Day One of the 2026 World Squash Masters Championships in Perth, Australia, saw eight men’s categories kick off the action across three venues, the Belmont Squash Centre, SquashWorld Mirrabooka, and the all-glass show court at Karrinyup Shopping Centre — in what was an entertaining day of squash.

With the event returning to Australia for the first time since 2001, there was a lot of excitement on court, with friends reuniting, rivalries restarting, and incredible comeback victories getting the tournament underway.

With today’s action seeing only the men’s draw commence, and the women’s matches set to begin tomorrow (Monday, 31 August), there was still plenty of exciting squash to open the 2026 World Masters event.

And despite the 25-year absence from hosting a World Masters, it was a successful day for the host nation, with a large number of Australian players punching their tickets into the next round.

Among the excitement of the opening day, Shahroze Khan [9/16] recorded the first Australian win on the glass court, beating New Zealand’s Boe Strachan in the Men’s +40 draw to book his place in the next round, while Australia’s Jeff Osborne [5/8] also advanced with a 3-0 win over Mauritius’s Kamil Patel in the Men’s +45 draw.

Joining the home victors in the next round was England’s Alex Preston [5/8], who secured the first win at Karrinyup Shopping Centre this morning, defeating Australia’s Harnesh Singh in straight games in the Men’s +40 draw

With the first win on the glass court at this year’s event, Preston shared his excitement at achieving this feat, saying: “It feels good to get the win on the glass court. It was a good experience out there, as it is different to a regular court, but that was great!

“There was a great atmosphere, and the venue is fantastic, so to be the first to win on the glass court is quite exciting. So, I hope I can be back here in the final!”

Elsewhere at the Mirrabooka Squash Centre, there were a number of thrilling matches throughout the day, including a back-and-forth battle that saw Australia’s Greg Murphy claim a 3-2 victory over England’s Phil Reason in the Men’s +60 draw.

In the Men’s +65, USA’s Ali Piyarali also secured a spot in tomorrow’s second-round fixtures with a comeback victory over Australia’s Anthony Vlismas. Despite going 2-0 down after losing 11-5, 11-6, Piyarali showed great determination to fight back and complete a 3-2 victory.

Meanwhile, at the Belmont Squash Centre, there were also a number of strong performances, with Australia’s Daniel Jones [17/32] staging an incredible comeback from two games down to beat England’s Philip Taylor, winning 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-5.

In the Men’s 70+ draw, Australia’s Maurice Graham Tait also powered through a five-game battle against South Africa’s Andrew Van Dam to progress to the next round.

While in the Men’s +50 draw, New Zealand’s Chris Chan survived a five-game contest against Australia’s Andre Di Mattia, winning 11-4, 2-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6.

Day two of the World Squash Masters Championships will see further action across the men’s draws, while a number of women’s age categories will begin from 12pm (GMT+8).

Play will start across all three venues at 9:30am (GMT+8), with the action from the glass court at Karrinyup Shopping Centre, Court 5 at Mirrabooka Squash Centre, and Court 2 at the Belmont Squash Centre being shown live on WORLDSQUASH.TV.

Click here to view all the results from Day One.

Click here to view the schedule for Day Two.

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