Beachill & Willstrop Overcome Early Hurdles In Manchester

England and Pontefract club team-mates James Willstrop and Lee Beachill comfortably overcame their first hurdles in today's first round of the British National Championships with straight games wins at the National Squash Centre in Manchester.

Top seed Willstrop, the world No9 who was runner-up two years ago, despatched Welsh qualifier Jethro Binns 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 in 29 minutes to set up a last sixteen clash with fellow Englishman Alex Stait, the 16th seed from Gloucestershire.

"That was a good work out," said the 23-year-old Yorkshireman. "I didn't want it to go on too long - after all, it could be a long week."

Lee Beachill took just 20 minutes to down Nottingham qualifier Eddie Charlton 11-2, 11-1, 11-3. The three-times champion, who is bidding to reach the final for a record seventh successive year, will now face Oxford's 12th seed Scott Handley, who beat Gloucestershire qualifier Chris Tasker-Grindley 11-7, 11-5, 11-5.

Beachill and Willstrop are expected to meet, for the fourth year in a row, in Saturday's semi-finals.

Former champion Simon Parke, the No8 seed in his 15th appearance in the event since 1987, was taken the full distance by fellow Englishman Ben Ford before coming through 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5.

Both players are over 30 and, like Parke, Ford is a club coach - but unlike Parke, the 31-year-old England No27 from Kent has just rejoined the Professional Squash Association (PSA) after a gap of some eight years, whereas Yorkshireman Parke 'retired' from the pro circuit last year.

"I knew what to expect - Ben took a game off Peter Nicol in the Nationals last year," said Parke after his 71-minute marathon. "He's a cunning player and I'm glad to get through."

Despite having given up the international circuit, 34-year-old Parke seems to be playing more than ever. "I seem to be working harder than ever now, combining my coaching at the Heaton club in Bradford with playing most of the BSPA tournaments. I feel I'm playing well, but not playing full-time means that the pressure's off when I'm on court."

After taking the fourth game from 4-6 down, Ford could clearly see the winning post: "I just bottled it in the fifth, going for shots I hadn't tried earlier in the game. I was thinking I was on the verge of winning!"

As the day progressed, so the courts at the National Squash Centre continued to favour the more 'mature' player. Stephen Meads produced one of the two men's upsets of the day when he beat 19-year-old 14th seed Chris Simpson, the former European junior champion from Hampshire, 11-4, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0) in 63 minutes.

The win marked the 36-year-old former champion's 16th successive first round win in the event since making his debut in 1987. "It's a bit sad that I got myself really psyched up for that match - and was even quite nervous before it," said the Berkshire number one, who retired from the international circuit three years ago. "As I don't play events on a regular basis, this one means a lot to me.

"But it's good to show that there's still life in the old dog," said the 1995 champion. "It was 'old-school' squash, not necessarily very pretty. But he'll probably go away and think about that for a long time."

Later, another 'senior' player dismissed one of the up-and-coming seeds when Devonian Hadrian Stiff, aged 33, defeated 13th seed Tom Richards, a 20-year-old from Surrey, 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 in 27 minutes.

Another fine demonstration of 'seasoned' squash came when 36-year-old sixth Alex Gough, the reigning British Open Over-35 champion, took on Manchester's Nick Taylor, who is also the top seed in the British Nationals Over-35 Championship.

Gough had arrived from Sweden where 48 hours earlier he - unexpectedly - played the final of the Swedish Open after upsetting Egypt's world No8 Karim Darwish in the semi-finals. Gough and Taylor - both former runners-up in the event - thoroughly entertained the packed NSC crowd, who were desperately hoping for local success.

But, after 58 minutes, it was eventually Gough who prevailed - winning 8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 to reach the second round for the tenth time in 12 appearances since 1992.

Northern players excelled in the women's qualifying finals, with Lauren Siddall and Kirsty McPhee, both from Yorkshire, joining Merseyside's Karen Leach and Warwickshire's Vicky Hynes in the main draw.

Hynes, from Birmingham, will face local star Vicky Botwright, the No2 seed from Worsley in Manchester who is expected to reach the final for the first time in eight appearances.

Men's 1st round:
[1] James Willstrop (Yorks) bt [Q] Jethro Binns (Wales) 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 (29m)
[16] Alex Stait (Glos) bt [Q] Tom Pashley (Sussex) 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 (28m)
[7] Jonathan Kemp (Shropshire) bt Peter Billson (Lancs) 11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7 (32m)
Tim Vail (Sussex) bt Adrian Waller (Herts) 11-6, 8-11, 11-1, 11-8 (34m)
[3] Lee Beachill (Yorks) bt [Q] Eddie Charlton (Notts) 11-2, 11-1, 11-3 (20m)
[12] Scott Handley (Oxon) bt [Q] Chris Tasker-Grindley (Glos) 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (24m)
[6] Alex Gough (Wales) bt Nick Taylor (Lancs) 8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (58m)
[9] Alister Walker (Glos) bt [Q] Jaymie Haycocks (Shropshire) 11-10 (2-0), 11-6, 11-5 (43m)
[10] Daryl Selby (Essex) bt [Q] Shaun le Roux (Yorks) 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (36m)
[8] Simon Parke (Yorks) bt Ben Ford (Kent) 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5 (71m)
Stephen Meads (Berks) bt [14] Chris Simpson (Hants) 11-4, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0) (63m)
[4] Adrian Grant (Kent) bt [Q] Stephen Siviter (Merseyside) 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 (38m)
[15] Lee Drew (Essex) bt Peter Genever (Sussex) 11-10 (2-0), 11-4, 7-11, 3-11, 11-7 (70m)
[5] Peter Barker (Essex) bt [Q] Jonathan Harford (Glos) 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 (33m)
Hadrian Stiff (Devon) bt [13] Tom Richards (Surrey) 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 (27m)
[2] John White (Scotland) bt Andrew Whipp (Cheshire) 11-6, 10-11 (0-2), 11-6, 11-7 (43m)

Women's qualifying finals:
Lauren Siddall (Yorks) bt Louise Clark (Hants) 9-5, 9-2, 9-1 (26m)
Karen Leach (Merseyside) bt Victoria Bell (Cumbria) 10-8, 10-9, 9-6 (48m)
Vicky Hynes (Warwicks) bt Rachel Willmott (Sussex) 9-2, 9-7, 7-9, 9-2 (38m)
Kirsty McPhee (Yorks) bt Stacey Sephton (Middx) 9-0, 9-3, 9-6 (27m)