BRITISH OPEN 2000

Men's Final:
David Evans (Wal) bt Paul Price (Aus)

Women's Final:
Leilani Joyce (Nzl) bt Sue Wright (Eng)
 

FINAL ANALYSIS AND MEMORIES
By ALAN THATCHER

THE Millennium Year British Open will go down in history as the tournament that changed the face of professional squash.

The success of the live television broadcasts by Sky Sports has opened up a whole new range of commercial opportunities for the game. If that quality of TV coverage can be repeated on a regular basis then life will become considerably rosier for event organisers, promoters and the game's governing bodies.

Fact One: Nothing significant in sport happens without sponsorship. Fact Two: Very little sponsorship is placed without the benefits of TV coverage to satisfy the demands of the major companies now being approached to bankroll the game's major events, plus a wave of new tournaments on the horizon.

The fact that TV rights companies such as Fablon and ProCam are committing themselves to investing in long-term relationships with the the game is not based on a benevolent desire to help the sport out, and rescue established events that appear to have been struggling to find sponsorship.

No, those decisions are based on hard-headed commercial facts. Worldwide television sales, plus sponsorship fees, ticket income, and the sale of exhibition stands and corporate hospitality packages, equals profit.

If those profits can help the game's shop window to develop, and at the same time attract new players to the sport, thereby increasing all manner of racket, equipment and clothing sales - not to mention boosting club membership figures - then EVERYBODY in the sport wins. Not just the deal-makers.

CONGRATULATIONS  to David Evans and Leilani Joyce for lifting the two British Open titles at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

When the celebrations have died down, I am sure that Evans will learn from the experience, just as Joyce did last year when she won the title for the first time in Aberdeen.

That success was just Chapter One in the Leilani Joyce Story. To repeat it, and challenge Cassie Campion for that coveted world number one slot, she knew she had to work on several aspects her game. This year she returned to Britain looking fitter, faster, leaner and keener. She powered her way through the event without dropping a game, and her court coverage is now
simply phenomenal.

She looks more patient, too. Last year, when on the verge of victory against Cassie - in a match when nerves clearly got to both players - she snatched a couple of shots in her desire to get the match over with. Now she appears to have the confidence to place the ball more accurately, work her opponent around the court,  and wait to see what they can  come up with, knowing that it will take a very good shot indeed to cause her any problems.

That kind of containing strategy worked very successfully for David Evans against a tiring Paul Price in the men's final. Price is a great shot-maker, and at times could hit nicks at will from any area of the court, but as fatigue took over his margin of error went off the Richter scale and he started drilling the tin instead of firing winners.

Evans, on the other hand, hardly made a mistake in the first two games, using his enormous reach to retrieve the ball safely and comfortably, and working the ball to a length to keep Price behind him.

Evans was delighted with his winning run,  and surely everyone was alerted to his potential threat after that stunning performance against Ahmed Barada in a second round full of surprises. Straight away after beating  Price, Evans admitted that there was still plenty of room for improvement in his game.

He said: "Winning one title is a marvellous achievement, and especially the British, but to do it on a regular basis I know I have to work on things like speed, fitness and suppleness. Peter Nicol is probably the hardest worker in the game and I know that's what I have got to do to put him under pressure."

In a week of shock results, two matches stood out from the others for the sheer consistent quality of both players throughout each contest Ð and both matches featured Aussie Joseph Kneipp. He produced an astonishing recovery to beat Martin Heath in the second round just when the Scottish world number five appeared to have his game flowing perfectly in all directions. But somehow Kneipp weathered the storm and in the fifth game he was on such a high that he was able to counter all of Heath's attacking artillery with a dazzling array of winners of his own, conjured up from all parts of the court.

His reward was an all-Australian quarter-final clash with Price, who bravely clawed his way back from the brink of defeat to win 17-16 in the fifth. Perhaps it was that marathon effort that left him looking so drained in the final. But, considering Price had been out of action of for most of the year with a back injury, he can be more than pleased with his performances in Birmingham.

The players at the top of the men's rankings have been warned. The old order is changing.

From an English perspective, Mark Chaloner is clearly approaching something like his best form again, as his victories over Paul Johnson and Alex Gough proved before he fell to Price in the semi-finals. But early exits for Simon Parke and Peter Marshall (and Johnson) were clearly disappointing to the SRA
staff coaches.

Sue Wright, now working (almost) full-time for Prince and playing (almost) for fun, surprised everybody by reaching the women's final, leaving a trail of younger, fitter and ultimately perplexed players in her wake. I don't think those opponents found it much fun, finding themselves embroiled in a succession of lets, blocks and nudges, but I hope they  watched the final and learned from Leilani Joyce's performance. Nobody is going to give you anything in this game, and, until those players can adapt their tactics to a variety of situations, then they will continue to come off second best.

Cassie's injury was another huge blow to English pride,  and I would like to know the full story of her spectacular loss to Tania Bailey in New York the following week Ð without wishing to take anything away from one of the most promising young players in the game.

Tania has shown she is capable of beating the world's best, and maybe next year, when the event is moved to June, she will be up there challenging Joyce, Campion, Carol Owens, Linda Charman  and Sarah Fitz-Gerald for the most prestigious prize in the game.