There’s more to come from England’s Tom Richards on the evidence of his first round defeat to four-time British Open champion David Palmer and the Australian admitted as much on Thursday night.
World No 34 Richards went down 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 against one of the fittest men on the world tour - there is no better moniker than 'The Marine' - but the Surrey-based player was more worried about his own game in front of his home crowd after matching Palmer's unrivalled stamina throuhgout.
Richards, 23, knew what to expect against Palmer, who knocked out the Englishman last week in Chicago, and said afterwards: “I always felt under pressure and he was just one step ahead of me throughout.
“I feel like I have the right game and I’ve had over a year now of consistently playing.”
Richards showed glimpses of being able to mix it with the world’s best, but failed to close out key points when on top. After Palmer took the opening two games, Richards found some confidence with some delightful low winners to the front, but let slip a 4-0 lead as the world No 6 closed out the match in 36 minutes.
Palmer, gunning for his fifth title, said: “In the last 12 months he has become one of the most dangerous players in the world outside the top 24. He doesn’t play the typical English game and he has a very aggressive style.
“The more he plays in the major tournaments, the better he will become. He certainly has a lot of potential.”
Meanwhile, England’s more senior players enjoyed the perfect start to the British Open as each of the four-man team expected to take part in the World Team Championships in Denmark later this month all advanced to the second round.
World No 5 Nick Matthew looked a class act in his first major match of the new season as he took 42 minutes to beat compatriot Chris Simpson 12-10, 11-2, 11-5.
Matthew praised Simpson’s events afterwards, saying: “We've got a good bunch of up-and-coming players pushing us hard - and Chris is one of them. Every single rally I had to push hard - all credit to him.”
“That's my first match of the season, so I feel pretty comfortable.”
Peter Barker, Adrian Grant and Daryl Selby all registered wins to advance to the second round.
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