The finals of the 2022 British National Squash Championships begin at 16:00 (GMT+1) at the National Squash Centre in Manchester this afternoon, with the possibility of first-time winners in both matches.
The women’s champion is guaranteed to be a new name on the trophy, as 2020 finalist Jasmine Hutton takes on Lucy Beecroft, who is appearing in the final of the British Nationals for the first time.
The men’s final will see Mohamed ElShorbagy, featuring in his first Nationals since changing allegiance to England earlier this month, taking on the reigning champion, Joel Makin, for the title.
You can catch all the action from Manchester live and free on SQUASHTV, and the official Facebook pages of the PSA World Tour and England Squash, as well as the England Squash YouTube channel.
The women’s final will see No.3 seed Jasmine Hutton take on No.5 sed Lucy Beecroft for the British National Championships crown, with neither woman having won the title previously.
Hutton made the final in 2020, while Beecroft had never even made it into the quarter finals of this competition in previous years.
The one-time finalist has had a relatively simple run through the tournament, spending less than half an hour on court in each match. Hutton defeated Katie Wells and Alicia Mead in the early rounds, before then making her way through to the final after top seed Emily Whitlock was forced to retire after two games of their last four contest.
Lucy Beecroft also came through her first two matches with relative ease, as she defeated Asia Harris and Julianne Courtice, both in straight games, to reach the semis. She then produced an incredible comeback to come from the brink of defeat to win against No.2 seed Lucy Turmel, winning the third on a tie-break before going on to take the match 3-2.
The pair have met just once before in their professional careers, with Beecroft taking a 3-1 victory in the pool stages of the England Squash Super 8 Championship in April 2021.
The men’s final will see the top two seeds pitted together, as England’s Mohamed ElShorbagy will aim for a maiden British Nationals crown, but defending champion Joel Makin stands in his way.
Having switched allegiances to England this month, this is ElShorbagy’s first appearance at the British National Championships, while Makin will be in his third final. He defeated Adrian Waller to take home the title in 2021 at the same venue.
The Welshman has won all three of his matches in straight games to make it through to the final, overcoming the challenges of the English trio of Charlie Lee, Curtis Malik and England’s No.1 Patrick Rooney.
ElShorbagy, the World No.3, started his week with a win over Welshman Peter Creed, before then going to four games against both Nick Wall and former World No.1 James Willstrop, beating the latter in the semis on Friday evening.
Makin and ElShorbagy have met ten times previously on Tour, with ‘the Beast’ holding the 7-3 advantage over the Welshman. However, the World No.7 won their most recent outing, and that came at this venue, as he won the title at the Manchester Open, beating ElShorbagy in the final.
