BRITISH OPEN SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: British Open Squash Championships, Nottingham, England

Men's Qualifying finals:
Alex Gough (WAL) bt Del Harris (ENG) 15-10, 15-10, 12-6 ret. (44m)
Nick Taylor (ENG) bt Bradley Ball (ENG) 15-12, 15-10, 15-4 (43m)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 15-9, 15-13, 15-5 (50m)
James Willstrop (ENG) bt Simon Parke (ENG) 15-7, 15-12, 15-10 (62m)

Women's Qualifying finals:
Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-2, 9-7, 9-2 (45m)
Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 10-9, 6-9, 9-3, 9-4 (72m)
Carla Khan (PAK) bt Tegwen Malik (WAL) 9-2, 9-5, 5-9, 9-0 (45m)
Nicol David (MAS) bt Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 9-6, 9-4, 9-4 (37m)

Carla Khan In Historic British Open Debut

More than 40 years after her legendary grandfather Azam Khan won the first of his four titles, Carla Khan will become the first Pakistani to compete in the women's British Open Squash Championships after qualifying today (Tuesday) in Nottingham.

The 22-year-old world No34, who is based in Beaconsfield, England, upset the higher-ranked Welsh champion Tegwen Malik 9-2 9-5 5-9 9-0 in 45 minutes and will meet England's 8th seed Rebecca Macree - her training partner - in the first round.

The draw for the women's event produced another 'home' clash when New Zealand's world No15 Shelley Kitchen, who qualified after beating England's Jenny Duncalf 9-2 9-7 9-2, was paired up with compatriot Carol Owens, the world No1 and top seed.

In the men's qualifying finals, Finland's Olli Tuominen put paid to an all-British qualifier line-up when he upset England's world No22 Adrian Grant 15-9 15-13, 15-5 in 50 minutes to earn a first round clash with 6th seed Ong Beng Hee, from Malaysia.

Welsh No1 Alex Gough reserved his place in the first round against Yorkshire's 7th seed Lee Beachill after former England international Del Harris retired injured in the third game with a torn hamstring.

The best was saved to last when Nottingham-based Simon Parke, the former England No1 from Yorkshire, took on fellow Yorkshireman James Willstrop, the world junior champion from Pontefract who this week learned that he had been selected in place of Parke in England's team for the World Championships next month (October) in Austria.

Parke, 31, who famously led England to first-time success in the championships in 1995, then again two years later, faced a rapidly-improving 20-year-old rival who was in sensational form.  Willstrop led from the outset and, after 62 minutes of high-class squash, celebrated a significant 15-7 15-12 15-10 victory in front of the England selectors.

"That was really hard squash," said a tired and despondent Parke afterwards.  "I had a few chances but couldn't take them.  At 6' 5", he has fantastic reach and was always reading my cross-courts and volleys."  When asked if he felt he had been beaten by a future world champion, Parke responded:  "Possibly - but certainly, with Frenchman Gregory Gaultier and Egypt's Karim Darwish, he will be amongst the top three players in the world within the next five years."

While the women's first round matches get underway at Nottingham Squash Club at noon on Wednesday (01 October), the first session of men's matches begin at 6.30pm on the state-of-the-art all-glass court at the city's Albert Hall.

Updated 1st round draws:

Men:
[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) v Martin Heath (SCO)
[7] Lee Beachill (ENG) v [Q] Alex Gough (WAL)
[4] Jonathon Power (CAN) v Mark Chaloner (ENG)
[8] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) v [Q] James Willstrop (ENG)
[5] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) v [Q] Nick Taylor (ENG)
[3] John White (SCO) v Mansoor Zaman (PAK)
[6] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v [Q] Olli Tuominen (FIN)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) v Amr Shabana (EGY)

Women:
[1] Carol Owens (NZL) v [Q] Shelley Kitchen (NZL
[7] Natalie Grinham (AUS) v Stephanie Brind (ENG)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v Fiona Geaves (ENG)
[5] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) v Vicky Botwright (ENG)
[6] Cassie Jackman (ENG) v [Q] Laura Lengthorn (ENG)
[4] Linda Charman (ENG) v Jenny Tranfield (ENG)
[8] Rebecca Macree (ENG) v [Q] Carla Khan (PAK)
[2] Natalie Grainger (USA) v [Q] Nicol David (MAS)

Official website: www.britishopensquash.com