England Team-Mates Through, But Matthew Stretched In Liverpool

Just four days after securing the European Team Championship title in Austria, England team-mates James Willstrop, Peter Barker, Nick Matthew and Lee Beachill successfully negotiated their first round opposition today in the Liverpool 08 Open, the international squash circuit's richest ranking event in England for five years.

Staged in the spectacular St George's Hall in the heart of Liverpool, the PSA Super Series championship has attracted a star-studded field for the first ever major event on Merseyside to be played on a state-of-the-art all-glass court.

Nick Matthew, the British national champion from Sheffield, was taken the full distance by newly-crowned Italian champion Davide Bianchetti before prevailing in 83 minutes - the longest match of the day.

The 25-year-old Yorkshireman recovered from a game down to take a 2/1 lead - then squandered leads of 6-2 and 9-6 in the fourth to allow Bianchetti to force the match into a fifth game decider.

It was nip and tuck throughout the game before Matthew, the fourth seed, took the final three points in a row to claim his 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 win.

"Davide was quite consistent, and plays better on a glass court than he used to," said the world No7 afterwards. "I felt I was playing all right, but only in patches. All the ingredients were there, but not all at once."

Willstrop, the No2 seed from Pontefract, beat Indian qualifier Ritwik Bhattacharya 11-10 (3-1), 11-10 (3-1), 11-5 in 39 minutes, then declared that the game could not have been more different than those last week in Vienna.

"It's like tennis players going from clay to grass - it becomes almost a different sport," explained the 22-year-old Yorkshireman, comparing the difference between the all-glass court and the conventional plaster courts on which the European championships were played.

"I was a bit rusty to start with, and the first two games were close - but then I got into a better rhythm.

"But St George's Hall is a spectacular setting - we're lucky to be able to stage squash events in sensational buildings. That's the beauty of the game, you can put a glass court almost wherever you want."

Peter Barker, the 22-year-old from Upminster in Essex who made his England debut in last week's European Championships, beat Australia's experienced former world No10 Joseph Kneipp 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 in 31 minutes.

France's Thierry Lincou, one of four former world number ones in the Liverpool field, continued where he left off in the European Championships with another win over an Englishman. The 30-year-old from Marseille defeated England No1 James Willstrop in a hard-fought European final, then enjoyed a more straightforward 11-8, 11-2, 11-6 win over Surrey qualifier Stacey Ross at St George's Hall.

"It's always good beating an Englishman," said the world No3 afterwards - quickly adding "in a team competition," when mindful of possible misinterpretation by the largely English inquisitors!

In the final match of the day, Yorkshireman fifth seed Lee Beachill completed the quartet of England team winners when he beat Australia's Cameron Pilley 11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 11-2 in 49 minutes.

1st round:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Liam Kenny (IRL) 11-4, 3-11, 11-5, 11-7 (49m)
[15] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Alex Stait (ENG) 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 (28m)
[6] John White (SCO) bt Simon Parke (ENG) 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (3-1), 11-4 (47m)
[9] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [Q] Scott Handley (ENG) 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 (30m)
[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 (83m)
[11] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Daryl Selby (ENG) 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (53m)
[5] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 11-2 (49m)
[13] Alex Gough (WAL) bt Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 (36m)
[12] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt [Q] Lee Drew (ENG) 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5 (56m)
[7] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Dan Jenson (AUS) 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 (50m)
[10] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-3, 11-5, 11-8 (33m)
[3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [Q] Stacey Ross (ENG) 11-8, 11-2, 11-6 (35m)
[16] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Joseph Kneipp (AUS) 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 (31m)
[8] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 (30m)
[14] Shahid Zaman (PAK) bt Joey Barrington (ENG) 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 7-6 ret. (65m)
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) 11-10 (3-1), 11-10 (3-1), 11-5 (39m)