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arrow pointing leftBack 11 December 17 - by Fiona Tomas

Massaro headlines strong English quartet in second round

England No.1 Laura Massaro insists she is cautious of “rocking up for a practice match” when she faces a last-16 showdown with Wales’ Tesni Evans at the AJ Bell PSA World Championships.

The No.5 seed overpowered Belgium’s Nele Gilis in a comfortable three-game salvo to book her place in round three of the tournament, where she will take on No.16 seed Evans in a repeat of their quarter-final clash at last month’s Hong Kong Open.

Massaro, the 2013 World Champion, was ruthless against the Belgian qualifier as she gave her little room to attack and 11-4 victories in games one and three bookended a tighter 11-7 triumph in the second to send the 34-year-old Lancastrian through to round two.

And despite being relieved to have her first game of the tournament under her belt, Massaro admitted she was cautious to not get to comfy in her familiar training base at Manchester’s National Squash Centre.

“With all the build-up and with it being in Manchester, I’ve been asked a lot of questions about the event, not only for the last few weeks but the last few months, so it was great to get it going,” the double Allam British Open champion said.

“It feels nice playing back in Manchester, because I know this centre so well. I’ve spent half of my career training down here since the Commonwealth Games in 2002.

“I’ve got to be careful it doesn’t feel too homely, like I’m just rocking up for a practice match, so it was nice to have some home support and I’m sure it’ll be the same again tomorrow.”

There was further success for England's former World No.3 Alison Waters, who enjoyed a straight-games win over qualifier Yathreb Abel.

The 33 year-old cruised to a 2-0 lead inside just 10 minutes, allowing her Egyptian opponent just three and four points, respectively, and set up a second round clash with World No.5 Nouran Gohar, who beat Mariam Metwally.

“I'm looking forward to playing Gohar on the glass court,” said Waters.

“I’ve played her a few times and she’s got the better of me in the last few matches, but we’ve got the home crowd here and I’m playing well today, so I'm really looking forward to it.”

Elsewhere, Sarah-Jane Perry opened her first World Championships on home soil with a comprehensive victory over Millie Tomlinson.

The 2015 British National champion dispatched her compatriot 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 and is now relishing the chance to lock horns with No.9 seed Joelle King, who came up short against at the Hong Kong Open last month. Perry said,

“I’m really happy, especially to win 3-0. Millie’s a tough opponent – she’s been climbing up the ranks steadily and she’s really knocking on the door on some of the top 10.”

“I’m looking forward to playing Joelle on Wednesday and hopefully reverse the result from Hong Kong a few weeks ago!”

In the second all-English female encounter of the day, Victoria Lust resisted an insurgence from compatriot Fiona Moverley to seal her second-round berth, winning 11-6, 11-2, 6-11, 6-11, 11-6.

Moverley showed fantastic reserve to battle back from two games, enjoying the upper hand over Lust’s volleys to level at 2-2.

But it was Lust - the 2011 British U23 National champion - who mustered enough strength to see off her East Yorkshire opponent in a competitive fifth game, having the final word after a 44-minute intense battle.

Meanwhile, Jenny Duncalf lost in straight sets to eight-time world champion Nicol David, 11-2, 11-7, 11-6 and Emily Whitlock came up short against Japan’s Satomi Watanabe, losing 11-3, 10-2, 5-11, 11-9.

Watch more action tomorrow on Eurosport Player or view live scores on the official Championships website.