JAMES

James Evans (right) in action against Issa Kamara in the Kent Open

James Evans at 14 years and six months the youngest player ever to appear in a PSA World Squash Tour event, came close to recording a shock victory in the qualifying round of the Kent Open .

Playing at his home club, The Mote Squash Club in Maidstone, Evans showed flashes of attacking genius as he made Issa Kamara fight all the way to book a place in the qualifying finals of this new One Star event on the PSA calendar.

Kamara, the 31-year-old from Sierra Leone, was relieved to win 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8 in four close games and paid tribute to his young opponent.

He said: "I played James in Kent back in January and was happy to win 3-1 that day as well. He has come on so much since then and was surprised at how much his attacking game has developed. He was hitting winners from all over the court."

Evans, who recently made a winning debut for the England under-15 squad, was delighted to play in a world-ranking event and said: "It was a great experience to play in my first PSA tournament and was happy with how I played. I didn’t make too many mistakes.

"I was away at an outward bound camp all last week with my school and because of a hamstring injury I haven’t picked up a racket for two weeks so I know I can do a little bit better than that."

Mote team-mate Jonny Powell also enjoyed his taste of professional squash and forced a tie-break in the third game of his entertaining match against Wael Farag of Egypt.

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