WORLD No. 1 Nick Matthew paid tribute to Chris Simpson (pictured) last night after the Sarnian made the defending champion work hard for his place in the semi-finals of the British National Championships.

Although Matthew won in straight games 11-8, 11-7, 11-6, he was kept on court in Manchester for a lengthy 51 minutes by the 23-year-old Guernseyman, who can take heart from a fine performance.

The eighth seed pushed the champion into stepping on the gas late on in each of the three games to close them out after they had all been tight in the initial exchanges, with Simpson holding his own.

Afterwards Matthew admitted that his opponent had been ‘hungry tonight’ and revealed he was happy to see young players such as Simpson snapping at his heels.

‘Chris has always had the determination, he’s always got stuck in and he’s developed his game and is still moving on so I knew it wouldn’t be easy,’ he said.