Top Seeds Through To British Open Semis, Willstrop Survives Pilley Scare by Steve Cubbins
photos courtesy Steve Cubbins
May 24, 2013
- With high winds and cold temperatures in Hull, the decision was taken
to move the quarter-finals to the Hull and East Riding Club, while work
was undertaken on the showcourt in the KC Stadium in anticipation of
better weather (the forecast is good) and sellout crowds for the
weekend's semis and finals.
First up on the club's glass court was defending champion Nicol David.
The Malaysian was given a stern test by New Zealand's Joelle King for
two games, but the four-time champion took the match by the scruff of
the neck to complete a straight-games win.
Gregory Gaultier overcame Tarek Momen in a match that was interrupted a
few times due to a slightly slippy floor, but the Frenchman managed to
stay ahead of an equally-determined opponent in each of the three games.
Alison Waters turned in a superb performance to dispatch Australia's
Kasey Brown in straight games, and further English success followed as
defending champion Nick Matthew was almost as efficient in his
straight-game defeat of Karim Darwish.
The evening session saw two Egyptian followed by two English wins.
First Raneem El Weleily came from a game down to beat England's Jenny
Duncalf, then top seed Ramy Ashour kept his year-long unbeaten run
going with a three-nil win over Borja Golan - who took him to five last
year.
Laura Massaro reached the semi- finals for the second year in a row
with a nailbiting four-game win over her Egyptian nemesis Omneya Abdel
Kawy, and the day concluded with an astonishing comeback win for
three-time finalist James Willstrop, who found himself two games down
and into extra points in the third against Cameron Pilley.
Willstrop survived that and went on to take the next two with
increasing authority, and described the 107-minute marathon as "so
intense it's brain ache."
Allam British Open 2013 - Fri 24th May, Day SEVEN: