World champion Ali Farag plays his first match since Chicago on Wednesday, with Iker Pajares Bernabeu hoping for another upset at the Manchester Open 2023.
Bernabeu faced France’s Gregoire Marche in one of the final clashes of the day and after losing the first game in no time at all, managed to recover and find his fighting spirit to dig deep and start to get in front of his opponent and dictate play.
Bernabeu ran through to 10-8 in the fourth game and converted at the first time of asking to take the match 3-1 to set up a second-round clash with Farag.
USA’s Todd Harrity scored the other upset on day one, while wildcard Finnlay Withington took the first game off Egypt’s Omar Mosaad before falling 3-1.
The crowd goes wild for the wildcard Finn 👏
With the home crowd behind him, Finnlay Withington is BACK in the contest 🔥#MCROpenSquash pic.twitter.com/tIHziFQVtI
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) May 17, 2023
Harrity needed just 28 minutes to defeat India’s Ramit Tandon to book a place in the next round. Harrity moved the ball with great precision into all four corners and tested the movement of Tandon early in the match. Tandon looked to be carrying a slight injury which prohibited his movements to the front corners enabling Harrity to win in straight games.
There were no upsets in the women’s draw with the closest matches being won by Egyptian duo Farida Mohamed and Nada Abbas who both came through in four games against English pair Lucy Turmel and Katie Malliff. Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam also needed four games to defeat South Africa’s Alexandra Fuller.
Men’s First Round Results: Manchester Open 2023
Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-1: 3-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-8 (59m)
Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt George Parker (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3 (46m)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [WC] Finnlay Withington (ENG) 3-1: 11-4, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7 (44m)
Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-1: 11-1, 11-5, 5-11, 11-3 (44m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 3-1: 8-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (52m)
Todd Harrity (USA) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (28m)
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 (40m)
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-2: 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-7 (69m)
Women’s First Round Results: Manchester Open 2023
Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt Emilia Soini (FIN) 3-0: 11-2, 11-2, 11-2 (17m)
Yathreb Adel (EGY) bt [WC] Saran Nghiem (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 (25m)
Nada Abbas (EGY) bt Katie Malliff (ENG) 3-1: 11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10 (57m)
Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Hana Moataz (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-9 (30m)
Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-1: 11-8, 12-14, 14-12, 11-9 (58m)
Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt Alexandra Fuller (RSA) 3-1: 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6 (40m)
Nadine Shahin (EGY) bt Enora Villard (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 14-12, 11-2 (25m)
Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt Cindy Merlo (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 (29m)
Men’s Second Round Draw: (To be played 18 March)
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)Patrick Rooney (ENG) v [5] Youssef Soliman (EGY)
[6] Fares Dessouky (EGY) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) v [4] Joel Makin (WAL)
[3] Victor Crouin (FRA) v Saurav Ghosal (IND)Todd Harrity (USA) v [8] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
[7] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v Greg Lobban (SCO)Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v [2] Tarek Momen (EGY)
Women’s Second Round Draw: (To be played 18 March)
[1] Joelle King (NZL) v Jasmine Hutton (ENG)Yathreb Adel (EGY) v [7] Nele Gilis (BEL)
[8] Tesni Evans (WAL) v Nada Abbas (EGY)Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v [4] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v Farida Mohamed (EGY)Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v [5] Rowan Elaraby (EGY)
[6] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v Nadine Shahin (EGY)Emily Whitlock (ENG) v [2] Amanda Sobhy (USA)