Beachill On Course For Maiden British Open Title

England's Lee Beachill is seeded to reach the final of this week's Dunlop British Open at the National Squash Centre in Manchester - and feels that he has a good chance of winning the world's most prestigious squash title for the first time.

But the 27-year-old Yorkshireman, who has been at number two in the world rankings throughout this year, suffered the indignity of being dropped to fourth place when the latest Dunlop PSA World Rankings were published at the beginning of the month.

"The way I've been playing for the last few months, I didn't deserve to be two in the world," exclaimed the England No1 on the eve of the championships. "But I'm playing a lot better now, and if I play well and move well, I've got a real chance of being the British Open champion this year for the first time since making my debut in the event in 1998."

Beachill, a five-times British National championships finalist and the only player to have successfully defended the men's national title, has had mixed success on the world tour recently - including the loss to a qualifier in the first round of last month's St Louis Open in the USA.

"I had a bit of a break in the summer, and it took a bit longer than I thought it would to get over it," explained Beachill. "But I've been feeling a lot more positive over the past few weeks, and have got a few good wins under my belt, so things seem to be back to normal."

The British Open is widely regarded as the 'Wimbledon of Squash' and Beachill has always seen this title as one of the sport's most prized acquisitions: "I grew up looking up the British Open as the ultimate goal - knowing that being able to call yourself 'British Open Champion' is really something. I would certainly love to see my name on that trophy."

Beachill, one of six current or former world number ones in the star-studded men's draw, admits that there a number of players that pose a threat: "I'm one of about six or seven players in with a chance of winning the men's title - including Canadian Jonathon Power, Australia's defending champion David Palmer, France's world champion Thierry Lincou and my England team-mate and Commonwealth Games Doubles gold medal partner Peter Nicol.

"And there are the younger players like Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, and my Pontefract training partner James Willstrop - so I've got my work cut out," conceded the Yorkshireman.

"It's great that the event is back in Manchester, and I really hope that the new promoter Paul Walters, with the support of Dunlop and Manchester City Council, can restore the prestige of this great event and make it again the tournament it once was," concluded Beachill, who begins his 2005 campaign against a qualifier on Tuesday.

Manchester-based world No7 Vicky Botwright heads the British interest in the women's event. The 28-year-old sixth seed is enjoying the best form of her career after winning the Gerrard Grand Prix Championship title on the all-glass court at the National Squash Centre last month - then picking up the Yokohama Open trophy in Japan less than a week later.

Australia's five-times world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald will make her debut in the Dunlop British Open Masters event, as top seed in the Women's Over-35 championship. The 35-year-old winner of a record 63 major World Tour titles has already claimed her first 'seniors' title by winning the World Masters Games Over-35 trophy in Canada this summer.

After qualifying, which begins today, the 2005 Dunlop British Open gets underway at the National Squash Centre at Sportcity on Tuesday (11 October) - leading to the finals on Monday 17 October.

Men's 1st round draw:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v Qualifier
[12] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) v Alex Gough (WAL)
[5] Peter Nicol (ENG) v Laurence Delasaux (ENG)
[14] Shahid Zaman (PAK) v Qualifier
[3] David Palmer (AUS) v Joey Barrington (ENG)
[15] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v Simon Parke (ENG)
[6] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) v Qualifier
[10] Graham Ryding (CAN) v Peter Barker (ENG)
[13] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v Qualifier
[8] John White (SCO) v Qualifier
[9] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Mark Chaloner (ENG)
[4] Jonathon Power (CAN) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[11] Adrian Grant (ENG) v Qualifier
[7] James Willstrop (ENG) v Laurens Jan Anjema (NED)
[16] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) v Qualifier
[2] Lee Beachill (ENG) v Qualifier

Women's 1st round draw:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v Qualifier
[7] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) v Annelize Naude (NED)
[3] Nicol David (MAS) v Shelley Kitchen (NZL)
[6] Vicky Botwright (ENG) v Madeline Perry (IRL)
[5] Natalie Grainger (USA) v Qualifier
[4] Natalie Grinham (AUS) v Jenny Tranfield (ENG)
[8] Tania Bailey (ENG) v Qualifier
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) v Qualifier