Nick Matthew, James Willstrop and Peter Barker led an English charge in the opening round of the 2014 JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, which got underway at Grand Central Terminal in New York.
World No1 Matthew eased past fellow countryman Adrian Grant 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 to book his place in the 2nd round where he will face South African Stephen Coppinger who beat Malaysian (Ong Beng Hee (11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 11-5).
World No5 Willstrop came from behind to get past Swiss qualifier Nicolas Mueller, eventually prevailing 7-11, 11-1, 12-10, 11-5 – while Barker defeated rising Egyptian star Karim Abdel Gawad 5-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7, 11-3.
Elsewhere on the opening day there Dutch star Laurens Jan Anjema overcame Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-8, 11-4, 11-9, Egyptian maestro Amr Shabana eased over compatriot Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 and Australian Cameron Pilley just need 32 minutes to beat Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-2, 11-6, 11-2.
Most interesting battle on the 1st day top half action was a French affair, where Mathieu Castagnet (le) needed 92 minutes to wear out his younger country-fellow Gregoire Marche (ri) 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4.
1st round:
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (40m)
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 11-5 (64m)
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-8, 11-4, 11-9 (47m)
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 (36m)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 5-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7, 11-3 (73m)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [Q] Gregoire Marche (FRA) 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 (92m)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-2, 11-6, 11-2 (32m)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 7-11, 11-1, 12-10, 11-5 (50m)
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v [WC] Todd Harrity (USA)
Tarek Momen (EGY) v [Q] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY)
Chris Simpson (ENG) v [Q] Ali Farag (EGY)
[8] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG)
[5] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Simon Rosner (GER)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v Alister Walker (BOT)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Tom Richards (ENG)
