Day ONE : Round One begins with eight home wins

The 2025 Gillen Markets British Open main draws got under way at Solihull Arden with seventeen Round One matches from the top half of the draws.

There was plenty of home interest, and plenty of home winners too as eight of the second round spots were claimed by Brits.

Check out the reports and reaction below today’s results …

Afternoon Roundup : Bunyan shrugs off ‘Lucky Loser’ tag

Canada’s Nicole Bunyan took full advantage of her “lucky loser” designation with a comprehensive win on day one of the GillenMarkets British Open.

Two days ago, the World No.52 thought her British Open campaign had ended before it had begun after a shock defeat to World No.100 Alison Thomson in the qualifying event.

Bunyan, however, was handed a lifeline by the injury withdrawal of New Zealand’s former World No.4 Joelle King on the eve of the main draw, with the Canadian allocated a “lucky loser” spot in today’s first round.

Up against Egypt’s World No.43 Menna Hamed, Bunyan made the most of her reprieve, looking relaxed on court as she recorded an 11-9, 11-6, 10-12, 11-1 win to book her spot in the second round.

The Canadian will face English World No.56 Saran Nghiem in the second round after the 21-year-old wildcard made short work of World No.33 Ka Yi Lee of Hong Kong, China.

Bunyan and Nghiem were far from the only players to record big wins in the opening session, with Egypt’s Kenzy Ayman, England’s Simon Herbert and India’s Anahat Singh all beating higher ranked opponents in the day’s opening session.

In the first match of the day, World No.38 Ayman set the tone for the session by upsetting the odds to take out Malaysian World No.19 Rachel Arnold 11-6, 14-12, 11-5 thanks to an attacking masterclass.

Afterwards, Ayman revealed it was close friend and World No.15 Fayrouz Aboelkheir who had helped inspire her on court, adding that as soon as she’d won the match Aboelkheir had been the first person to call and congratulate her.

In another top quality performance, local hero and World No.58 Herbert set up a tantalising clash with British No.1 and tournament No.4 seed Joel Makin after a 3-0 win against France’s World No.25 Auguste Dussourd.

Herbert, who trains every day in Birmingham, looked to test the Frenchman’s movement at every opportunity throughout the 34-minute encounter, revealing afterwards that it was a deliberate tactic to capitalise on the World No.25’s recent struggles.

Singh, meanwhile, who grabbed headlines in Birmingham by playing in the 2022 Commonwealth Games aged just 14, carried on her good form after coming through the qualification event to beat Scotland’s World No.53 Lisa Aitken 3-1.

Elsewhere, there was more success for the home contingent as English duo Lucy Turmel and Jonah Bryant beat Scotland’s Alison Thomson and India’s Velavan Senthilkumar after Finnlay Withington had gone down to France’s Baptiste Masotti.

In the closest match of the session, Spain’s World No.43 Bernat Jaume edged through a five-game epic to pip World No.47 Karim El Hammamy to a place in round two.

Both men had chances to win in a nail-biting fifth game, but it was Jaume who was able to hold his nerve, clinching the decider 14-12.

Evening Roundup : Stellar session for home talents

Home talents enjoyed a stellar evening session as British representatives Georgia Adderley, Torrie Malik, Patrick Rooney and Sam Todd picked up impressive wins to book their places in the second round .

Malik despatched Canadian #1 Hollie Naughton in straight games to set the tone for the session.

In the opening set of matches, English World No.49  Malik made short work of Canadian World No.30 Hollie Naughton while USA’s Marina Stefanoni came from a game down to beat Egypt’s Mariam Metwally.

Naughton, who won a Commonwealth Games silver medal in Birmingham in 2022, was second best throughout to Malik, who controlled proceedings with accurate play to the front and back and capitalised well on any errors from Naughton.

After taking the opener 11-7, the 21-year-old  piled on the pressure, wrapping up the match 11-5, 11-2 in just 21 minutes.

World No.27 Stefanoni, meanwhile, was forced onto the defensive early on by Metwally, with the Egyptian hitting her targets better to take the opener 11-5.

The American soon settled into the contest, though, and quickly reversed the momentum to clinch the next three games 11-6, 11-2, 11-3.

Next up, English duo Sam Todd and Patrick Rooney dispelled any last injury doubts with top quality performances as World No.85 Todd took out World No.39 Balazs Farkas of Hungary and World No.49 Patrick Rooney beat World No.27 Mohamed Abouelghar.

Todd, who lost almost 20 months of his professional career to a serious ankle injury suffered in 2023, has been approaching his best again after building momentum throughout the season with a string of impressive wins on the Challenger circuit.

Today, though, the 22-year-old – playing his first World Tour level event since the 2022 British Open – proved he was able to compete against the very best again as he battled back from a game down to overcome Farkas.

Rooney, too, has had his fair share of injury trouble, with the former World No.18 struggling for form and fitness during a challenging season.

Today, though, the Englishman looked back at his best, putting in a performance that he described afterwards as his best of the season so far to send former World No.7 Abouelghar – himself no stranger to injury issues – crashing out in the first round.

In the final set of women’s matches, Scotland’s Adderley ended 2015 British Open Champion Camille Serme’s run with a tight 3-1 victory, while France’s Melissa Alves downed Wales’ Emily Whitlock.

Serme, 36, who 10 years ago took down Laura Massaro to lift the famous title, has impressed since her return from retirement, with the former World No.2 coming through a challenging qualification campaign to reach the main competition here in Solihull.

Adderley, 24, who spoke after the match about how much she had learnt from Serme growing up, showing grit and discipline in equal measure to edge the contest 14-12, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5.

Alves was able to record a straight games win over Whitlock, though the French No.1 was pushed hard throughout, with Alves eventually recording an 11-8, 15-13, 11-7 win in 34 minutes.

In the last matches of the day, 2018 British Open Champion Miguel Rodriguez rolled back the years as the 39-year-old got the better of Wales’ Emyr Evans in straight games, while Kareem El Torkey – in the tournament as a lucky loser after a late injury withdrawal – beat Egyptian compatriot Yahya Elnawasany by the same scoreline.

Round One of the GillenMarkets British Open concludes tomorrow, 1 June, at Solihull Arden Squash Club, while Round Two also gets underway at Birmingham’s Rep Theatre.