England Players Storm Into Last Sixteen In Melbourne
All eight of the England players competing in the squash singles in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne comfortably secured places in the last sixteen in today's (Thursday) first day of action at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
Fourth-seeded Londoner Peter Nicol, the 1998 singles champion who is in his third successive appearance in the Games, confidently brushed aside South African Rodney Durbach 9-5, 9-1, 9-1 in 29 minutes to set up a surprise third round match with Matthew Giuffre, an unseeded Canadian who knocked out Pakistan's 11th seed Shahid Zaman.
British National champion Nick Matthew, the No7 seed from Sheffield, defeated Zambian Chiluba Chilufya 9-2, 9-1, 9-2 in 29 minutes and will now take on Malaysia's ninth seed Ong Beng Hee.
Fellow Yorkshireman Lee Beachill, the fifth seed from Pontefract, despatched South African veteran Craig van der Wath 9-1, 9-2, 9-1 in 28 minutes. The former world No1 will now meet Welshman Alex Gough, the 13th seed who earned his place in the last sixteen when his Bermudan opponent James Stout retired injured midway through their third game.
But the Englishman who had the easiest ride on day one was No2 seed James Willstrop. The 22-year-old from Pontefract, who is making his debut in the Games, didn't even need to get his racket out of the bag as Scottish opponent Harry Leitch conceded a walkover after sustaining an injury in his earlier first round match.
In the women's event, Lincolnshire's Tania Bailey, from Stamford, convincingly beat Diana Argyle of South Africa 9–3, 9–1, 9-0.
Commenting on her victory, eighth seed Bailey said: “I don’t think I have ever played this early in the tournament before but it was nice to get the first match out of the way. My preparation has gone really well.
“I had not played the South African before so she was a bit of an unknown to me,” she added. “It took me a few points to get used to her style of play as she played better than I expected.”
Team England’s players dominated all their matches. Jenny Duncalf, the fifth seed from Harrogate in Yorkshire, beat Scotland’s Louise Philip 9–2, 9-3, 9-0.
Manchester's Vicky Botwright, the No4 seed, beat Sharon Chimfwembe of Zambia 9–0, 9–0, 9–3, while sixth seed Linda Elriani, from Eastbourne, beat Jamaica’s Karen Anderson 9–4, 9–1, 9–2.