England No.1 Georgina Kennedy was forced to battle all the way to five games before finally overcoming Scotland’s Georgia Adderley in a five-game thriller at Birmingham Rep this evening.
All six of the pair’s previous matches had seen Kennedy win 3-0 and, given the Englishwoman picked up the Manchester Open title a fortnight ago, the form book was heavily in Kennedy’s favour.
However, it wasn’t plain sailing for the World No.5, who struggled to put away a tenacious Adderley. Adderley twice held a one-game lead after combining superb retrieval skills with deadly winners into the front of court.
But crucially, Kennedy was able to regroup in a one-sided fourth game, which gave her the momentum she needed to pull through in the decider. The 27-year-old will play Egypt’s Fayrouz Aboelkheir for a place in the quarter-finals.
“I knew what was going to happen today in terms of what Georgia brings to the table,” said Kennedy.
“Every point is evil and it’s really difficult to play against her. I thought she played really well there, that’s the first time that I felt I could really lose that match. I didn’t feel my best out there, I felt really flat.
“I was thinking of World No.1 Ali Farag, he’s said in a few interviews that you have to find a way to win when you’re not feeling your best. That’s what Ben [Ford, Kennedy’s coach] said to me and I had to dig in.”
Kennedy’s England teammate Sarah-Jane Perry also had to dig in as she overturned a 2-0 deficit against Wales’ Tesni Evans.
Perry, who was born a stone’s throw away from The Rep, was in real trouble after an electric start from Evans, but the 2017 finalist dug in to force an 8-11, 4-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-9 win.
“I think any time you play Tesni it is going to be really tough,” Perry said.
“We’ve played so many times over the years, and we know each other’s games inside out, so we are always trying to find another trick to add to our book. It was a big mental effort to come back from 2-0 down and it’s good to know that I still can. We’re very good friends off court and I didn’t like the way the match ended. It was a contentious decision.
“I saw the ball as okay [at 9-9], Tesni thought it was down, the referee wasn’t sure. Honestly, if I thought it was down I would have called it, but if it was then I am sorry.
“It’s always really special to be playing in the British Open, especially when it’s in your home city. I was born here just a couple of miles down the road, so it’s really special. I can’t wait to get out on that court at The Rep and play my next match on Wednesday.”
Women’s defending champion Nour El Sherbini also got her tournament under way as she avenged her defeat to Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam at March’s London Classic with a 3-0 win over the World No.10 tonight.
Elsewhere, men’s defending champion Ali Farag got the better of former World No.3 Omar Mosaad in the final match of the day, but he came through the wars to do it following a 30-minute pause in play after sustaining a facial injury.
The World No.1 was a game ahead and 6-1 up in the second before he raced through to pick up a Mosaad drop, catching his nose on his compatriot’s elbow in the process. After a lengthy break to stem the heavy bleeding, the four-time World Champion returned to court and saw out the rest of the game, before Mosaad then retired injured, shaking hands with his opponent.
Mohamed Abouelghar will await Farag in the next round.
“I’m all good, it’s a contact sport and it does happen,” said Farag.
“The only problem is I’m going to look uglier than I already was. But Nour [El Tayeb, Farag’s wife] has to deal with that, not me! Accidents happen and we have to get on with them.
“I do feel very sorry for him [Mosaad] because he doesn’t shake hands unless it is very serious. He had a tough one physically yesterday, and I could feel in the first that he wasn’t moving his best.”
Newly-crowned World Champion Diego Elias began his attempts to win a maiden British Open crown, wasting no time at all in beating Frenchman Victor Crouin to complete a comfortable 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 win.
Elias, who became the first South American World Champion last month, said: “I’m very happy with my performance after winning the World Championships a couple of weeks ago. It was hard to get back into tournament mode and getting Victor in the first round is always tough, but it’s nice to start like this.
“I had a few celebrations, that’s for sure, I disappeared for four or five days, but after that I started getting focused for this one. It’s the British Open and it’s a very important tournament, I’m relaxed right now and I want to enjoy my squash and see what happens.
“I haven’t done that well compared to last season, I haven’t won any big tournaments until a few weeks ago, so I wasn’t happy until that win. Now it’s the British Open, so hopefully I can finish the season well.”
Round three begins tomorrow at 12:00 (GMT+1) at The Rep and all of the action will be live on SQUASHTV.
For more information on the British Open, visit the offical tournament website or follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and WhatsApp.
Results – Men’s Second Round (Evening Session): 2024 British Open
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-0: 11-1, 11-3 retired (42m) [3] Diego Elias (PER) bt Victor Crouin (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 (32m) [4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-9 (35m)Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 (48m)
Timothy Brownell (USA) bt Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 11-4 (34m)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) 3-1: 4-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (47m)
Miguel Rodriguez (COL) bt Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (73m)
Results – Women’s Second Round (Evening Session): 2024 British Open
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 (35m) [8] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-6 (34m)Tomato Ho (HKG) bt Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-2: 10-12, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (71m)
Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt Aifa Azman (MAS) 3-2: 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5 (55m)
[6] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Georgia Adderley (SCO) 3-2: 7-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-4, 11-5 (60m)Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt Tesni Murphy (WAL) 3-2: 8-11, 4-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-9 (69m)
[7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-1: 11-5, 11-2, 7-11, 13-11 (48m)Nada Abbas (EGY) bt Grace Gear (ENG) 3-1: 11-5, 10-12, 11-4, 11-2 (45m)
More Player Reaction…
Nour El Sherbini
Beat: Sivasangari Subramaniam 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 (35m)
Next Opponent: Satomi Watanabe
“It’s tough straight after the World Championships.
“I just wanted to be ready and tried to take my revenge. I’m happy I won it on this court, it’s the same court I lost to her on [at Alexandra Palace] and I’m pleased I won in three. It was really important for me to perform well today.
“There is always room for improvement and you’re never going to play your best squash whenever you want. You always have to accept the losses so you can come back stronger and be fired up to win. It was good for me to go to Prague [and train with coach Gregory Gaultier].
“I’m trying to focus again on the squash that I want to play and I think I’m getting back on track.
