The 2024 edition of the British Open got under way today in Birmingham with 32 Round One matches at the Rep Theatre and Edgbaston Priory. Matches on the glass court included all four wildcards – they were all beaten – and home interest in seven of the eight matches, while at Edgbaston Priory three traditional courts hosted 18 matches as players look to book their spots in Round Two.
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Glass Court @ The Rep
Katie Malliff (Eng) 3-0 Emily Whitlock (Wal) 11-2, 11-4, rtd (23m)
Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 3-2 [wc] Jonah Bryant (Eng) 10-12, 13-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-2 (59m)
Aifa Azman (Mas) 3-1 [wc] Torrie Malik (Eng) 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6 (41m)
Andrew Douglas (Usa) 3-1 Leandro Romiglio (Arg) 6-11, 11-5, 14-12, 13-11 (55m)
Hollie Naughton (Can) 3-1 [wc] Asia Harris (Eng) 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4 (38m)
George Parker (Eng) 3-2 Nicolas Mueller (Sui) 8-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7 (65m)
Jasmine Hutton (Eng) 3-0 Marie Stephan (Fra) 11-6, 11-8, 11-3 (26m)
Leonel Cardenas (Mex) 3-2 [wc] Simon Herbert (Eng) 8-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6 (69m)
Edgbaston Priory
Fayrouz Aboelkheir (Egy) 3-1 Aira Azman (Mas) 11-8, 8-11, 13-11, 11-5 (68m)
Hana Ramadan (Egy) 3-0 Enora Villard (Fra) 11-3, 11-4, 11-3 (21m)
Rachel Arnold (Mas) 3-2 Tong Tsz-Wing (Hkg) 11-7, 4-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7 (43m)
Balazs Farkas (Hun) 3-0 Fares Dessouky (Egy) 11-6, 11-7 rtd (29m)
Gregoire Marche (Fra) 3-1 Todd Harrity (Usa) 4-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-2 (43m)
Henry Leung (Hkg) 3-1 Iker Pajares (Esp) 8-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-3 (50m)
Hana Moataz (Egy) 3-0 Alicia Mead (Eng) 14-12, 11-6, 11-8 (30m)
Nour Aboulmakarim (Egy) 3-2 Nadine Shahin (Egy) 6-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-5 (44m)
Zeina Mickawy (Egy) 3-2 Salma Eltayeb (Egy) 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 9-11, 11-8 (46m)
Dimitri Steinmann (Sui) 3-2 Curtis Malik (Eng) 10-12, 11-9, 12-10, 6-11, 11-4 (79m)
Auguste Dussourd (Fra) 3-2 Rory Stewart (Sco) 3-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 (71m)
Juan Camilo Vargas (Col) 3-0 Nathan Lake (Eng) 11-9, 11-6, 11-4 (32m)
Tesni Murphy (Wal) 3-0 Nicole Bunyan (Can) 11-1, 11-4, 11-6 (25m)
Malak Khafagy (Egy) 3-2 Melissa Alves (Fra) 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9 (59m)
Lucy Turmel (Eng) 3-0 Haya Ali (Egy) 11-3, 11-1, 8-11, 11-0 (26m)
Greg Lobban (Sco) 3-0 Ramit Tandon (Ind) 11-6, 11-8, 11-3 (30m)
Mohamed Abouelghar (Egy) 3-2 Yahya Elbawasany (Egy) 11-6, 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-9 (54m)
Omar Mosaad (Egy) 3-2 Shahjahan Khan (Usa) 7-11, 11-9, 13-15, 11-8, 11-7 (82m)
Grace Gear (Eng) 3-0 Mariam MetWally (Egy) 11-2, 11-2, 11-7 (23m)
Tomato Ho (Hkg) 3-0 Lee Ka Yi (Hkg) 12-10, 11-3, 11-8 (32m)
Georgia Adderley (Sco) 3-2 Kenzy Ayman (Egy) 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6 (51m)
Karim El Hammamy (Egy) 3-1 Nick Wall (Eng) 4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 (47m)
Timothy Brownell (Usa) 3-0 Cesar Salazar (Mex) 12-10, 11-6, 18-16 (48m)
Alex Tsz Kwan Lau (Hkg) 3-2 Sebastien Bonmalais (Fra) 16-14, 14-16, 12-10, 8-11, 11-4 (78m)
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Evening Roundup : Parker claims big win against Mueller
England’s World No.39 George Parker moved through to the second round of the prestigious British Open after upsetting Switzerland’s World No.23 Nicolas Mueller in a five-game thriller as first round action at Birmingham’s Rep Theatre drew to a close.
