British Grand Prix Sees Home Favourite Matthew Battle for Honours

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England No.1 Nick Matthew will be looking to capture his fourth AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix title when the PSA M70 tournament takes place between December 2-5 at the National Squash Centre in Manchester.

The 36-year-old Yorkshireman has previously lifted this trophy in 2006, 2012 and 2014 as well as reaching the final of last year’s instalment, which saw him lose out to World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy.

Matthew made a slow start to the season with a surprise first round defeat at the NetSuite Open, but the three-time World Champion has shown glimpses of the form that has seen him top the World Rankings on four occasions, reaching the final of the U.S. Open in October, before falling to a narrow semi-final defeat in last month’s Qatar Classic.

Matthew, who faces tournament wildcard Joel Makin in round one, will be returning to the venue where he claimed his last World Championship title in 2013, and ‘The Wolf’ is seeded to meet the man he defeated to win that World Championship crown – World No.3 Gregory Gaultier – in the final.

Gaultier is making his first appearance on the PSA World Tour since he was forced to withdraw from the PSA Men’s World Championship last month due to an ankle injury.

After also missing the Qatar Classic, the ‘French General’ will hope to be approaching full fitness as he aims to advance past the semi-final stage of this tournament for the first time. World No.36 Adrian Waller stands between him and a place in the last eight.

Englishmen James Willstrop and Daryl Selby will be hoping to use the home crowd to their advantage to try and cause an upset, and both players have been in great form in recent months.

Former World No.1 James Willstrop has reached semi-finals at both the NetSuite Open and the U.S. Open – with the latter being his first World Series semi-final in two years – while Selby achieved his first World Series semi-final berth since 2012 last month in Qatar.

They face qualifiers in round one, while fellow Englishmen Chris Simpson and Tom Richards make up the seeded players alongside Australian Cameron Pilley and Max Lee of Hong Kong.

Draw – First Round: 2016 AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) v [7] Chris Simpson (ENG)
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) v [Q] Declan James (ENG)
Alan Clyne (SCO) v [3] Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[4] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [Q] Joshua Masters (ENG)
[Q] Richie Fallows (ENG) v [8] Tom Richards (ENG)
[5] Max Lee (HKG) v [Q] Nathan Lake (ENG)
[WC] Joel Makin (WAL) v [2] Nick Matthew (ENG)