9, 11-7 (31m) | ||
| Raphael Kandra (Ger) 3-2 [wc] Simon Herbert (Eng) | 10-12, 11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6 (51m) | ||
| Court 2 | |||
| Melissa Alves (Fra) 3-0 Cindy Merlo (Sui) | 11-6, 11-6, 11-2 (20m) | ||
| Tsz Kwan Lau (Hkg) 3-2 Shahjahan Khan (Usa) | 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3 (50m) | ||
| Tomato Ho (Hkg) 3-2 Hana Moataz (Egy) | 6-11, 11-4, 12-14, 11-9, 11-3 (52m) | ||
| Mohamed ElSherbini (Egy) 3-0 Faraz Khan (Usa) | 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (32m) | ||
| Jasmine Hutton (Eng) 3-1 Fayrouz Aboelkheir (Egy) | 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 11-8 (40m) | ||
| Leonel Cardenas (Mex) 3-1 Balazs Farkas (Hun) | 11-7, 11-4, 4-11, 11-6 (49m) | ||
| Emily Whitlock (Wal) 3-1 Joshna Chinappa (Ind) | 13-11, 6-11, 13-11, 11-8 (51m) | ||
| [wc] Curtis Malik (Eng) 3-0 Eain Yow Ng (Mas) | 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 (39m) | ||
| Court 3 | |||
| Sivasangari Subramaniam (Mas) 3-0 Chan Sin Yuk (Hkg) | 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (22m) | ||
| Timothy Brownell (Usa) 3-1 Sebastien Bonmalais (Fra) | 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2 (53m) | ||
| Yathreb Adel (Egy) 3-1 Lucy Beecroft (Eng) | 5-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 (40m) | ||
| Karim El Hammamy (Egy) 3-2 Omar Mosaad (Egy) | 11-13, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6 (93m) | ||
| [wc] Katie Malliff (Eng) 3-0 Rachel Arnold (Mas) | 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (29m) | ||
| Nick Wall (Eng) 3-2 Auguste Dussourd (Fra) | 6-11, 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6 (62m) | ||
| Satomi Watanabe (Jpn) 3-1 [wc] Torrie Malik (Eng) | 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 12-10 (41m) | ||
| Nathan Lake (Eng) 3-1 Aly Abou Eleinen (Egy) | 6-11, 11-4, 11-0, 11-0 (29m) | ||
| Court 4 | |||
| Nada Abbas (Egy) 3-1 Tong Tsz-Wing (Hkg) | 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 15-13 (49m) | ||
| Cesar Salazar (Mex) 3-0 12.45 Ramit Tandon (Ind) | 11-5, 7-0 rtd (10m) | ||
| Lucy Turmel (Eng) 3-0 Nour Aboulmakarim (Egy) | 12-10, 11-5, 11-7 (31m) | ||
| Baptiste Masotti (Fra) 3-2 James Willstrop (Eng) | 9-11, 11-3, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8 (54m) | ||
| Alexandra Fuller (Rsa) 3-2 Nicole Bunyan (Can) | 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 10-12, 11-9 (53m) | ||
| Adrian Waller (Eng) 3-2 Yahya Elnawasany (Egy) | 15-17, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5 (61m) | ||
| Hana Ramadan (Egy) 3-0 Zeina Mickawy (Egy) | 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (24m) | ||
| Greg Lobban (Sco) 3-2 George Parker (Eng) | 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 4-11, 11-4 (74m) | ||
| MON 10th APR, Day TWO, Round TWO | |||
| Court 1 | |||
| 12.00 [9/16] Nele Gilis (Bel) v Mariam Metwally (Egy) | |||
| 12.45 [6] Tarek Momen (Egy) v Cesar Salazar (Mex) | |||
| 13.45 [9/16] Olivia Fiechter (Usa) v Hollie Naughton (Can) | |||
| 14.30 Patrick Rooney (Eng) v Iker Pajares (Esp) | |||
| 16.30 [5] Amanda Sobhy (Usa) v [9/16] Olivia Clyne (Usa) | |||
| 17.15 [5] Marwan ElShorbagy (Egy) v Dimitri Steinmann (Sui) | |||
| 18.15 [9/16] Sabrina Sobhy (Usa) v Sana Ibrahim (Egy) | |||
| 19.00 [8] Victor Crouin (Fra) v Raphael Kandra (Ger) | |||
| Court 2 | |||
| 12.00 [1] Nouran Gohar (Egy) v Melissa Alves (Fra) | |||
| 12.45 Tsz Kwan Lau (Hkg) v Mohamed ElSherbini (Egy) | |||
| 13.45 Jasmine Hutton (Eng) v Tomato Ho (Hkg) | |||
| 14.30 [4] Mohamed ElShorbagy (Eng) v Leonel Cardenas (Mex) | |||
| 16.30 [9/16] Farida Mohamed (Egy) v Emily Whitlock (Wal) | |||
| 17.15 [3] Paul Coll (Nzl) v [wc] Curtis Malik (Eng) | |||
| 18.15 [9/16] Tinne Gilis (Bel) v [9/16] Tesni Evans (Wal) | |||
| 19.00 [9/16] Nicolas Mueller (Sui) v [9/16] Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) | |||
| Court 3 | |||
| 12.00 [6] Rowan Elaraby (Egy) v Yathreb Adel (Egy) | |||
| 12.45 [7] Mazen Hesham (Egy) v Timothy Brownell (Usa) | |||
| 13.45 [4] Joelle King (Nzl) v [wc] Katie Malliff (Eng) | |||
| 14.30 [2] Ali Farag (Egy) v Karim El Hammamy (Egy) | |||
| 16.30 [7] Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng) v Sivasangari Subramaniam (Mas) | |||
| 17.15 [9/16] Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) v [9/16] Miguel Rodriguez (Col) | |||
| 18.15 [2] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) v Satomi Watanabe (Jpn) | |||
| 19.00 Nathan Lake (Eng) v Nick Wall (Eng) | |||
| Court 4 | |||
| 12.00 Nada Abbas (Egy) v Lucy Turmel (Eng) | |||
| 12.45 [9/16] Gregoire Marche (Fra) v Baptiste Masotti (Fra) | |||
| 13.45 [9/16] Salma Hany (Egy) v Aifa Azman (Mas) | |||
| 14.30 [9/16] Saurav Ghosal (Ind) v Adrian Waller (Eng) | |||
| 16.30 [3] Hania El Hammamy (Egy) v Alexandra Fuiller (Rsa) | |||
| 17.15 [9/16] Youssef Soliman (Egy) v Greg Lobban (Sco) | |||
| 18.15 [8] Georgina Kennedy (Eng) v Hana Ramadan (Egy) | |||
| 19.00 [1] Diego Elias (Per) v [9/16] Joel Makin (Wal) |