Spectators were treated to both players going all-out attack which resulted in an entertaining battle, with Parker eventually prevailing 8-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7 after 65 minutes, sparking wild celebrations from the Leicester-born 28-year-old.
“I was pumped up by these boys here in the front row,” Parker said.
“All the boys and my old man came to watch me. To play in front of good people who have come to watch me from Leicester since I was a kid brought an extra 20 per cent out. I don’t really do it for me, I do it for the boys.
“He has got such a good pair of lungs on him, he keeps digging in all the way and I always felt on edge. I felt he could hit a quick winner, he’s so gutsy and he has the ability. He’s a nice player, there was no contact and it was just enjoyable.”
Parker will now play World No.2 and two-time British Open champion Paul Coll in the last 32.
Meanwhile, Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas earned his place in the second round of this tournament for the second time in his career after he came back from 2-1 down to beat wildcard Simon Herbert in the final match of the day.
The first game was hit with a lengthy delay after Cardenas caught the back of Herbert’s calf when running through to the front of the court. Herbert shook off the injury and caused Cardenas all sorts of problems with his accuracy to the front.
Cardenas regrouped though to draw level in the fourth as errors began to creep into Herbert’s game and he recovered from a slow start in the decider to close the win out in five. His reward is a last 32 encounter with England’s Marwan ElShorbagy.
“He’s an incredible player and he made things tough for me,” said Cardenas afterwards.
“He has a lot of talent and he’s an up and coming player. He put me under a lot of pressure and I’m happy to fight and get the win, but all credit to him.
“The injury was unfortunate for him and I hope he recovers well.”
A trio of Englishwomen booked their places in the second round during the evening session, with wins for Jasmine Hutton, Lucy Turmel and Grace Gear over Marie Stephan, Haya Ali and Mariam Metwally, respectively.
Hutton won the biggest title of her career on Thursday with victory at the Kinetic Women’s 30K event in Florida and she will look to continue her good form when she takes on Belgian No.7 seed Tinne Gilis in the next round.
“I’m pretty pleased with how my week has been going so far,” Hutton said.
“I felt a bit sluggish today, as expected, but I wanted to carry on the form I’m in. Miles [Jenkins, Hutton’s coach] told me to play like how I would want to play in the next round if that was where I was trying to get to. I wanted to fire myself up, get a bit of rhythm, and I think that worked quite well.
“I got back in from Florida on Friday midday, and you’re almost on a bit of a come down from all of the adrenaline. It’s a big occasion being in a final and winning a big title, so I had to fire myself up again. It’s the last event of the season and I think everyone is feeling quite fatigued mentally.”
Gear has claimed her first ever win at the British Open after beating Metwally 11-2, 11-2, 11-7 over at Edgbaston Priory Club, with the Egyptian player struggling with injury throughout.
Canada’s Hollie Naughton also ensured she will compete in the last 32 after she dispatched England’s Asia Harris 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4 to set up a meeting with No.4 seed Nele Gilis.
“I didn’t think I was hitting my targets very well at all, I was a bit too loose and I was a bit slow and sluggish,” Naughton said.
“I hope this is just the cobwebs coming off and you have to hope that every round gets better. Sometimes it’s good to come through a tricky one, it can help you mentally a little bit and that’s what I’m hoping for anyway.”
Afternoon Glass Court Roundup : Ibrahim fightback denies Bryant
Egypt’s World No.14 Youssef Ibrahim battled through the pain barrier to record a 3-2 victory over 18-year-old English wildcard Jonah Bryant as the 2024 British Open got under way in the spectacular setting of The Rep Theatre in Birmingham.
Ibrahim – who missed seven months of action between June 2022 and January 2023 due to a knee injury – has been struggling with injury problems in recent events and his movement wasn’t at its best today.
