England’s Jonah Bryant came close to a seismic upset in the British Open to once again serve notice of his future potential in the sport. The 19-year-old was two points away from dethroning Mostafa Asal in a high quality second round match in Birmingham before the world No.1 raised his game to inch through in five, 10-12, 11-6, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5.
What a match Bryant played. The Englishman, playing his first full season on the PSA Tour, will head into the summer with some confidence after outplaying Asal for a majority of the match, with world-class exchanges down the left wall and pinpoint touches to the front.
This hardly looked like an apprentice against newly-crowned world champion as Bryant, who showed promised against Ali Farag in an April encounter, took an attacking, largely error-free game to Asal, including a third game which left the Birmingham Rep crowd on the verge of witnessing an almighty upset.
The quality simply upended Asal as Bryant held three leads in the fourth, including at 4-2 and 9-8 before Asal somehow navigated the threat to sail away with the fifth and breathe a heavy sigh of relief after this 75-minute tussle.
🗣️ “That’s a great shot!”
The crowd are getting behind the Englishman đź‘Ź
Watch the evening session 👉 https://t.co/GmXV30A1jC pic.twitter.com/awJs7mV2Sb
— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) June 1, 2025
Asal said: “Full credit to Jonah, what an amazing player! He’s coming up the rankings so quickly and reminds me of myself when I was young.
“It’s amazing to be honest, the future for sure is bright for him. He almost got me today. I managed to sneak it out, I think I was a bit lucky.”
There was consolation for the home fans, though, as six English and two Welsh players booked their places in the next round.
It included 35-year-old local hero Sarah-Jane Perry, who is aiming to end her professional career with a fairytale win after announcing that she will retire after the event.
Results: Women’s RD1 (Bottom Half)
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt Aifa Azman (MAS) 3-2: 12-10, 13-11, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7 (51m)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt Alicia Mead (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-7 (30m)
Malak Khafagy (EGY) bt Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-2: 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 1-11, 12-10 (54m)
Hana Moataz (EGY) bt. Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 3-2: 13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9 (61m)
Tesni Murphy (WAL) bt Grace Gear (ENG) 3-1: 10-12, 11-3, 11-9, 11-7 (45m)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt Ainaa Amani (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (26m)
Haya Ali (EGY) bt Salma Eltayeb (EGY) 3-1: 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 (33m)
Results: Men’s RD1 (Bottom Half)
Abhay Singh (IND) bt Timothy Brownell (USA) 3-1: 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-4 (50m)
Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) bt Declan James (ENG) 3-1: 9-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-9 (55m)
Alex Lau (HKG) bt Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) 3-1: 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (43m)
George Parker (ENG) bt Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-2 (25m)
Iker Pajares (ESP) bt Nick Wall (ENG) 3-2: 5-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7 (63m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-2: 11-5, 5-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-6 (61m)
Curtis Malik (ENG) bt Noor Zaman (PAK) 3-1: 11-8, 8-11, 11-2, 11-2 (45m)
Juan Vargas (COL) bt Henry Leung (HKG) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-3 (40m)
Results: Women’s RD2 (4 of 16)
[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [9/16] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 13-11 (50m)
Saran Nghiem (ENG) bt. Nicole Bunyan (CAN)3-0: 11-9, 11-2, 14-12 (38m)
[5] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7 (41m)
[4] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Georgia Adderley (SCO) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 12-10 (47m)
Results: Men’s RD2 (4 of 16)
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Jonah Bryant (ENG) 3-2: 10-12, 11-6, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5 (75m)
Alex Lau (HKG) bt Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) 3-1: 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (43m)
[9/16] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt [8] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 3-0: 13-11, 11-5, 11-7 (58m)
[4] Joel Makin (WAL) bt Simon Herbert (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 (35m)