The 2025 Gillen Markets British Open continued today with the second round of qualifying, 16 matches on two courts at Solihull Arden Club with today’s players moving to just one win away from a place in the main draws.
It was another bad day for the seeded players, with just one left to contest the men’s finals, while the women’s finals look more like the expected lineups.
Afternoon Session
Two women’s matches opened play on day two of the British Open Qualifying with Malaysia’s No.2 seed Ainaa Amani and No.5 seed Haya Ali claiming the first spots in the qualifying finals.
Amani wasted no time in securing her place as she produced accurate, attacking squash to always stay ahead of Beinhard, who was struggling to make any inroads in the match. She needed just 23 minutes to claim the victory.
Over on Court 3, a battle was taking place but it was the Egyptian, Ali, who came through. Norway’s Madeleine Hylland has been in the form if her life recently and looked as though her winning ways would continue as she took a 2-1 lead. Ali responded in true Egyptian style and put together several strong rallies to test the movement of Hylland to level before winning the decider 11-9 with a. devastating backhand cross court kill.
The first men’s qualifying finalists have been confirmed with Wales’ Emyr Evans and Argentina’s Jeremias Azaña claiming victories to move into tomorrow’s deciders.
Evans was the first to book his place after he navigated past Malaysia’s Ameeshenraj Chandaran in four games. The Welshman did well to contain the flamboyant Malaysian and was clinical when his attacking opportunities presented themselves. Despite the comeback from the Malaysian, Evans closed the fourth game out 11-6.
Azaña was involved in a fast-paces contest with Sanjay Jeeva over on Court 3 but the accuracy and consistency of the Argentine proved to be too much for Jeeva with Azaña coming through comfortably in game four.
France’s Marie Stephan let out an almighty roar as she became the third women to reach the qualifying finals today in Solihull. Stephan had to stay incredibly concentrated throughout her match with Hong Kong, China’s Can Sin Yuk and after establishing a 2-0 9-3 lead, held strong in the closing stages to win 3-0.
India’s teenage sensation Anahat Singh showed her class once again as she made light work of England’s Mille Tomlinson, winning 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 to book her spot in tomorrow’s finals with a spot in the main draw up for grabs.
In the final matches of the afternoon’s play, Egypt’s Moustafa ElSirty was forced to dig very deep to earn his place in the qualifying finals as he came back from 2-1 10-8 down to beat Switzerland’s David Bernet in five games.
The powerful Egyptian took the opener but after falling behind to the rhythmical Swiss player fought his way back to level at 2-2. He then won the final four points of the match to save two match balls and win 12-10 in the fifth.
ElSirty will now face England’s Perry Malik in the finals tomorrow after he confidently beat USA’s Spencer Lovejoy over on Court 6 in just under 40 minutes.
Evening Session
Scotland’s Alison Thomson impressively overturned a 40 place deficit in the rankings to claim a spot in the qualifying finals tomorrow after beating World No.60 Xin Ying Yee in an epic five-game clash on court 3.
Thomson was in fine form in the opening two games and showed her skill around the middle to take a massive 2-0 lead. The tough rallies continued as Xing started to mount her comeback. She claimed games three and four both 12-10 to draw level with the Solihull crowd and onlooking players on the edge of their seats.
Thomson was down in the fifth game but managed to earn the first match ball. After that was defended, the World No.100 earned another and a straight drive down the wall whilst falling to the floor was enough for the Scot to secure the 69-minute win.
“That was intense,” said Thomson.
“I saw her play back in October at a tournament and she chopped everyone up so I knew how good of a player she is. I knew I had to play my best to get close to her and I’m over the moon. I got into the event the day before so after a drive up, I’m in round three.
“I didn’t think I’d get this far so I’ve had to tell work that I can’t come in tomorrow!”
Over on Court 6, another five-game battle was taking place as No.4 seed Nicole Bunyan saw off a spirited effort by Finland’s Emilia Soini 11-9 in the fifth game to set up a showdown with Thomson tomorrow.
Men’s top seed Leandro Romiglio became the seventh seeding casualty in the men’s draw as he lost out to England’s Finnlay Withington in straight games on Court 6.
The talented Englishman found his attacking rhythm early in the contest and worked the ball into the front two corners with great accuracy. The skills of Withington have never been a doubt, however his error count has been. He kept errors to a minimum in today’s clash and stormed through to a 3-0 win and a spot in the finals.
Withington will take on South Africa’s Dewald van Niekerk in the next round after the South African produced a professional performance to beat up and coming Frenchman Brice Nicolas in straight games. van Niekerk looked comfortable in the lengthy exchanges between the two and waited patiently for errors or loose balls from the Frenchman, capitalising clinically to win in three.
The final women’s matches of day two saw double delight for Team France as both Enora Villard and 2015 champion Camille Serme booked their places in the qualifying finals.
Villard was up against top seed Tsz Wing Tong and produced a strong, structured performance to secure the win in four games. Villard used her superb straight drop on the backhand side to constantly put pressure onto the top seed and after establishing a 2-1 lead, closed the match out winning 11-9 in the fourth.
The returning Serme faced tough opposition in the form of Ireland’s Hannah Craig. The busy style of Craig makes her a tough test for any player and that was certainly the case. Craig led in the opening game but a measured comeback from the Frenchwoman secured the opener and more intelligent squash followed. She closed out games two and three 11-4, 11-5 to win in half an hour.
The final matches of round two featured two home players with plenty of support coming for local player Sam Osborne-Wylde as he took on talented Egyptian Kareem El Torkey. Adrian Waller featured over on Court 3 as he faced World U23 Champion Noor Zaman from Pakistan.
Both matches resulted in 3-1 losses for the English players. Osborne-Wylde took the opening game against El Torkey and led in the second game. The Egyptian stepped up the court and started to dictate play from the middle of the second game and won looked comfortable on his way to victory.
The Waller v Zaman match was far from comfortable for either player. The accuracy and class from Waller was forcing Zaman into many difficult movements but the Pakistani continued to retrieve Wallers usual winners and put pressure on of his own. Zaman saved two game balls in the fourth game as the Englishman hunted a decider and went on to win on his third match ball at 14-12.
The Qualifying Finals get underway at 12:00 (GMT+1) tomorrow, all on Court 6 at Solihull Arden Squash Club with all action streamed live on SQUASHTV.