Bryant, the reigning European Junior Champion, trains in Solihull less than 20 miles away from The Rep and he was cheered on by his home fans as he took the opening game, playing consistent squash and attacking with aplomb into the front left corner in particular.
A big push from Ibrahim saw him fight back to take a 2-1 lead but World No.69 Bryant wasn’t to be dispatched that easily, drawing level to send the match into a decider. A quick fire start from the Egyptian saw him pull away though to record a 10-12, 13-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-2 victory as he booked his spot in the last 32.
“I came here expecting a tough match,” said Ibrahim, who will play France’s Gregoire Marche next.
“Jonah is one of the brightest talents in English squash and he has a good future ahead of him. It was going to be no different playing him compared to any other top 30 players and he’s one to watch for the future. I was a little bit worried about my movement and the glass court, but I think in the end I started to move a bit better.
“I expected nothing less than a tough match and I’m happy to get the win in the end.
“I’ve spent so many hours with the physio and I’m trying to get my body as fit as possible to play this event. I wanted to push one last time and I didn’t want to pull out of this tournament. Hopefully I have a long time to recover and get prepared for the rest of the season.
“Credit to Jonah, he moved me around a lot and I hope he enjoys the PSA. I don’t want him to have too much pressure on him, he’s a bright talent and should enjoy it. He’s going to reach the highest level of the game and I wish him all the best.”
He will be joined in the next round by USA’s Andrew Douglas, who marked his British Open debut with a 3-1 upset win against Argentina’s World No.31 Leandro Romiglio in bizarre circumstances.
Douglas broke two rackets during January’s Tournament of Champions match with World Champion Diego Elias, and he went one better today, putting three to the sword, leaving him without a back up.
He was offered one of Romiglio’s by the Argentinian but was eventually handed a brand new Dunlop racket. After the plastic covering was eventually disposed of, he returned to court and had closed the match out within two rallies.
“I got into the tournament at the last minute and I was debating whether I was going to come or not, it’s a long flight, it’s expensive, so I only brought three rackets because I didn’t want to check a bag and wanted to save money,” Douglas explained.
“I couldn’t get four in my racket bag, so I brought three and saved £30. I might play with it [his Dunlop racket] tomorrow, it worked pretty well in the last few points. I’ll pay whatever fee it is, less than £30, hopefully!”
There was a home winner in the women’s event this afternoon as England’s World No.42 Katie Malliff defeated Wales’ Emily Whitlock.
Malliff dominated the first two games and Whitlock shook hands after the second as she retired from the match, handing Malliff a place in the last 32 where she will play newly crowned World Champion Nouran Gohar.
Explaining what happened, Malliff said:
“She just said that she felt the court was slippy. I felt okay, maybe it was her shoes.
“It’s good to play here, I was at Edgbaston Priory Club last year and thought I’d quite like to play on this court in front of this crowd, it’s really cool.
“The bigger the crowd, the more inspiration you have to win. It’s quite warm on here as well, so I feel like I’ve worked up quite a sweat.
“I was trying to be disciplined and give away no errors. I had to try and be patient as well.
“Gohar will be the highest ranked player I’ve ever played, so it will be a great opportunity and let’s see what I can do.”
Malliff’s fellow Englishwoman – wildcard Torrie Malik – saw her tournament come to an end at the hands of Malaysia’s World No.37 Aifa Azman, who scored an 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6 victory.
There was a chance Azman could have played younger sister Aira in the next round, but a win for World No.16 Fayrouz Aboelkheir over at Edgbaston Priory Club – which will host 24 of today’s matches – put paid to those prospects.
“I didn’t play the British Open last year and just got to see all my friends play on the glass court,” said Azman.
“I thought I did well in the first game, but in the second I lost my confidence. Whenever she lifted the ball up I couldn’t see because the lights were so bright. I tried to focus and keep winning points.
“I lost to her Aira at the Australian Open, so I was really looking forward to playing her in the next round. Hard luck to her, I think she played well [against Aboelkheir], but maybe next time.
“I always love coming to Birmingham. My coach, Andrew Cross, is from England and I think he’s watching my match now. I played all the junior tournaments here and won all of them apart from the under 19s, so I’m very happy to be back here.”
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