Perry defies ranking to trouble Duncalf

Despite being ranked 175 in the world, Perry was not overawed by her vastly more experienced opponent and shocked spectators at Manchester’s National Squash Centre by winning the first game.

Duncalf responded by clinching the second 11-4 before edging the third 12-10 after Perry had let slip several game points.

An 11-4 win in the fourth game ensured Duncalf’s progress.

Duncalf then went on to meet fifth seed Emma Beddoes from Leamington in the quarter-final.

Beddoes reached the last eight after a 3-1 win over 16-year-old Emily Whitlock. However, she found Duncalf too strong, losing 11/5, 11/7, 11/4.

Duncalf was surprisingly beaten in the final by third seed Laura Massaro.

In the men’s competition, Kenilworth’s Chris Fuller battled his way through to the first round of the main draw before bowing out to number 13 seed Joel Hinds.

A keenly fought battle which lasted 54 minutes saw Fuller lose the first game 11/8 and both the next two on tie-breaks.

Chris Ryder was knocked out by eventual champion Darryl Selby after enjoying a straightforward win over Andy Whipp (11/5 11/8 11/1) in the second round.

n Perry recently retained her Warwickshire title, beating Kerry Pottinger & Lucy Pallett (both 3-0) and Vicky Hynes (3-1).

However, she was beaten in the final of the English Racketlon Championships for the second successive year by over-40s England Tennis international Isabelle Tyrrell.

Tyrrell took a 21-5 lead after the table tennis but Perry convincingly won the badminton 21-11 and the squash 21-4.

Needing to score ten points in the final tennis round to secure the title, Perry slipped to a 21-7 defeat to lose 57-54 on aggregate.