Willstrop and Perry ease through on day one of England National Championships
By ANDY PILLING – Squash Mad Correspondent
National hampions Jams Willstrop and Sara-Jane Perry eased through their opening pool matches on day one of the AJ Bell England Squash Championships at the National Squash Centre in Manchester.
Perry overcame Lucy Beecroft in straight games, but it was Julianne Courtice who finished the day top of Pool A with a 3-0 victory over Anna Kimberley.
In the other pool matches, Jasmine Hutton overcame Kace Bartley in straight games to go top of Pool B, while Millie Tomlinson battled to a 3-1 win over Alicia Mead to stay hot on her heels.
In the men’s event, former world No.1 Willstrop took control of Pool A with a straight-games win over Josh Masters.
George Parker and Declan James both won as per the seedings to go top of their groups.
In Pool C, Charlie Lee produced the biggest upset of the day, beating seed Tom Richards across four games.
Unfortunately, Richards withdrew this morning from the tournament due to injury.
Richie Fallows has been awarded a walkover victory against him in the match that was due to take place at 19:45 this evening. This leaves Charlie Lee and Fallows to battle it out in the last game of the group today for top spot.
Fallows and Richards were due to play on the glass court. Declan James will meet Miles Jenkins on the glass instead.
AJ Bell England Squash Championship 2021, National Squash Centre, Manchester, England (February 9-12).
Day One First Pool Round:
Men’s Pool A
[1] James Willstrop (Yorks) bt Joshua Masters (Kent) 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (23m)
Pool B
[4] George Parker (Leics) bt Tom Walsh (Sussex) 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7 (49m)
Pool C
Charlie Lee (Surrey) bt [3] Tom Richards (Surrey) 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 (52m)
Pool D
[2] Declan James (Notts) bt Joe Lee (Surrey) 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 (40m)
1st pool round:
Women’s Pool A
[1] Sarah-Jane Perry (Warwicks) bt Lucy Beecroft (Northumbria) 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (26m)
[3] Julianne Courtice (Glos) bt Anna Kimberley (Essex) 11-3, 11-3, 11-2 (23m)
Women’s Pool B
[4] Jasmine Hutton (Sussex) bt Kace Bartley (Surrey) 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (23m)
[2] Millie Tomlinson (Derbyshire) bt Alicia Mead (Warwicks) 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 (40m)Â
Pictures courtesy of England Squash