Ford Gets Wish Granted In National Championships In Manchester

Kent No2 Ben Ford cruised through two qualifying rounds in the British National Championships at Sportcity today, then had his wish granted.

The 30-year-old from Welling had earlier told the event's official website that if he qualified, he hoped he'd play Peter Nicol, the double Commonwealth Games gold medallist who is the event's second seed.

Ford beat Surrey's British Junior U17 Open runner-up Joe Lee 11-5 11-9 11-5, and Welshman Jethro Binns 11-9 11-7 11-6 in the qualifying finals - and was then drawn to meet Nicol in today's first round match at the National Squash Centre.

Peter Nicol is seeded to reach the final for the fourth time since winning the first of his two titles ten years ago. The 32-year-old from London is expected to face Manchester favourite James Willstrop in Sunday's final. Willstrop, top seed for the first time, begins his campaign against Oxfordshire's Scott Handley.

Qualifying finals:
David Barnett (Northumbria) bt Jaymie Haycocks (Shropshire) 10-11 (3-5), 11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 11-4 (57m)
Kristen Johnson (Scotland) bt Nick Wall (Yorks) 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 (27m)
Chris Simpson (Hants) bt Tom Pashley (Sussex) 11-3, 11-7, 11-8 (36m)
Joel Hinds (Derbyshire) bt Phil Rushworth (Yorks) 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (5-3) (53m)
Tom Richards (Surrey) bt Jonathan Tate (Northumbria) 11-4, 11-5, 6-11, 11-8 (39m)
Ben Ford (Kent) bt Jethro Binns (Wales) 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 (38m)
Martin Gibson (Lincs) bt Jonathan Harford (Glos) 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (32m)
Shaun le Roux (Yorks) bt Sam Miller (Warwicks) 11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 10-5 ret. (52m)