Daunting British Opener For Richards

Wildcard Tom Richards faces the daunting task of taking on World Champion and number one seed Nick Matthew, his England team-mate, when the 2014 Allam British Open gets underway in Hull next month.

Richards, the world No27, was pitted against Matthew during the live draw for the tournament that took place at the University of Hull on Wednesday and was one of several mouth-watering first-round line-ups revealed.

English No2 and world No6 James Willstrop will have to be at his best when he faces dangerous German Simon Rosner, the world No11, in a difficult first-round contest - while home hopes Peter Barker and Daryl Selby face difficult opening matches against Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema and Indian Saurav Ghosal, respectively.

Speaking at the draw, Willstrop said: "My first round match against Simon Rosner from Germany is really tough.

"It's not ideal but that doesn't matter, you just have to concentrate on that match and the rest of the tournament just works itself out from there.

"I used to watch the British Open when I was a kid," added the three-time runner-up. "It's got something special that all the players talk about. It's the most prestigious event in squash history, you talk about players like Jonah Barrington, Jahangir Khan, Jansher Khan who won multiple titles and it's the one we all want to win."

Elsewhere number two seed and current world No1 Gregory Gaultier of France will take on England's Chris Simpson, who made his first ever appearance in the world's top 20 this month - and Spain's world No5 Borja Golan will meet dangerous Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet in his opening match.