World No.41 Katie Malliff scored the biggest upset on the opening day of the Paris Squash 2023 after beating French No.1 Melissa Alves 3-1 at the Parvis du Palais de Tokyo.
The Englishwoman, who defeated World No.21 Alves at the Squash on Fire Open earlier this year in the pair’s first-ever meeting, won the first two games in the tiebreak 13-11 and 12-10.
With her home crowd behind her, Alves pulled one game back when she took the third 11-9 and, after a lengthy injury break in the fourth after Malliff accidentally caught Alves in the face with her swing, Malliff came out victorious to defeat Alves 11-7.
“It was a tough match. I knew it was going to be a hard one as Melissa [Alves] is very physical and you usually have long rallies. I tried to stick in there, be patient and wait for my opportunities to attack,” Malliff said.
“I usually go in with a lot of belief that you can beat anyone you’re on court with. I just try to focus on my game and keep it as simple as possible.”
Maliff was joined in the next round by Jasmine Hutton, the British national championm who beat Nour Aboulmakarim.
In the men’s draw, Fance’s Auguste Dussourd held off Henry Leung to win 3-2 and progress to the second round.
Men’s First Round Results: Paris Squash 2023
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Todd Harrity (USA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-5 (42m)
Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Charlie Lee (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (42m)
Timothy Brownell (USA) bt Patrick Rooney (ENG) 3-1: 11-4, 7-11, 11-7, 11-1 (49m)
Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-2: 13-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8 (70m)
Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Raphael Kandra (GER) 3-2: 7-11, 4-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9 (64m)
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt Antonin Romieu (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 12-10 (33m)
Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 3-2 : 9-11, 11-9, 13-11, 7-11, 11-7 (78m)
Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-4, 11-2 (31m)
Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bt Henry Leung (HKG) 3-2: 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7 (67m)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-1: 8-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-5 (63m)
Karim El Hammamy (EGY) bt Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 3-1: 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (56m)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt Rory Stewart (SCO) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (50m)
George Parker (ENG) bt Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-0: 13-11, 11-6, 11-8 (73m)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) 3-1: 10-12, 11-9, 11-8, 14-12 (60m)
Nick Wall (ENG) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 3-1: 2-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 (41m)
Shahjahan Khan (USA) bt Balazs Farkas (HUN) 3-1: 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 (54m)
Women’s First Round Results: Paris Squash 2023
Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) bt Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-2 (41m)
Nada Abbas (EGY) bt Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-2: 2-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8 (52m)
Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt Georgia Adderley (SCO) 3-0: 11-3, 12-10, 11-8 (37m)
Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Alexandra Fuller (RSA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (37m)
Nadine Shahin (EGY) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 3-2: 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 6-11, 11-7 (45m)
Hollie Naughton (CAN) bt Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-1: 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10 (40m)
Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-0: 11-6, 13-11, 11-6 (31m)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Hana Moataz (EGY) 3-1: 11-3, 6-11, 11-7, 11-3 (33m)
Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (33m)
Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt [WC] Ella Galova (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 (22m)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-9 (30m)
Katie Malliff (ENG) bt Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-1: 13-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7 (64m)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Salma Eltayeb (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-6, 11-8 (26m)
Aifa Azman (MAS) bt Enora Villard (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (26m)
Tomato Ho (HKG) bt [WC] Ana Munos (FRA) 3-2: 9-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (47m)
Ka Yi Lee (HKG) bt Mariam Metwally (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-2 (20m)