Reigning British Open champions Paul Coll and Hania El Hammamy got their title defences off to the perfect start in the evening session.
New Zealand’s No.1 Coll dispatched tournament wildcard Curtis Malik in straight games to book his place in the third round.
“Obviously it is a new venue so I am probably the only person who is disappointed we are not back in Hull! I have some great memories there, but I am looking forward to this week in Birmingham!” Coll said.
“I come here to train a lot with my coach [Rob Owen] a lot, he lives here in Birmingham. I have been here for a week in training camp and I am very familiar with the area. It feels a bit like a second home for me, so I am looking forward to this week! I have plenty of familiar faces around and I am hoping we can have a good tournament!
“It’s happiness [being in England], it’s familiarity as well! A lot of Kiwis round, but the same sort of humour, same sort of life-style so I always feel comfortable when I come to England. I have a lot of good friends here so I enjoy coming here, and that translates into my squash. I feel happy here, comfortable here!”
El Hammamy meanwhile saw off Alexandra Fuller by the same scoreline to set up a third round clash with Emily Whitlock on Wednesday, after the Welshwoman overcame Farida Mohamed.
“I’m really glad to be back in Birmingham this time,” she said.
“It feels good to be defending champion, it feels good to be back, it’s a precious tournament and I’m really looking forward to be playing round by round, game by game, and hopefully I can come up this week with a win.
“It’s definitely big in terms of a title (the British Open) – it’s the biggest one in my career so far and the biggest one in terms of a prestigious tournament and it was great after a big loss last season, so it was definitely a motivating result for me.
“I’ve not defended a title successfully before, so being able to do that this week in the British Open would be big for me and I’m just looking to focus match by match, game by game and focus on my game plan and my tactics and hopefully with a good performance I can get the title back.”
Elsewhere, Amanda Sobhy came out on top in the all-American battle against Olivia Clyne, winning 3-2, while Youssef Soliman and Greg Lobban also went the distance with the former progressing.
Home favourite Sarah-Jane Perry defeated Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam 3-1 to advance to the third round, where she will meet Nada Abbas.
Afterwards, Perry said: “I am really pleased to get through that today. Siva is a quality opponent. You saw in Toronto that she had match ball against Olivia Clyne, who has been in hot form, so I was really conscious of that going into the match, along with trying to control my emotions. I was desperate to get on that glass court at The Rep!”
“I went over there a few weeks ago and the set-up is fantastic. Lots of people have been saying they have tickets to come and see me, and I was telling them that I still had a match to play before that!
“There are no easy matches, the strength and depth in the women’s game has really gone up in the last few years.
“I had a little drop off in the third and she was all over me! I wanted to start the fourth game really positively, and to get back to playing that positive squash. Thankfully I did that, and I got over the finish line!”
Six-time World Champion Nour El Sherbini came through a tough battle with Satomi Watanabe to reach the third round. She will take on Sabrina Sobhy next, who downed Sana Ibrahim 3-0.
“I’m very happy with my performance today and happy with the win. Satomi is a very dangerous opponent and a tough first round and playing on a normal court is hard, very bouncy and it’s not my type of game. I tried to adapt and it took me a while in the first game and I’m happy to win in three,” said El Sherbini.
“At the start of the first game I was a bit flat and she was playing really well and surprised me a bit with her shots and I was still trying to adapt to the court and the game. It took me a little bit at the beginning but at the end I won the game and it was really important.
“The British Open is one of my favourite tournaments and one of the biggest ones and you always aim for it. I’m happy to be through to be playing on the glass court and I’m really looking forward to this week.”
Diego Elias, who could reach the summit of the PSA World Rankings next week, overcame Joel Makin 3-1 in a 72-minute encounter. Nathan Lake will be his opponent after he beat Nick Wall.
“It was very tough against Joel – he’s a great player and he’s been playing well. I think I played well in the third and fourth and I think this is very good for me this tournament and hopefully I can go all the way,” Elias said afterwards,
“We played a few weeks ago in Canary Wharf and it was a best of three, he did very well and it was less than half an hour the match. I didn’t play well but he played great, but today I got my revenge, I knew it was going to be tough with the way he played.
“I think this performance is good for the rest of the tournament. I’m going to prepare, recover and get ready for the next match.”
Egyptian pair Marwan ElShorbagy and Karim Abdel Gawad join Victor Crouin and Nicolas Mueller in the third round, with Tinne Gilis and Gina Kennedy also advancing in the women’s draw.
Men’s Results:
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 3-2: 5-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 11-3 (61m)
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [WC] Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (39m)
Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt Greg Lobban (SCO) 3-2: 5-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-3, 11-5 (84m)
[5] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-1: 12-10, 14-12, 7-11, 11-8 (67m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-3 (46m)
Nathan Lake (ENG) bt Nick Wall (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 11-3, 11-13, 11-7 (51m)
[8] Victor Crouin (FRA) beats Raphael Kandra (GER) 3-2: 10-12, 9-11, 11-3, 11-2, 11-2 (60m)
[1] Diego Elias (PER) bt Joel Makin (WAL) 3-1: 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8 (72m)
Women’s Results:
[7] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-1: 11-9, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8 (40m)[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Alexandra Fuller (RSA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (32m)
Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt Farida Mohamed (EGY) 3-1: 12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8 (47m)
[5] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Olivia Clyne (USA) 3-2: 8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-3, 11-5 (50m)
Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (38m)
[8] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-3 (28m)
Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Tesni Evans (WAL) 3-1: 11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8 (56m)
[2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-0 : 15-13, 11-4, 11-8 (32m)
