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Adrian Grant (Eng) bt Olli Tuominen (Fin)
               6/11, 11/7, 11/13, 11/2, 11/3 (67m)
[Q] Simon Rosner (Ger) bt Tom Richards (Eng)
               12/10, 11/8, 12/10 (58m)
Azlan Iskandar (Mas) bt [Q] Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
                11/4, 11/3, 12/10 (52m)
Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
                11/7, 11/8, 7/11, 7/11, 11/8 (76m)
[4] James Willstrop (Eng) bt [Q] Borja Golan (Esp)
                 11/9, 11/4, 9/11, 11/3 (58m)
[5] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt Hisham Ashour (Egy)
                 7/11, 11/4, 11/7, 11/2 (36m)
[7] Peter Barker (Eng) bt [Q] Steve Coppinger (Rsa)
                11/7, 11/4, 11/3 (39m)
[1] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Jens Schoor (Ger)
                 11/3, 11/3, 11/6 (26m)

A growing venue

The final tidying up of the venue is happening as we speak, and changes will continue over the week as it grows.

For the first three days we're inside the 'traditional' glass court area inside the National Squash Centre, with boxes arranged down either side of the court and ten rows of seating behind the front wall.

From Thursday (quarter-finals part one) onwards, the wall behind the seating is removed to reveal the running track behind, more boxes go behind the front wall, and the larger stand with room for around 300 spectators (there's a few tickets left, although Saturday is already a sellout, so be quick) goes up.

Adrian Grant (Eng) bt Olli Tuominen (Fin)
               6/11, 11/7, 11/13, 11/2, 11/3 (67m)

Grant finds his feet

Adrian Grant provided an English winner in the first match of the day, but Finland's Olli Tuominen - who had never lost to Grant in PSA matches - took him the full distance.

There were too many errors from the Englishman in the early stages as Tuominen took the first 11/6, but Grant settled better and although the pace remained high, as it always does with the Finn on court, he levelled taking the last four points and the game 11/7.

The third was a bit of a dogfight, plenty of tough rallies, plenty of lets, and eventually two game balls for Grant at 10/8. He couldn't take them, and when at 12/11 Tuominen hit the nick in the corner of the front wall for a fortunate winner, Grant wasn't a happy man.

"It wasn't as though I was playing bad," he admitted after the match, "but I was annoyed and disappointed to lose the third, especially like that."

His troubles didn't last too long though as he totally dominated the next two games, taking the 11/2, 11/3 to claim the first place in the second round.

"The first three games were tough, Olli always keeps coming at you and keeps the pace high. But it wasn't as if there were too many long rallies, so I wasn't feeling it physically. I knew I was playing the right game, I had game balls in the third but he just played the important points better.

"In the fourth and fifth it was all coming together and I was able to relax express myself more, like I've been trying to after changing my game a bit as part of a really good Summer.

"I'm fitter and leaner than I have been for ages, but in my first tournament back in Australia I just wanted it too much, so I learned from that. I've set myself a few goals between now and September - I'll tell you what they are in December! - but for now I'm happy with the win and looking forward to Wednesday."

 [Q] Simon Rosner (Ger) bt Tom Richards (Eng)
               12/10, 11/8, 12/10 (58m)

Rosner races on

It couldn't have been a lot closer, and Tom Richards will feel aggrieved to be on the end of a three-nil scoreline in such a closely-contested match, but Germany's Simon Rosner continued the fine for he showed in the World Teams in Paderborn and the qualifying for this event in Wolverhampton to reach the second round.

Well, the first and third games fitted that description nicely, with well-contested rallies and rarely much more than a point between them. Rosner earned two game balls at 10/8 in the first, clinched it on the third opportunity, then raced into an 8/0 lead in the second.

Richards closed the gap, getting as close as 4/9, and 8/10, but it was too much of an ask as Rosner doubled his advantage.

It was back to nip and tuck in the third, disputed rallies and a few interventions by the video ref requested (the refs and the crowd can see the replays on a small screen at the front of the court, but the players can't so they have to just wait for the decision).

Richards had one chance to extend the match at 10/9, but his lob went out and Rosner took the next two points as Richards hit two tins.

