Rising Lancashire squash star Julian Tomlinson left the National Squash Championships with his head held high after a brave showing.
The 21-year-old young professional produced a terrific performance against Ben Coleman but ultimately was edged out by the World number 70.
Tomlinson was handed a late reprieve in his 2015 bid for success in the National Squash Championships at the National Squash Centre in Manchester.
He was handed a Lucky Loser spot in the main mens draw first round after being edged out in the third round of mens qualifying.
Form
Coleman arrived at the Manchester venue full of form having being crowned champion at the Atlanta Open in the United States at the weekend, a PSA Challenger 10 event and four PSA World title of his career.
He started very strongly, dominating early stages of the first match and refusing to allow Tomlinson to settle, keeping his back hand lengths exceptionally tight and mixing his play.
Tomlinson retrieved brilliantly and fought to establish some sort of foot hold but the early lead established by Coleman was too much as he closed out the first 11/4.
Tomlinson started the second with added confidence, finding far tighter length and width and trading punches with his more experienced rival, pushing him all the way.
The pair exchanged a number of breathtaking rallies with both players showing remarkable retrieval abilities but Coleman showed class and composure to just edge ahead and claim the second 11/6.
Belief
The longer the match went on the more belief Tomlinson gained and perhaps freed of the pressure in the third he expressed himself more and more and asked more questions of the 23-year-old Essex professional.
In asking those questions there were unforced errors and Coleman opened up a gap but Tomlinson continued undeterred and started to close the gap as his opponent tried to close the match out.
Ultimately Tomlinson ran out of points and Coleman sealed a three-nil victory winning the third 11/;7 in a contest that lasted 31 minutes and sets him up for a Second Road clash with Tom Richards.
Tomlinson will take great heart from his performance in the Nationals this year and be able to measure the strides taken forward over the past 12 months when he compares this appearance with that of last year.
His first appearance, in the mens second qualifying round against Daniel McGinn, will give him particular encouragement as he served up a a totally dominating performance.
And he can have little complaints about his defeat in the mens Qualifying Finals against Lyell Fuller who showed real class and quality as he came out a three nil victor after an impressive performance.
Next for Tomlinson is a weekend trip to Egypt to compete in the PSA Challenger 10k event at the Brqthru Pharco Alexandria Open 2015.
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