England's top two players, Nick Matthew and James Willstrop, will resume their national rivalry on Monday in the Saudi Squash International after being pitted together for the first time since a bitterly-contested British Open final in September.
In the first all-English final for 70 years, Willstrop called world No 4 Matthew "disrespectful" after complaining to the referees that Willstrop was "so slow" in getting out of his reach to the ball.
Matthew eventually won a classic two-hour encounter in Manchester while the pair had to put their differences aside during the World Team Championships a month later.
Willstrop, who lost on match ball for the second year in succession, will now be aiming to halt Matthew's rise to the top of the world rankings after both players enjoyed first round wins in Al-Khobar on Sunday.
Willstrop beat Finland's Olli Tuominen 3-0 in 26 minutes while Matthew survived a minor dip during his 3-1 win over Omar Mosaad, of Egypt.
Despite losing to Egypt's Ramy Ashour in the PSA Masters final last week in Mumbai, Matthew, 29, still has every chance of becoming the first Briton since fellow Yorkshireman Lee Beachill in 2004 to top the world rankings.
He is vying with Ashour and Amr Shabana and whoever favours best in Saudi is set to start 2010 as world No 1.
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