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Day
5
Power Storms To Saudi Success
Canada's Jonathon Power created a further record in
his illustrious squash career when he beat Australian Anthony Ricketts
in the final of the Saudi Squash International to ensure starting
next year as world number one – returning to the position he last held more
than four years ago!
It is difficult to imagine a more dramatic climax to the end
of the Professional Squash Association's record year of 2005 than the
one provided by the Saudi International, new PSA Super Series
Platinum event staged in the Saudi Arabian city of Al-Khobar.
Once the quarter-finals of the second richest PSA Tour event
of the year had been resolved, it became clear that three of the four
semi-finalists would take over the world No1 ranking on 1st
January 2006 should they win the $127,500 title - with a fourth player,
Egypt's world champion Amr Shabana, earning the title should
England's surprise semi-finalist Nick Matthew, the 11th
seed, succeed!
Both Matthew and Frenchman Thierry Lincou, the world
number one throughout 2005, bowed out at the last four stage – leaving
second seed Power and third seed Ricketts, 26, from Sydney, to fight for the
double reward.
After the 31-year-old from Montreal took the opening two
games, Ricketts fought back to take the third for the loss of just four
points. But Power turned on his greater experience and, after 65 tense
minutes, threw his racket in the air to celebrate his historic 11-4 11-9
4-11 11-5 triumph.
"This was my goal this year,
to give it a big push and go back to the top," Power said afterwards. "I
always knew I had it in me, I just had to stop finding excuses and actually
do it!"
The Saudi triumph marks Power's fifth PSA title success of
the year in his fifth final – and the 37th trophy of his career
since July 1992, when he won the Chicago Open.
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. Draw:
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Preview:
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Day 1:
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Day 2:
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Day 3:
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Day 4:
. Day 5:
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Johnathan Power wins Saudi Int
beating Anthony
Ricketts (below) in the Final |
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SAUDI INTERNATIONAL SQUASH TOURNAMENT 2005
16 - 20 Dec 2005 |
First Round
Fri 16 Wed 30 Nov |
Second Round
Sat 17 Dec |
Quarters
Sun 18 Dec |
Semis
Mon 19 Dec |
Final
Tue 20 Dec |
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA)
11-8, 11-4, 11-2 (28m)
Joseph Kneipp (AUS) |
Thierry Lincou
11-7, 6-0 ret. (23m)
Gregory Gaultier
|
Thierry Lincou
11-8, 11-6, 10-11 (1-3),
11-3 (69m)
James Willstrop |
Thierry Lincou
11-10 (4-2), 11-8, 11-3
(58m)
Anthony
Ricketts |
Anthony
Ricketts
11-4, 11-9, 4-11, 11-5 (65m)
Jonathon Power |
[12] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
11-7, 11-6, 11-4 (46m)
[Q] Stewart Boswell (AUS)
|
[8] James Willstrop
(ENG)
11-5, 11-4, 11-7 (28m)
[Q] Renan Lavigne (FRA) |
James Willstrop
11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (21m)
Shahid
Zaman |
[16] Shahid
Zaman (PAK)
w/o
[Q] Rodney
Durbach (RSA) |
[3] Anthony
Ricketts (AUS)
v11-6,
11-10, 11-6 (43m)
[Q]
Ramy Ashour (EGY) |
Anthony
Ricketts
11-5, 11-8, 10-11 (1-3), 11-6 (55m)
Graham Ryding |
Anthony
Ricketts
1-10 (2-0), 11-5, 11-1 (26m)
Peter Nicol |
[13] Graham Ryding (CAN)
11-4,
11-2, 11-9 (38m)
[Q] Joey Barrington (ENG) |
[7] Peter Nicol (ENG)
11-9, 11-8, 11-6 (43m)
Adrian Grant
(ENG) |
Peter Nicol
11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 (60m)
John White |
[9] John
White (SCO)
w/o
Peter Barker
(ENG) |
[14] Mohd
Azlan Iskandar (MAS)
11-7,
11-6, 11-1 (19m)
Mansoor Zaman (PAK) |
Mohd
Azlan Iskandar
11-9, 11-4, 7-11, 7-11, 11-4 (58m)
Lee Beachill |
Lee Beachill
9-11, 4-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (85m)
Nick Matthew
|
Nick Matthew
11-10 (2-0), 11-1, 11-9
(48m)
Jonathon Power |
[5] Lee Beachill (ENG)
11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4 (51m)
[Q] Laurens
Jan Anjema (NED) |
[11] Nick
Matthew (ENG)
11-5,
10-11 (1-3), 11-7, 11-1
Wael
El Hindi (EGY) |
Nick Matthew
11-8, 11-2, 6-11, 11-2 (41m)
Amr
Shabana |
[4] Amr
Shabana (EGY)
11-10 (3-1), 11-5, 11-10 (3-1) (41m)
[Q] Alex
Gough (WAL) |
[10] Karim
Darwish (EGY)
4-11, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0), 11-7 (47m)
Ong Beng Hee (MAS) |
Karim
Darwish
11-3, 11-10 (2-0), 7-11, 11-5 (56m)
David Palmer |
Karim
Darwish
7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 11-4 (67m)
Jonathon Power |
[6] David
Palmer (AUS)
8-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-7, 7-11, 11-8 (80m)
Mohammed Abbas (EGY) |
[15] Olli Tuominen
(FIN)
11-3,
11-1, 11-3 (18m)
Bandare Alotaibi (KSA) |
Olli Tuominen
11-2, 11-4, 11-1 (28m)
Jonathon Power |
[2] Jonathon
Power (CAN)
11-6, 11-3, 11-7 (39m)
[Q] Cameron Pilley (AUS) |
Qualifying finals:
Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt Daryl
Selby (ENG) 11-1, 11-2, 11-5 (23m)
Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Simon Parke (ENG) 11-5, 11-6, 11-10 (5-3) (42m)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt Liam Kenny (IRL) 11-8, 5-11, 11-2, 11-10 (7-5)
(84m)
Rodney Durbach(RSA) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 9-11, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-7,
11-7(62m)
Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 10-11 (0-2), 11-6, 11-2, 11-2
(54m)
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt Ben Garner (ENG) 11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-10 (2-0)
(52m)
Joey Barrington (ENG) bt Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) 11-10 (2-0), 11-6, 11-8 (60m)
Alex Gough (WAL) bt Alister Walker (ENG) (11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5 (69m)
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Day 4
Ricketts & Power In World Number One Decider
Australia's Anthony Ricketts and Canada's Jonathon
Power will meet in the final of the Saudi Squash International in
the Saudi Arabian city of
Al-Khobar
to decide not only the winner of the second richest PSA Tour event of
the year, but also which of the pair will head the Dunlop PSA World
Rankings on New Year's day.
