Yorkshire Stars Maintain Mamut Momentum

Yorkshire squash stars continued to excel on today's second day of first round action in the Mamut English Open, hosted by Sheffield City Council, at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Six players from the host county will now compete for places in the semi-finals after Lee Beachill, Adrian Grant and James Willstrop tonight joined Yorkshire colleagues Peter Nicol, Nick Matthew and Simon Parke in Friday's quarter-final line-up.

Second seed Lee Beachill, the world No2 from Pontefract, and seventh seed Adrian Grant, the world No16 from Halifax, both overcame unseeded opposition - but did so in contrasting styles. In the final clash of the day, Pontefract's world No13 James Willstrop clinched his place in the last eight.

Grant, a former European Junior Champion, lost the first game against Peter Barker, the youngest player in the tournament, but soon imposed his greater experience to take the next two form only ten points. But the 20-year-old from Upminster in Essex, a qualifier, fought back to force the match into a fifth game decider.

London-born Grant, a left-hander, kept his composure to win the match 12-15 15-5 15-5 12-15 15-8 in 93 minutes - and now faces Beachill, his England team-mate, for a place in the last four.

Beachill never looked troubled as he strode to a 15-7 15-11 15-11 victory in 42 minutes over the Pakistan No1 Mansoor Zaman, ranked 20 in the world.

"It takes a bit of getting used to playing tournaments again," said Beachill, 26, after his first competitive match since May. "You can spend as much time on the practice court as you like, but it's not the same. I felt quite rusty. Mansoor attacks the ball well, so your movement has to be good, and I was pleased with that aspect of my game."

Scotland's defending champion John White (pictured) was given a scare by wild card entrant Ben Garner and needed 69 minutes to squeeze past the 24-year-old from Surrey. The world No5 from Nottingham recently doubled the size of his family when his wife gave birth to twins - "and the kids keep waking up," explained the 31-year-old.

"It's never a good thing to go into the first round of a tournament tired," said a relieved White, after his 15-10 9-15 15-9 5-15 15-11 win in 69 minutes. "Ben played well, and it shows how you have to be at your best these days with a lot of players capable of getting good results."

James Willstrop, appearing for the last time as reigning world junior champion, was made to work hard for his straight games victory over Oxfordshire qualifier Scott Handley. The tall Yorkshireman was well on top in the first two games, and although Handley threatened to take a game at 12-10 in the third, Willstrop's shot-making skills pulled him through to a victory which sets up a quarter-final meeting with John White.