RESULTS:        Wolverhampton Open Squash Championships, Wolverhampton, England

Men's qualifying finals:
Simon Rosner (GER) bt Scott Arnold (AUS)                                11-8, 11-3, 11-1
Chris Simpson (ENG) bt Andrew Whipp (ENG)                            10-11 (0-2), 11-6, 11-0, 8-11, 11-10 (2-0)
Lee Drew (ENG) bt Laurence Delasaux (ENG)                            11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 11-6
Jonathan Harford (ENG) bt Jesse Engelbrecht (ZIM)               5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-3

Women's qualifying finals:
Laura Hill (ENG) bt Kirsty McPhee (ENG)                                   9-4, 9-5, 10-8
Vicky Hynes (ENG) bt Emma Chorley (ENG)                                10-9, 9-2, 6-9, 9-7
Emma Beddoes (ENG) bt Lotte Eriksen (NOR)                             9-1, 9-3, 9-0
Lauren Siddall (ENG) bt Deon Saffery (ENG)                            9-0, 9-0, 9-1

England’s British Junior Champion Chris Simpson continued his fine run of form at the inaugural Wolverhampton Open, leading seven compatriots through to the main draw of the UK’s biggest club-based squash championships with an enthralling 10-11 (0-2), 11-6, 11-0, 8-11, 11-10 (2-0) win over fellow Englishman Andrew Whipp.

The 19-year-old former European Junior Champion from Guernsey, who signed-off a highly successful junior career in February when he retained the Men's Under 19 title at the British Junior Championships, lost a highly competitive first game in a tie-break, before bouncing back in emphatic style.

After breaking his opponent's rhythm with subtle changes of pace and cleverly disguised drops shots to take a seemingly unassailable 2/1 lead, Simpson fell heavily in the opening rally of the fourth game, and despite competing for every ball was unable to regain the same level of composure and ascendancy. Whipp, 25, from Cheshire, capitalised upon his opponent's more cautious movement to draw level at two games all, and even served for the match before Simpson eventually combined breathtaking retrieval and audacious attack to close-out the match.

“It feels great to have qualified for the main draw having gone to five against such an experienced player,” said Simpson.  “I fell awkwardly at the beginning of the fourth, but was determined to push-on, particularly after playing so well in the second and third games,” added the Yorkshire-based teenager who will now take on veteran Yorkshire player Simon Parke, a former British National champion

Germany's reigning European Junior Champion Simon Rosner recorded a comfortable 11-8, 11-3, 11-1 win over Australian Scott Arnold to become the only non-English player to qualify.  Meanwhile Jonathan Harford, from Leeds, defeated Jesse Engelbrecht of Zimbabwe 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-3, and Essex's Lee Drew brushed aside fellow Englishman Laurence Delasaux 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 11-6 to claim the other men's qualifying slots.

All four women’s qualifying places in the inaugural Wolverhampton Open were secured by English players.  Birmingham's Vicky Hynes, making her competitive return to the Women’s World Tour having recently given birth to her first child, defeated compatriot Emma Chorley 10-9, 9-2, 6-9, 9-7 to reach her first WISPA first round since November 2004.

Local interest was boosted further by the straight games triumph over Norway's Lotte Eriksen by Warwick's Emma Beddoes.  The 21-year-old former British Junior champion beat the Norwegian 9-1, 9-3, 9-0 – while Derbyshire's Laura Hill triumphed over the highest-ranked qualifying finalist Kirsty McPhee 9-4, 9-5, 10-8.

The all-Yorkshire clash between Lauren Siddall and Deon Saffery ended quickly when Siddall, 22, from Pontefract, crushed her opponent for the loss of just a single point.

Updated Men's 1st round draw:
[1] Alex Gough (WAL) v Kashif Shuja (NZL)
[6] Amr Mansi (EGY) v Scott Handley (ENG)
[3] Borja Golan (ESP) v Chris Ryder (ENG)
[8] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [Q] Simon Rosner (GER)
[7] Stacey Ross (ENG) v Alex Stait (ENG)
[4] Simon Parke (ENG) v [Q] Chris Simpson (ENG)
[5] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) v [Q] Jonathan Harford (ENG)
[2] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) v [Q] Lee Drew (ENG) 
 

Updated Women's 1st round draw:
[1] Vicky Botwright (ENG) v Jenna Gates (ENG)
[7] Sarah Kippax (ENG) v [Q] Lauren Siddall (ENG)
[4] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) v [Q] Laura Hill (ENG)
[6] Rebecca Botwright (ENG) v Line Hansen (DEN)
[8] Orla Noom (NED) v [Q] Emma Beddoes (ENG)
[3] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) v Manuela Manetta (ITA)
[5] Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) v Aisling Blake (IRL)
[2] Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) v [Q] Vicky Hynes (ENG)