Aston and Fincher Sutton Coldfield International: Khan & Haworth Through in Style, Malik Records First Tour Win

Hamza Khan and Amelie Haworth both made impressive starts to the Aston and Fincher Sutton Coldfield International, while 17-year-old Heston Malik recorded his first PSA Tour win on day one. 

Playing Canada’s Vahbiz Bulsara on court four, reigning British junior champion Haworth took just 13 minutes to record a 3-0 victory, winning 11-2, 11-1, 11-4 to book a second-round matchup with No.5 seed Kiera Marshall. 

Her win was the second one-sided performance on court four in round one, following Savanah Ingledew’s comfortable victory over Ameerah Ismail, in which the South African national champion – still only 18 years old – dropped just five points throughout the match. 

Sandwiched between those two encounters was Malik’s win over the Netherlands’ Sam Gerrits. Malik was a late call-up to this event but made the most of his opportunity in what is just his second PSA Tour event, coming out on top of three hard-fought games, 13-11, 12-10, 11-9. 

Rounding off the action on court four was Khan’s 3-0 victory over Nathan Mead. The world junior champion was made to work for game one, winning it 11-8, but found life far more straightforward thereafter, taking the next two games 11-2, 11-6. 

Elsewhere, there was a five-game battle between Birmingham University teammates Chloe Foster and Nika Urh, which the Slovenian eventually claimed, while 14-year-old wild card Mariam Eissa pushed Sanne Veldkamp all the way, taking a 2-1 lead before the more experienced Dutch player hit back to take games four and five. 

Men’s wild card AbdAllah Eissa also continued his good form, having reached the Northern Joe Cup quarter-finals last week, beating Theis Houlberg 3-1. 

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