The Northern Joe Cup: Withington Sinks Bryant, Megahed Causes Upset

Home favourite Finnlay Withington beat fellow rising star Jonah Bryant to reach the Northern Joe Cup quarter-finals, capping a busy day split across two venues. 

Withington and Bryant are the two most recent winners of the British Junior Championships, with Withington beating Bryant in the 2022 final before Bryant claimed the trophy this year. 

This, though, was their first ever meeting on the PSA Tour, with Bryant coming in having knocked out world junior champion Hamza Khan in round one. 

Backed by a vocal home crowd inside the Cheetham Hill Sports Club – where Withington has grown up playing – the 19-year-old took game one 11-7, never trailing at any stage during the game. 

Bryant responded well by winning game two 11-8 and the pair went toe-to-toe throughout most of game three, only for Withington to string together four points on the bounce to move from 7-7 to 11-7. 

The No.2 seed then put together another run of points at another crucial stage in game four, moving from 2-2 to 7-2 and just four points from victory. 

Bryant kept fighting until the end, but ultimately his efforts were in vain, with Withington letting out a cry of celebration when a sprawling effort from the 18-year-old on match ball fell short. 

Withington’s next opponent will be another talented young star in 16-year-old Mohamad Zakaria, the runner-up at this year’s world junior championships and the youngest ever male winner of a PSA Tour event. 

Zakaria is unseeded for this event but only due to his ranking being lower when the draw was made than it is now. He currently sits just inside the world’s top 100 and knocked out No.8 seed Miles Jenkins in round two at Fairways Lodge and Leisure Club, winning 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 in 44 minutes. 

Jenkins was one of two seeds to lose in the men’s draw, with Temwa Chileshe the other following his defeat to wild card AbdAllah Eissa, while Asia Harris was the only seed to lose in the women’s competition. 

Harris came into this event having reached the semi-finals of the London Open last week, where she was forced to retire with a back injury suffered during the match. 

Playing another teenager in Egypt’s Nour Megahed with her coach Nick Matthew watching on, the 18-year-old looked as though she might stage a remarkable comeback from two games down, saving four match balls at 10-6 down in the third to force a tie break. 

She was unable to convert two game balls of her own, though, losing 14-12 on a somewhat controversial no let decision. 

Megahed will now play No.6 seed Ali Loke for a place in the semi-finals, with top seed Torrie Malik and No.7 seed Lowri Roberts facing off in the other quarter-final in that half of the draw. 

Malik needed just 25 minutes to beat South Africa’s Hayley Ward, while Roberts beat England’s Olivia Besant 3-1. 

Defending champion Saran Ngheim is also through to the final eight after knocking out British junior champion Amelie Haworth 3-1. 

Results: Men’s Round Two 

[1] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) bt Stuart Macgregor (ENG) 3-1: 11-8, 4-11, 11-4, 11-6 (51m) 
[5] Owain Taylor (WAL) bt Amaad Fareed (PAK) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-7 (43m) 
[WC] AbdAllah Eissa (ENG) bt [6] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-5 (38m) 
[4] Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) bt Laouenan Loaec (FRA) 3-1: 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3 (49m) 
[3] Emyr Evans (WAL) bt Ameeshenraj Chandaran (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (42m) 
[7] Noor Zaman (PAK) bt Lewis Doughty (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 (33m) 
Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt [8] Miles Jenkins (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (44m) 
[2] Finnlay Withington (ENG) bt Jonah Bryant (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 (52m) 

Results: Women’s Round Two 

[1] Torrie Malik (ENG) bt Hayley Ward (RSA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (25m) 
[7] Lowri Roberts (WAL) bt Olivia Besant (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5 (27m) 
[6] Ali Loke (WAL) bt [WC] Amy Royle (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (21m) 
Nour Megahed (EGY) bt [4] Asia Harris (ENG) 3-0: 12-10, 11-8, 14-12 (33m) 
[8] Hana Ismail (EGY) bt Sanne Veldkamp (NED) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 (22m) 
[3] Saran Nghiem (ENG) bt Amelie Haworth (ENG) 3-1: 13-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-3 (36m) 
[5] Menna Walid (EGY) bt Katriona Ross (SCO) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 (25m) 
[2] Yasshmita Jadish Kumar (MAS) bt Nika Urh (SLO) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 (20m)