Matthew And Ashour Open Up With Wins

There were no major upsets in the season-ending World Series Finals with England and Egypt producing a double dose of wins at The Queens Club in London as the worlds top eight players adapted to a fast-paced, best-of-three format on the opening night.

Yorkshires James Willstrop, the world No 4, opened his account with a hard-fought 13-11, 11-6 win over debutant Alister Walker in 32 minutes.

World No 1 and favourite Nick Matthew, bidding to become the first Englishman to win the Finals, then ended the first night with a comfortable win over Wael El Hindi.

In between, Egyptian duo Amr Shabana and Ramy Ashour won contrasting Group games as a futuristic bubble and, inside, a purple-coloured squash court took centre stage at the 125 year-old Queens Club.

Walker led 10-4 but Willstrop one of four Englishmen in the tournament - overturned six game balls to take a lengthy opener in 21 minutes.

Walker, the former Leeds-based player who now resides in New York, looked visibly tired in the second and Willstrop wrapped up the game in 11 minutes.

Willstrop, who won Commonwealth silver in Delhi, said: It was tough for both of us having not played competitively for three weeks.

But I didnt want to let it go easily. I think I hurt him a bit in the second as I hoped it would and his pace dropped slightly.

Shabana looked in fine fettle and wasted no time in getting his campaign under way with a comfortable win over Londoner Peter Barker.

Shabana, the four-time world champion, came through 11-8, 11-2 in 28 minutes against Barker, another Englishman making his debut in the end-of-year finals.

The Egyptian said: This format is more compact and normally I would hit more winners but at least you know you wont lose the point by being safe. I gained confidence in the second and Im happy to be through.

Ashour, Egpyts supremely talented world No 2, then repeated Shabanas feats with a straight game win over French stalwart, Thierry Lincou.

However, the Cairo right-hander had to play near to his best. Despite Lincous left knee being heavily strapped, Ashour had to fight back in both games, and the Egyptian admitted afterwards: Im really glad I came back in both games as he was killing everything.

In the final match of the evening, a highly-consistent Matthew took on El Hindi, who first played this event back in 2000, as the Yorkshireman bids to add the World Series to his world and Commonwealth titles after a stellar year on the world tour.

Matthew, 30, missed last years tournament after recovering from shoulder surgery but now looks in good shape to qualify for the semi-finals after coming through 11-5, 11-7.

The venue is fantastic here and it will only get more interesting as the week goes on. I was a little bit headless to begin with but I tried to play my normal game and it worked.

Backed by Ziad Al-Turki, the charismatic Saudi businessman and Professional Squash Association chairman, the World Series Finals are the culmination of the 2010 Super Series season.

The eight players will play in two pools of four until Fridays semi-finals. The finals will take place on Saturday.

Group A:

James Willstrop (ENG) bt Alister Walker (ENG) 13-11, 11-6 (32 minutes)

Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-7, 13-11 (21 minutes)

Group B:

Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Peter Barker (ENG) 11-8, 11-2 (28 minutes)

Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-5, 11-7 (28 minutes)