[1] Nada Abbas (Egy) 3-2 [2] Emily Whitlock (Wal) 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5 (62m)
Jonah Bryant (Eng) 3-1 Mohamed Zakaria (Egy) 8-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-6 (75m)
Semis : Bryant and Zakaria set up BJO rematch
Unseeded sensations Jonah Bryant and Mohamed Zakaria set up a rematch of their British Junior Open final in January as they advanced to the final of the Irish Open in Dublin.
Bryant, having already beaten James Willstrop and top seed Nick Wall, got the better of in-form Declan James in four games while Zakaria ousted second seed George Parker in five games.
In the women’s draw top seeds Nada Abbas and Emily Whitlock advanced to the finals each with their third straight games win.
Quarters : Egyptians join British trios in Dublin semis
Both sets of semi-finals at the Fitzwilliam Club will see a trio of Brits plus a lone Egyptian bidding to reach the finals.
Women’s top seed Nada Abbas meets surprise package Kiera Marshall, while second seed Emily Whitlock faces Asia Harris, who overcame long-time rival Torrie Malik in five games.
England’s European U19 champion Jonah Bryant took out top seeded compatriot Nick Wall and now faces Declan James who is on a hot run of form following his return from injury. In the other semi second seed George Parker faces British Junior Open champion Mohamed Zakaria.
Day One : Craig boost home hopes at Fitzwilliam
Hannah Craig was the highlight for Ireland on day 1 as she becomes the sole hometown
favourite to progress to round after a comfortable straight games victory against South African
Hayley Ward. Hannah will be back in action on Premier Sports 2 tomorrow night at 18:45 when she
takes on seventh seed Yasshimita Jadish Kumar.
Kaitlyn Watts, Karina Tyma and Lea Barbeau all secured passage through to round two with ease,
each winning 3-0, while Kiera Marshall dropped just one game as she overcame Ambre Allinckx.
Despite heroic battles it wasn’t to be for Irish women Breanne Flynn and Hannah McGugan
who both went down in straight games to Lowri Roberts and Alison Thomson.
There was no hometown hero story on the men’s side of the draw as Sam Buckley and Sean
Conroy couldn’t muster comebacks in their 3-1 defeats to Noor Zaman and Perry Malik.
It was comfortable however for Jonah Bryant, Declan James and Mohamad Zakaria who all
booked round two slots with 3-0 wins. Former world #1 James Willstrop set up a clash with top seed Nick Wall as he despatched James Peach 3-1. There were also 3-1 wins for Dewald van Niekerk and Ivan Perez.
Tomorrow’s Round Two will see the eight seeded players enter both draws with plenty of potential for surprises and upsets.
