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 [Mueller] 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.”
Round two begins tomorrow at 12:00 (GMT+1) at both The Rep and Edgbaston Priory Club. All of the action will be live on SQUASHTV.
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Results – Men’s First Round (Evening Session): 2024 British Open
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Shahjahan Khan (USA) 3-2: 7-11, 11-9, 13-15, 11-8, 11-7 (82m)
Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-2: 11-6, 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-9 (54m)
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt [WC] Simon Herbert (ENG) 3-2: 8-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6 (69m)
Karim El Hammamy (EGY) bt Nick Wall (ENG) 3-1: 4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 (47m)
Timothy Brownell (USA) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-0: 12-10, 11-6, 18-16 (48m)
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-3 (30m)
Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) bt Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-2: 16-14, 14-16, 12-10, 8-11, 11-4 (78m)
George Parker (ENG) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-2: 8-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7 (65m)
Results – Women’s First Round (Evening Session): 2024 British Open
Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Haya Ali (EGY) 3-1: 11-3, 11-1, 8-11, 11-0 (26m)
Malak Khafagy (EGY) bt Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-2: 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9 (59m)
Tomato Ho (HKG) bt Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 3-0: 12-10, 11-3, 11-8 (32m)
Georgia Adderley (SCO) bt Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 3-2: 7-11, 11-7, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6 (51m)
Hollie Naughton (CAN) bt [WC] Asia Harris (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4 (38m)
Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-3 (26m)
Tesni Murphy (WAL) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-0: 11-1, 11-4, 11-6 (25m)
Grace Gear (ENG) bt Mariam Metwally (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-2, 11-7 (23m)