"I'm just very happy, and very pleased, to be in the second round of a big event like the British Grand Prix.

"After losing from 2-0 up against Adrian [Grant] in Australia I really wanted to win this one, but at 9-7 in the third I was very nervous and desperate to close it out. I'm so relieved to get off in three, it's just an awesome result for me.

"Tom's such a great player, we've been playing each other since we were 12 or 13 but this is our first PSA match. He was one of the last in the main draw and I was top qualifier so it was always going to be close.

"The good results I got in the World Teams in Paderborn, where I beat three people I'd never beaten before, gave me a big boost im confidence and I took that into qualifying and into this match.

"Now I need to start getting these results in PSA to get my ranking kmoving again, I've been stuch at #33 for 18 months but hopefully I'll start moving up again now."

Azlan Iskandar (Mas) bt [Q] Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
                11/4, 11/3, 12/10 (52m)

Impeccable Azlan

For two games Azlan Iskandar could apparently do no wrong, the Malaysian number one was on top and in control against qualifier Mohammed Abbas. It wasn't that the Egyptian was playing badly, either, Azlan was just too good.

But Abbass got into the match in the third, in a big way, made it tough and even had game ball at 10/9. Iskandar saved that at the end of a mad, scrambling rally, then was grateful and relieved as Abbas volleyed into the tin on Azlan's first match ball.

"In the first two games I had absolute clarity of what I needed to do on court.

"He couldn't find his length in the first two games but he went for it and played really well in the third.

"At 7/5 I thought I'd just try to keep it tight and steady, and I ended up not doing anything.

"I was luck to take the third in the end, I had to really scramble to stay in it and thank god he tinned that last one.

Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
                11/7, 11/8, 7/11, 7/11, 11/8 (76m)

Reda gets what he wants

It sounds like an upset, Ali Anwar Reda beating Ong Beng Hee, but the young Egyptian has overtaken the Malaysian in the world rankings - not by much though, and the closeness of this match reflected their closeness in those rankings.

Reda played well in the first two, Bengy fought back to level (can't say I saw a lot of it, to be honest), and the decider was a tough, tense affair.

Reda took a quick 4-0 lead in the fifth, but the rallies became longer and the lets more frequent as Ong settled again, but still the Egyptian led 6/2 and 8/3.

Amidst a multitude of lets Ong drew closer, 6/8, but Reda returned the next serve into the nick, then his own serve dribbled out of the back corner and all of a sudden it was match ball.

Two saved, then Reda put in a dropshot, the referees gave a no let to Ong, who appealed (you would, wouldn't you), and with Reda assuming prayer position the video official agreed and Reda was through to round two.

"I started really well, went 2-0 up and was playing well at the start of the third too. He slowed the pace down and I was less positive, so he took the third and controlled the fourth.

"In the fifth I told myself not to think about winning and just concentrate on playing the right shot every time, and thankfully it worked for me.

"I used to watch Bengy when I was 12, looked up to him as a world junior champion, so to beat him today feel good.

"I think I just wanted it more than him in the end, that was the difference."

[4] James Willstrop (Eng) bt [Q] Borja Golan (Esp)
                 11/9, 11/4, 9/11, 11/3 (58m)

Willstrop sees off Spanish challenge

After coming from 7/5 down in a tough 16-minute opening game to take the lead, James Willstrop looked to be taking control of his match against Borja Golan, taking the second comfortably as the Spaniard became more andf more frustrated, and going 4/0 up in the third.

Golan's shouts of frustration became more like war cries though as he determinedly, and typically, worked his way back into the game, coming from 4/6 down to lead 9/6. He was determined to finish it off, perhaps a little too determined as Willstrop refused to concede.

An error each from 10/8 gave Golan the game, but Willstrop reasserted from the start of the first, dominating it as he had the second and taking eight points in a row to finish the match.

"I've got a lot of respect for Borja, he's always a dangerous opponent and we've had a lot of tough matches on attritional courts. These were maybe more my conditions, but he's showing he can play well on glass courts too.

"He's got a bit of a temper and lots of aggression on court, but it's always very fair and he's very good to play.

