Beachill Beats Lincou In Gerrard Grand Prix Upset

The opening match in the Gerrard British Grand Prix at the National Squash Centre in Manchester saw England's James Willstrop go down in four games to Egyptian Amr Shabana 11-7 11-7 6-11 11-7.

Speaking of the tournament, the World No1 from Cairo said: "A great early season event and a key part of my bid for a first British Open title. The match practice is really important at this time of the season, particularly with the British Open starting next week."

The second match at Sportcity saw a major upset with Karim Darwish taking control of the Manchester Group with an 11-6, 11-5, 11-1 victory over newly-crowned World Champion David Palmer.

"I was very happy with my performance and having not lived up to the huge expectation at the World Open last week I'm really looking forward to a good season ahead," said the 25-year-old Egyptian World No.10 after his straight games win over the Australian.

The World Champion was defiant in defeat: "My schedule since winning the World Open has been pretty tough - and tonight was just too soon. But following a good night's rest you can expect to see the real David Palmer tomorrow!"

In the next match on court World No.8 Nick Matthew despatched talented England team mate Peter Barker 11-7 11-7 11-9 in 50 minutes.

British National Champion Matthew believes Barker has a great future ahead of him, saying: "That was a very enjoyable match and it's only a matter of time before Peter is a force to be reckoned with."

The 26-year-old from Sheffield added: "It was on this court that I won the Nationals and again I felt good tonight, my confidence is high and I'm hoping for a good tournament."

The last match of the opening qualifying round proved to be the longest of the evening session, with England's three-time British Champion Lee Beachill coming back from 1-2 down to beat reigning Gerrard British Grand Prix Champion Thierry Lincou 10-11(1-3) 11-4 10-11(0-2) 11-7 11-10(5-3) in 99 minutes.

The Englishman was delighted with his performance saying: "I wanted to win tonight to get back into the winning habit, particularly against one of the best players in the world."

1st Qualifying Round:
Manchester Group:
Karim Darwish (EGY) bt David Palmer (AUS) 11-6, 11-5, 11-1 (30m)
Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Thierry Lincou (FRA) 10-11(1-3), 11-4, 10-11(0-2), 11-7, 11-10(5-3) (99m)

Gerrard Group:
Amr Shabana (EGY) bt James Willstrop (ENG) 11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7 (35m)
Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Peter Barker (ENG) 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 (50m)