Expect fireworks when George Parker meets Mostafa Asal in second round
By ELLIE MAWSON – Squash Mad Correspondent
Wildcard Nick Wall caused the upset of the day after taking out former World No.9 Daryl Selby as the Allam British Open, PSA World Tour Platinum event got under way today at the Allam Sports Centre in Hull.
England’s World No.146 Wall, who was featuring for the first time in the main draw of squash’s most historic tournament, showed his skill on the big stage as he came from a game down against the experienced Selby to win 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 in 61 minutes.
He will face the challenge of Egypt’s World No.5 Marwan ElShorbagy in the second round. Wall revealed: “It’s just an amazing experience to be here, to be given the opportunity and to play a legend like Daryl. He is someone I have always looked up to.
“We [with coach, Nick Matthew] spoke a lot before the tournament. It has been a tricky few months for me and the preparation has not been ideal. I have done what I can, and that is what he asked of me. Luckily, I have been able to get myself fit enough to get here, which was the first thing I wanted to do. Then, to win against Daryl, that is just great.
“[It is a] great opportunity to play someone like Marwan [ElShorbagy], one of my favourite players, and I am sure I will learn a lot from that match.”
Wall will be joined in the second round by compatriot George Parker, who overcame wildcard Sam Todd in straight-games to claim his first win at the British Open.
Todd showed his class in a confident start to lead 7-5, but the superior experience of Parker saw the older Englishman play the key rallies better and he came back to take the opener.
The second game soon followed, but Todd refused to be overawed by the occasion and he continued fighting in the third to force his opponent to a tie-break. But he was unable to extend the match to a fourth game as Parker completed an 11-7, 11-7, 13-11 triumph in 43 minutes.
“He’s got nothing to lose and he makes you very edgy,” said Parker. “You don’t want to put the ball in spots around the middle, and if you overhit at the back he is dangerous. On a court like this, he can reel off two or three points really quickly, so that made me really edgy to start with.
“I tried to keep the ball straight and deep as much as I could, pin him in the back and hope for an error. He is a dangerous player, he’s going to be very good.”
Next up for Parker is a second-round clash with CIB PSA World Tour Finals winner Mostafa Asal, which promises plenty of fireworks.
“It will pretty much be similar, but on a better level to Sam,” Parker said of his next opponent.
“Anywhere around the middle he is going to stand on it and hit a perfect length. You’ve got to be wary where you put the ball with players like that, but when you’re scrambling sometimes you can’t help but put it there, and that’s why he is dangerous.
“I’ve played a lot of games, I played two in Manchester and now this one in England, so I’m sharp. I’ve got a four-week break after this, so I have nothing to lose going forward. It’s sort of my final tomorrow, like it was Sam’s final today, so I’ll give it everything and see what happens.”
The longest match of the day went to France’s Lucas Serme and Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann, who battled it out for 100 minutes on the side courts at the Allam Sport Centre at the University of Hull.
It was the Frenchman who was able to get over the line and booked his place in the second round, where he will come up against compatriot Baptiste Masotti following his assured 3-1 victory over England’s Joshua Masters on the glass court.
All-Welsh cracker coming up between Evans and Whitlock as Kennedy loses a thriller
In the women’s draw, it was almost joy for another wildcard as Georgina Kennedy fought back from two games down against Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam in the first match of the day on the glass court.
It couldn’t have been any tighter between the two former US College players with three of the games going to tie-breaks. However, it was the Malaysian that had enough in the tank to take the win in five and book her place in the next round where she will face USA’s Amanda Sobhy, who she memory beat the last time the two played at the 2019-20 PSA World Championships.
“She is better than what she is ranked but I am just relieved to get through the first round,” said Subramaniam.
“I knew it would be a tough match, Gina is a tough player. I knew I had to push hard and take the lead because she is really fast, so definitely I will have to recover well because this was a long match and I hope to come back fresh tomorrow.”
Fellow wildcard Katie Malliff also put up a tough fight, but it was not enough to prevent USA’s Haley Mendez – who was celebrating her 28th birthday – from getting the win as she held off a comeback from the brave English teenager.
It turned out to be a good day for British trio Lucy Turmel, Jasmine Hutton and Emily Whitlock will also bolster the home hopes in the second round as they claimed respective wins over Switzerland’s Cindy Merlo, France’s Enora Villard and Finland’s Emilia Soini.
Welshwoman Whitlock continued her strong form that saw her reach the semi-finals of the Manchester Open last week as she downed Soini 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 to set up a mouthwatering battle with compatriot Tesni Evans in the next round.
“It’s been difficult with the long day yesterday in my room and the really late practice,” said Whitlock.
