The second day’s play at St George’s Hill will see eight quarter-final matches on the Glass Court as players – including three former champions – target spots in the last fours.
You can Watch Live on SquashTV, follow on Live Scoring and Socials, and we’ll have Results, Updates and Photos right here with a Roundup at the end of the day’s play.
Kennedy w/o Gear
The opening match of the day was a walkover to top seed Gina Kennedy, with Grace Gear, having survived a five-game tussle yesterday, withdrawing injured mid-morning.
Gina – who had won all twelve previous meetings against Grace – stays on track for a potential second title as she advances to the semi-finals.
Marwan 3-1 Evans
Top seed Marwan ElShorbagy kept his quest for a first Nationals title on track with a four-game win over young Welshman Rhys Evans, the seventh seed. It was never comfortable for World #9 Elshorbagy though, as Evans kept pace with the top seed throughout a close first game, then edged the second 12-10 to level the match.
The Welshman edged ahead 8-6 in the third but ElShorbagy reeled off five points in a row to regain the lead and was always ahead in the fourth as he reached the semi-finals for the second time.
“It’s amazing where Rhys is,” said ElShorbagy, “his improvement in two year, I told him at the end to keep going, he’s doing so well. In a way I was glad to lose the second, it meant I had to really focus and concentrate on what I needed to do.”
Malik 3-1 Nghiem
Fourth seed Torrie Malik, finalist last year, moved one step closer to a repeat appearance in the closing stages as she overcame sixth seed Saran Nghiem in four games. Malik took the lead 11-7 but Nghiem struck back to level 11-7 before Malik took control of the final two gams, closing out the win 11-5, 11-4 in 40 minutes.
“It’s great to have Saran back playing full time after her time at University in the states,” said Malik, “we had some great battles in juniors and I’m sure we’ll have some more.
“It will be tough against Gina tomorrow, but I’m glad I’ve had a couple of matches on this court now, and there will be no pressure on me, I’ll just try to put the things we’ve been working on in training into practice.
Todd 3-0 Meehan
Sam Todd advanced to the semi-finals with a three-game win over unseeded John Meehan, who made the fourth seed work very hard to eke out a two-game lead before the Pontefract man pulled away in the third to clinch the victory.
“It was good being able to watch John play yesterday,” said Todd, “he’s definitely better than his ranking so I knew it would be tough. I think this court suited him, and he made me play a bit scrappy in the first two games, but in the third I managed to get in front and felt more comfortable.”
Turmel 3-0 Mead
Lucy Turmel and Alicia Mead were meant to meet in the quarter-finals here last year, but Lucy had to withdraw injured. She made amends for that today, dominating the match from start to finish to book herself into the semi-finals for the second time, in this her seventh consecutive Nationals quarter-final.
“I trained with Alicia for a week recently, we’re good friends but I just had to try to get into hyper focus mode for the match, and I feel I played well,” said Lucy.
“Compared to last year I think I’m coming into the tournament fit and strong, that makes a big difference and hopefully I can use that to help me get further.”
Perry M 3-2 Mohamed
Perry Malik produced a huge upset as he downed two time champion and second seed Mohamed ElShorbagy in five games. Mohamed seemed to be enjoying himself in the first game, hitting the ball hard at every opportunity and taking a run of points at the end to take the lead 11-6. He may have paid for the effort involved as Perry worked his way back into the match, levelling 11-7 and then levelling again at the end of a close fourth game to set up a decider.
Helped by errors from Mohamed Perry established a 7-3 lead, and there was no way back for the three-time finalist, the match ending on a stroke to Perry for a memorable win.
“No words!” he said. “Just to play against him is big, to beat him, it’s just massive. I remember watching him in the Optasia final when I was 17, he beat Ali Farag and gave his trophy to Sumner, he’s just special.
“I thought I was in it in the first game than he just reeled off six points, I managed to stay in it in the second and felt I played pretty well after that. We’ve been working on a lot of things over the summer and hopefully it’s starting to pay off.”
Hutton 3-0 Tomlinson
Two-time champion Jasmine Hutton made quick work of the final women’s match o the round, easing past Millie Tomlinson – appearing in her 15th Nationals and 5th quarter-final for the loss of just seven points in 22 minutes.
“Fifteen Nationals, that’s amazing,” said the victor. “Millie’s a character on court, she’s tricky, she’s awkward, she makes it difficult for you. So I’m happy I managed to get a good start and to keep on top, very happy with that.”
Herbert 3-1 Curtis M
Hopes of an all-Malik men’s semi-final were dashed when fifth seed Simon Herbert rounded off the day with a scintillating win over third seed Curtis. Herbert dominated the first two games with Malik giving away stroke after stroke with loose play. Malik dug in in the third – “squash went out of the window as he just had to fight for each point” said SquashTV commentator Simon Parke – and saved three match balls to keep the match alive.
Herbert was back in control in the fourth tough, finishing it 11-3 to reach the semis having never before got past the first round.
“Curtis is moving much better than last time we played, so that was hard,” he said. “It’s a massive win for me, really pleased – someone had to take a Malik down in this tournament!”
More Day Two Photos – lots more in the Galleries …
