Massaro wins Allam British Open title with Matthew defeated in men's final

Laura Massaro defeated Sarah-Jane Perry to win her second Allam British Open championship but there was to be no fourth title for Nick Matthew.

This year saw three English players in the finals for the first time in 64 years and the prospect of two English winners, which had not happened since before the Second World War.

First up at the Airco Arena in Hull was Massaro [5] v Perry [7], a repeat of the National Squash Championships final in February. Perry, 26, was on the hunt for her first World Series trophy with Massaro looking to add a second Allam British Open title to her 2013 victory.

And it was World No.5 Massaro who raced into a commanding 9/5 lead, winning the first game 11/8. She won the second by the same scoreline before Perry hit back 6/11. Massaro composed herself to comfortably win 11/6 win the fourth game 11/6 to seal the win in 55 minutes.

“It’s unbelievable," she said. "When I won the British Open the first time I was so happy and there was a little bit more pressure coming into today. With that first title, I played Nicol [David, in the final] and she was World No.1 at the time and there wasn’t any pressure on me at all whereas today, as much as you tell yourself there’s not an awful amount of pressure on you – it’s a British Open final.

“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, you want to win it. I’m proud and pleased for England Squash that there was three of us in the final.”

The win is set to push Massaro up to second in the world behind Nour El Sherbini in next month's rankings. Perry currently sits at a career high eighth in the world rankings and with performances like she has produced this week she will be optimistic she can reach more finals in the future.

The 26-year-old said: “If you said to me at the start of the week I was going to make it to the final, I would have taken that result. I tried to just enjoy myself but Laura played really well today. She didn’t let me play my game as well as I wanted to. But I’m really happy to be part of an historic, all-English final.”

With the destiny of the women’s trophy determined it was over to England No.1 and three-time British Open champion Nick Matthew to create more history. The competition had not had two English winners in the same year since 1939, before the Second World War.

His start against Gregory Gaultier (France), who was looking to replace Mohamed ElShorbagy (Egypt) as World No.1, was phenomenal as he steamed into an 8/2 lead before winning the opening game 11/8. But he was unable to maintain that intensity as the Frenchman began to find his rhythm, dictating the pace. Gaultier ended any hopes of a second English victory after 67 minutes, with the final score 8/11, 11/7, 11/3, 11/3.

Matthew, 36, said: “Once he gets in that mode he’s like a machine, it’s so hard to get him off the T. I felt like I was playing really well in the first game-and-a-half, I felt strong. It’s testament to the work that he put into me that I felt like I was running on empty at the end. There’s not many people who can make you feel like that on the tour.”