"The draw looked tough, but sometimes it's better to get a good tough match early one, especially when the schedule is stretched out with some rest days like we have here.

"You have to get yourself up right from the first match, so playing one of that intensity early on probably does you good. It's a great feeling at the start of the season, feeling fresh and really enjoying playing ..."

[5] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt Hisham Ashour (Egy)
                 7/11, 11/4, 11/7, 11/2 (36m)

Shabana wins Cairo shootout

None of the smart money went on this being a long match, what with four-time world champion Amr Shabana playing his first tournament since the North American Open in February, and Hisham Ashour never afraid to go for the winner.

And so it proved, although for the first game and a half, which had more than their fair share of winners and errors, it was Ashour who looked the likeliest winner. A string of unforced errors - seven in a row from 5/3 up - virtually gifted Shabana the second game, and from being on top Ashour had let one of the most dangerous of opponents back in.

Shabana needed no second invitation, and although the rallies stayed short, sharp and fast, he kept control of things in the third, pulling clear from 7-all (helped by some Ashour errors), and totally dominated the fourth, finishing it off in just over half an hour.

"Playing Hisham in the first round when you haven't played a tournament for a while isn't the best, you can't really see where the ball is going to go!

"But it's good to be back, I'm enjoying it and looking forward to the next two or three months. I made a point of going back to Egypt for Ramadan to spend it with the family, which I haven't done since I was 14 and it was a real experience.

"I'll be going between here, the US and Cairo for the next few weeks, home for now is the PSA Tour, but once the tournaments move to the US at the start of next year the family will be based there again."

[7] Peter Barker (Eng) bt [Q] Steve Coppinger (Rsa)
                11/7, 11/4, 11/3 (39m)

Barker looking good

Seventh seed Peter Barker delivered a third English win of the day with an impressive straight-games win over qualifier Steve Coppinger. The English left-hander assumed early control, and leads of 6/1 in the first and 8/1 in the second never looked under serious threat.

The pace was always high, but more often than not it was Barker who was able to work his opponent out of position before delivering the final blow.

Coppinger looked frustrated at the end of the second game, recovered to make the opening exchanges of the third the toughest of them match, but Barker assumed control once more and accelerated away, finishing the match off with a run of seven unanswered points.

"It's a fine balance with Steve, he likes a fast pace but you can't afford to slow it down too much because you need to try to win the points yourself. He was dictating the pace for the most part, I was trying to mix it up and inject pace when needed to counter his movement, and I think I did that pretty well, I was quite pleased with that performance.

"That's part of what I've been working on in my game, being able to finish points off rather than just wearing people down, and I'm happier with my squash at the moment than I've ever been.

"It's the first time I've played in Manchester this year, it's good to be back in a familiar environment on a court which all the English guys are comfortable with, it should give us a bit of an advantage this week.

[1] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Jens Schoor (Ger)
                 11/3, 11/3, 11/6 (26m)

Top seed in tip top form

The last match of the day was the shortest, as you might expect when the top seed and world number one draws the wildcard entry.

Not that Jens Schoor didn't give Nick Matthew - who had to pull out of this event with illness last year - a good workout, the young German had good patches at the start of each of the three games, but Nick Matthew is a different proposition from the type of opponent the world #88 usually faces, and , as he admitted afterwards, being last on he wasn't in the mood to hang around.

So after 26 minutes we had four Englishmen, two Egyptians, a Malaysian and a German through to the second round.

"It's a big plus for me not to have to defend any points in this tournament, but having to pull out last time was a long time ago and I've had some pretty good moments since then so the disappointment quickly faded.

"I've got 100 memories of this court, and 99 of them are good so it wasn't on my mind at all. I was just focused on my game, and no disrespect to Jens who is a dangerous opponent, I was also trying out a couple of things we've been working on in my game after a couple of opponents put me under pressure in the first couple of tournaments of the season.

"It's good to see they were coming in already so I'm pleased with that, I got on top early and was clinical in finishing it, so pleased to get off quickly especially being on last.

"This might be my 'home' court, but I don't remember Ramy ever losing on it so it's not necessarily a big advantage. Being home off court makes you comfortable though, and with that and the support team all here might give you the edge, and the best chance of playing to your best."

 

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