Emyr Evans joined Peter Creed in the first round proper of the Dunlop British National Squash championships in Manchester with a battling victory over Julian Tomlinson.
The reward for the 21-year-old Cardiffian is a clash with Scotland’s World Ranked No 33, Greg Lobban in the first round on Thursday, 15 February. It is the first time in five attempts he has qualified for the main competition.
Evans was runner-up in the Prague Open in December to Jordan’s Mohammad Alsarraj, ranked 39 places above him in the PSA World Rankings, and has already won three games in Manchester to reach the first round. He despatched Josh Taylor (11-7, 11-4, 12-10) and Charlie Cowie (11-0, 11-6, 11-6) before beating Tomlinson (11-7, 11-4, 12-10).
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games bound Creed is due to meet England’s Daryl Selby, who is ranked 3/4. Both Creed and Evans are in the bottom half of the main draw, keeping them away from No 1 seed Nick Matthew, who is chasing a 10th title.
In the women’s tournament, Hannah Davies just missed out on a ticket into the first round as she was beaten in four games by Scotland’s Alison Thomson. Davies took the first game 11-9 before going down 11-6, 11-2, 11-9 to the top seed in qualifying.
That means Gold Coast-bound Tesni Evans will fly the Welsh flag for the women in Manchester. Seeded 3/4 she is due to meet Thomson in the first round and finds herself on course for a potential semi-final clash with No 1 seed Laura Massaro.
Ranked fourth in the world to Evans’ No 12, Massaro is the reigning champion and looking for her third British crown. The former world No.1 was famously beaten by Evans in their last meeting in a 77 minute thriller at the World Championships in December.