World
Champion Jonathon Power talks to Ian McKenzie about what it is like to win a world title,
about his intense rivalry with Peter Nicol, his game, training with coach Mike Way and how
he became World Champion.
A novelist, a TV producer, couldnt have created a
better plot - The Brat versus Mr Cool. Our sport is lucky, there is intense rivalry at the
top of both the mens and womens game. In the mens it bears sharp
similarities to that of McEnroe and Borg - there is not just a clash on court but a clash
of personalities and of temperaments. Nicol, the well adjusted Scot, polite, a little
reserved, squeaky clean, reliable, proud. Power, who admits his brain is all over the
place, spontaneous, outspoken, talented, overconfident - but then he is a North American.
Nicol is a Scot, not a dour Scot but a Scot neither the less. There is respect between the
two but Nicol has made it rather clear that he did not appreciate Powers rather
public claims to his World No.1 position.
And just to add a little spice to the plot the Eastern master
broods in the hills of Peshawar pondering a comeback.
There is a clash of styles in training as well as playing.
Nicol the diligent trainer, the player working on his game, attempting to develop his
skills and tactics and train furiously to maintain his edge over every other player - his
awesome court coverage. Power, the talented magician with the racket, who is trying to
work on shots no one else uses and who will only begrudgingly train physically.
Its a brilliant clash. Lets sit back and watch.
When watching Power its not immediately obvious why he
is so good. There is not the quick sculptured swings of Qamar Zaman, the perfectly smooth
cut intercepts of Rodney Martin, the stunning power on the kills of Brett Martin but
perhaps there is a little of all of them in a causal, shirt-out sort of way. Power is
wristy, likes to use holds, steers the ball, often hits flat especially on the
forehand - the bit that you may not immediately notice is that he does it all very early.
"I was seeing it early. I was onto it, keeping him off balance. I was
waiting for it," he said after thrashing Ahmed Barada in the quarter-finals. Now that
is some luxury, to play the world No.2 and be able to say you were waiting for the ball.
Power likes to play fast. "The faster the ball the
better for me," he says.
There is enjoyment in it, its a performance, a chance
to show off, to be creative, to get some pleasure in sending an opponent the wrong way. It
is not a sport to be played in complete silence. There is no tactical master plan. "I
go on there and I wing it," he says.
In Toronto Power works with his coach Mike Way at the
Cambridge Club where they have developed a sort of national training centre with five or
six full time players including Graham Ryding and Kelly Patrick.
"I like to do more ball hitting than training because if
you do more ball hitting you dont have to run. Thats the secret," he
says, which seems a pretty succinct encapsulation of his philosophy.
"I do a lot of stuff with my coach. A lot of holding the
ball, the whole secret to my game is my flicks and my deception. I am going to work on
snapping the ball and not playing rhythmic squash. That is the advantage I hold over the
other players. I can change the pace easily, go short from different spots. I have more
options. If you have more options from every spot on the court then the guy is more off
guard, you can make him work harder. If you hold, send him forward and then send him back,
it takes twice as much energy out of his legs."
Mike feeds and Power practises hitting different shots. Often
he works with two young players each side. "They feed the ball for me and I try to
trick them, they each have a side and are standing waiting for the ball and I can either
go short or long on either side. They pop the ball up for me, I hit it anywhere and they
cover their side."
Playing repetitive drills is not on the Power agenda.
Certainly it would be too boring. Power would like to play different shots all the time.
"Im trying to mix it up from the same
stroke," he explains, "playing different shots with the same swing, always
disguising. Always trying to catch the opponent is something you try to do in every sport.
In squash if you can bring in that dimension it is a huge part of the game. It has been
virtually untapped; Brett has done it for years and I have learnt a lot from watching him
and I have learnt so much from Anthony Hill. He is the best reader of the game, and he is
the most naturally clever player on the circuit. I have probably learnt most from Brett
Martin but I have also had some lessons form Rod Martin in Australia, and picked his brain
a bit.
"I like to think of myself as a student of the game and
I like to think about the game and all its possibilities and bring my flavour to it. I
think about the game of squash a lot."
"I have learnt from Anthony Hill. He has a natural
talent to see the ball, see the space it is from the wall, the bodys position and
the racket head. Everything is calculated immediately. You have to decipher the options an
opponent has from his position and take the closest angle to where the ball is probably
going to go. It is a natural and quick assessment of the options - is he going to
crosscourt, to boast or is he is probably going to play a straight shot?"
"Some players have more options than others, more
positions and that is one of my strengths. I may be at full stretch but be able to drop,
flick crosscourt, flick down the wall or lob. I have more options whereas some players
maybe just have a lob or drop."
Against Barada, one of the most deceptive and attacking
players in the world, Power had all the options and read him like a book. He cut down his
opponents options. He volleyed a whole succession of balls and always seemed to
angle and fade it way from the Egyptian.
Always, however, loomed the spectre of Nicol. This is what
this tournament was all about. This clash. The world title.
Power had been dominant over Nicol beating him six times in a
row. But 1998 had got messed up. Injury had put him out for four months but on coming back
he had managed to win in Hong Kong but a shook was in store.
"I became overconfident and thought I could rely on my
natural ability but he kept improving his game. He has developed his game to beat me and
studied videos of me," says Power.
The Commonwealth Games was the turning point. Power was
nowhere near ready and lost. With hindsight he realised he had been foolish and had missed
an opportunity.
"I dominate the play but he hangs in and breaks me
physically and hes stronger mentally," said Power of Nicol.
"I was hung up on the fact that there were no ranking
points or prize money and I didnt realise the importance of it for squash and the
media attention that it got. In Canada nobody cared about the Commonwealth Games but once
it started I saw that it got all this publicity. I realised what an idiot I had been
because it was huge for squash. It got more attention than I have ever got for anything
and I came second.
Powers rival had got one over him. "It gave him
confidence whereas previously I had a stranglehold over him."
Power didnt really train between the Games and the US Open and lost to
Nicol in the US Open, getting what he says was a wake-up call.
"It was like a slap in the face," he says. Then he
started training and stopped going out. Again in Heliopolis Nicol beat Power.
"I was working really hard. I played well against Peter
in the final but he played really well; that is the best match he has ever played against
me. I got beat; it was three times in a row."
The tide had swung Nicols way. Power stopped in
Amsterdam and trained on his way back from Egypt. He trained twice a day. It wouldnt
have impressed Nicol but he even started doing court sprints, running up and down 22 times
in a minute and building up to ten sets.
"If I can get up to ten I know I am fit enough for a
match. In the end I got up to ten one day," he says. Nicol, the trainer, could cry on
hearing that news.
Power became focused and determined. He worked. The
Worlds was a target.
"This was my whole year wrapped up in one tournament. I
could salvage my year by winning this tournament. It has been a tough year for me mentally
and physically - when you are injured and you cannot play, it is tough. It is all you do
in your life: play and think about squash."
The semi-final against Hill was just a little dent and,
before the final, Power watched the video of his match against Barada.
Nicol he feels let him to the front too easily but the sting
had been drawn in the first game and it surprised Power how Nicol failed to use his lob.
"Once I got in front I was able to make him do even more
work," he says. "The thing he didnt do as well as he normally does is
clear the ball with the lob; he has the best lob in the world."
This was Powers
moment. He was in the zone. The year had been salvaged. The title was his.
"I had put so much into this moment. I was so focused. I
have been thinking about this moment my whole life."
It was Powers moment but Nicol has not gone away. There
will be another tournament, another clash, another World Open.
"It is a great rivalry. Great for the sport," says
Power.