Malik Survives Bryant Test As Seeds Advance To British Nationals Quarters

The opening round of the 2024 British National Championships saw all 16 seeded players reach the quarter-finals as Curtis Malik battled it out with Jonah Bryant; defending champion Jasmine Hutton took down Amelie Haworth] and Marwan ElShorbagy claimed a win on his tournament debut at St George's Hill Lawn Tennis Club.

In a sensational display of squash on the traditional courts, Curtis Malik took down English Junior U19 champion Jonah Bryant in four games.

The pair were inseparable throughout the first game as the English pair went to a tie-break. The match drew the largest crowd that court one had seen so far in the competition, and the players lived up to the crowd's expectations as they battled for 24 minutes. Bryant eventually took a 1/0 advantage after two mistakes by the 2022 quarter-finalist.

Malik looked composed as he returned to court, and his experience shone through as the 25-year-old took the next two games in 22 minutes. The No.5 seed took a quick lead in the fourth game. Bryant fought back to two points behind, but Malik saw out the match to earn his place in the next round.

After the match, Malik said, "I'm feeling pretty good, I put in a hard summer's training with a lot of physical work and it's nice to see that come through in that match there. It was a long, physical game where we played for over 70 minutes for a 3/1.

"We had such a long game - the first one was 24 minutes and I made two, silly errors at the backend of the game to give him the game. I wasn't too disheartened as I put a lot of work into his legs and it paid off in the end.

Defending champion Jasmine Hutton beat British Junior U19 champion Amelie Haworth to claim her place in the quarter-finals. Haworth tried to cause issues for the two-time champion, but Hutton showed her quality as she won the match in three straight games.

Speaking about her opponent after the match, Hutton said: "It's a bit of a catch 22. Amelie is up and coming and I've never played her before. I've watched her very closely since she was a young junior so I know how good she is. It's a mix of the pressure of playing someone you don't know and it's my first event of the season so I've put a lot of work in. You have pressure of proving how hard you've worked. I'm happy to be through."

Tournament debutant Marwan ElShorbagy claimed his quarter-final spot after defeating Perry Malik in the final men's first-round match. Malik was playing positive squash and earned the first game ball for his efforts, but ElShorbagy started to disrupt the 23-year-old's game, and quickly flipped the script to take a 1/0 lead.

The former world No.3 found his footing in the match and won the second and third games 11-6, 11-6 to take his spot in the quarter-finals. ElShorbagy spoke about his thoughts on the event after the match.

"I've always followed the British Nationals and I've lived in England for a very long time so I know how big it is here," said ElShorbagy.

"I know the likes of Nick [Matthew], James [Willstrop], Daryl Selby - all the previous generation I was following them because I was a fan of them so I knew how important this is. I'm happy to be here and I'll try and win."

Elsewhere, No.2 seeds Joel Makin and Sarah-Jane Perry followed top seeds Mohamed ElShorbagy and Gina Kennedy into the quarter-finals after all four players won their matches in straight games.