British Champion Matthew Downed In Docklands

Competing in the ISS Canary Wharf Classic just 24 hours after winning the British National Championship title for the first time, Nick Matthew admitted that he was running on empty as he went down to Welsh warhorse Alex Gough in straight games in the first round of the five-star PSA Tour event at East Wintergarden in Canary Wharf, London.

Matthew was unable to reproduce the previous night's heroics in Manchester where he fought back from 10-6 down to beat title-holder Lee Beachill in the fifth game of the national final.

"I tried to go on court and enjoy being the national champion," said the 25-year-old from Sheffield. "But I simply didn't have enough energy in the tank."

Gough, 35, took advantage of his opponent's fatigue to win 11-3 11-10 11-10 on the all-glass court at Docklands - gaining revenge for his quarter-final defeat by Matthew last week in Manchester.

Fellow golden oldie Simon Parke, the 32-year-old former world No3 from Leeds, almost pulled off a surprise against top seed Anthony Ricketts but could not convert his 2/1 advantage in games against the tough Australian.

Ricketts, the British Open champion from Sydney, beat the Yorkshire qualifier 11-6 8-11 8-11 11-7 11-4.

England's Peter Nicol, the fourth seed, cruised past Spanish qualifier Borja Golan 11-8 11-4 11-4, and Egypt's stylish Karim Darwish was too composed on the glass court for Finland's Olli Tuominen, winning 11-8 11-10 11-7.

1st round:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [Q] Simon Parke (ENG) 11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4
[7] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-8, 11-10 (2-0), 11-7
[4] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [Q] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-8, 11-4, 11-4
Alex Gough (WAL) bt [6] Nick Matthew (ENG) 11-3, 11-10 (3-1), 11-10 (3-1)