“I felt OK this morning, but I wish I played an hour earlier. I don’t feel too bad, it’s fine but it’s just starting again on a new court at a new tournament, and it’s actually really dead. She’s firing in these boasts, and I’m having to run a lot, but it’s all good, there are worse problems in the world.
“It’s not on the glass court [against Evans], but it should be a good game either way, so I’m looking forward to it.
“I feel like we play a similar game, but who knows. It’s a new court, a new match, a new day, so it’s anyone’s. The strength and depth of the tour is so strong and it’s a new day tomorrow, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Round two of the British Open takes place tomorrow (August 17) and play starts at 12 noon. Action from the Allam Sport Centre will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour (excluding Europe & Japan).
2021 Allam British Open, Allam Sports Centre, Hull, England.
Men’s First Round:
Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt Shahjahan Khan (USA) 3-2: 11-8, 11-7, 4-11, 10-12, 11-6 (66m)
George Parker (ENG) bt [WC] Sam Todd (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 13-11 (43m)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Benjamin Aubert (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (30m)
Todd Harrity (USA) bt Tom Richards (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-3 (32m)
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1: 12-10, 11-6, 8-11, 11-3 (68m)
Victor Crouin (FRA) bt Ben Coleman (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (32m)
[WC] Nick Wall (ENG) bt Daryl Selby (ENG) 3-1: 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 (61m)
Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bt Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-1: 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5 (46m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Rui Soares (POR) 3-1: 9-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 (35m)
Borja Golan (ESP) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 3-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 (61m)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-2: 7-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 (64m)
Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt Richie Fallows (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 (25m)
Alan Clyne (SCO) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-3 (37m)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-1: 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (50m)
Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt Joshua Masters (ENG) 3-1: 11-3, 11-1, 9-11, 11-2 (31m)
Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-2: 8-11, 11-6, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9 (100m)
Men’s Second Round:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Greg Lobban (SCO)
Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
George Parker (ENG) v [8] Mostafa Asal (EGY)
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
Todd Harrity (USA) v Miguel Rodriguez (COL)
Raphael Kandra (GER) v Victor Crouin (FRA)
[WC] Nick Wall (EGY) v [4] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) v Youssef Ibrahim (EGY)
Mazen Hesham (EGY) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) v Borja Golan (ESP)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [7] Diego Elias (PER)
[6] Fares Dessouky (EGY) v Youssef Soliman (EGY)
Alan Clyne (SCO) v Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)
Baptiste Masotti (FRA) v Lucas Serme (FRA)
Joel Makin (WAL) v [2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
Women’s First Round:
Olivia Fiechter (USA) bt Nadia Pfister (SUI) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-2 (20m)
Haley Mendez (USA) bt [WC] Katie Malliff (ENG) 3-1: 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5 (47m)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Cindy Merlo (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 (25m)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-1: 11-3, 11-9, 10-12, 11-4 (36m)
Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt [WC] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 3-2: 15-13, 14-12, 13-15, 9-11, 11-6 (73m)
Milou van der Heijden (NED) bt Marina Stefanoni (USA) 3-0: 11-4, 12-10, 11-5 (27m)
Alexandra Fuller (RSA) bt Cristina Gomez (ESP) 3-1: 10-12, 11-6, 11-8, 11-3 (35m)
Danielle Letourneau (CAN) bt Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-8 (19m)
Melissa Alves (FRA) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (30m)
Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Lily Taylor (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-3 (19m)
Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt Enora Villard (FRA) 3-0: 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 (29m)
Coline Aumard (FRA) bt Tessa ter Sluis (NED) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-5 (24m)
Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt Rachael Chadwick (ENG) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-2 (19m)
Donna Lobban (AUS) bt Anna Serme (CZE) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 (27m)
Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt Emilia Soini (FIN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 (27m)
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-0: 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 (29m)
Women’s Second Round:
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v Olivia Fiechter (USA)
Joshna Chinappa (IND) v Haley Mendez (USA)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) v Rachel Arnold (MAS)
Nadine Shahin (EGY) v [8] Salma Hany (EGY)
[6] Amanda Sobhy (USA) v Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
Olivia Clyne (USA) v Milou van der Heijden (NED)
Rowan Elaraby (EGY) v Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
Danielle Letourneau (CAN) v [3] Camille Serme (FRA)
[4] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v Hollie Naughton (CAN)
Melissa Alves (FRA) v Nele Gilis (BEL)
Sabrina Sobhy (USA) v Tinne Gilis (BEL)
Jasmine Hutton (ENG) v [7] Joelle King (NZL)
[5] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v Coline Aumard (FRA)
Mariam Metwally (EGY) v Donna Lobban (AUS)
Tesni Evans (WAL) v Emily Whitlock (WAL)
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Pictures courtesy of PSA