Ricketts, the 26-year-old third seed from Sydney who
celebrated a career-high world No3 ranking last month, reversed the result
of their last two meetings when he beat top seed Thierry Lincou, the
world No1 from France, 11-10 11-8 11-3 in 58 minutes. Lincou, who topped
the ranking throughout 2005, is certain now to slip out of the world's top
four.
The Saudi success marks the fifth PSA final appearance for
Ricketts this year – which included victory in the Tournament of
Champions in New York in February, then his maiden British Open
title in Manchester in October.
Surprise semi-finalist Nick Matthew, the 11th
seed from England, battled for 48 minutes against second seed Power in the
other match. But the Canadian also came through in straight games, beating
the 25-year-old from Sheffield 11-10 11-1 11-9 to mark the 59th
PSA final appearance in his illustrious career since July 1992.
Power already boasts a 100% success rate in his four PSA
final appearances in 2005 – the Apawamis Open in New York in January,
the PSA Masters in Bermuda in April, the Super Series Finals
in London in May, and the Motor City Open in Detroit in October. The
31-year-old from Montreal first became world number one in May 1999, since
when he slumped to a nine-year low of nine in the final months of last year.
Day 3
England's Nick Matthew Marches Into Saudi Semis
England’s Nick Matthew recovered from a two-game deficit to upset
compatriot Lee Beachill and earn the only unexpected place in the
semi-finals of the Saudi Squash International, the second richest
PSA Tour event of the year, in the Saudi Arabian city of
Al-Khobar.
The new PSA event takes on added significance for the other three
semi-finalists – for whom victory would also mean becoming world number one
in the first rankings of the New Year.
Matthew, the 11th seed, battled for 85 minutes to beat England
team-mate Beachill, the fifth seed, 9-11 4-11 11-5 11-9 11-5. It was the
25-year-old from Sheffield’s second PSA victory over former world number one
Beachill – the first, in his home town in August’s English Open, also a
marathon in which Matthew fought back from 2/0 down to win in 93 minutes.
The Yorkshireman now goes on to face Canada’s No2 seed Jonathon Power,
who also survived a five-game marathon against Egypt’s tenth seed Karim
Darwish. The 7-11 11-7 11-3 9-11 11-4 win in 67 minutes takes Power
into his first PSA Tour semi-final since winning the Motor City Open
in October.
The other semi-final will feature France’s world No1 Thierry Lincou
and third-seeded Australian Anthony Ricketts. The top-seeded
Frenchman beat eighth seed James Willstrop 11-8 11-6 10-11 11-3 in 69
minutes to deny the Englishman the chance of topping next year’s world
rankings after reaching world number two this month.
Meanwhile British Open champion Ricketts defeated England’s Peter
Nicol 11-10 11-5 11-1 in just 26 minutes.
Day 2
Shabana & Palmer Out As England Quartet Advance In
Saudi
The battle for New Year’s
honours as the first world number one of 2006 took an unexpected turn in the
second round of the Saudi Squash International when both David
Palmer and Amr Shabana failed to make their seeded positions in
the second richest PSA Tour event of the year in the Saudi Arabian
city of Al-Khobar.
Palmer, the sixth seed from
Australia who currently heads the provisional January list, lost out 11-3
11-10 7-11 11-5 in 56 minutes to an inspired display by Egypt’s Karim
Darwish, the 10th seed.
“I think this victory is the
best performance of my career,” the 24-year-old from Cairo said afterwards.
Shabana, the fourth seed
playing in his first PSA Tour event since lifting the World Open
title for the second time earlier in the month, was unable to master
England’s Nick Matthew and went down 11-8 11-2 6-11
11-2 to the 11th seed in 41 minutes.
Shabana later admitted that
he had twisted his left ankle in the previous round against Welshman Alex
Gough. “Today it was very sore – and when you play against a player
such as Nick, you’ve got to be 100% to beat him,” said the deflated world
champion.
While Matthew will now take
on England team-mate Lee Beachill for a place in the
semi-finals, Darwish will face second-seeded Canadian Jonathon Power
- against whom he surprisingly boasts three wins out of their last
four meetings on the PSA Tour. Power took just 28 minutes to despatch
Finland’s Olli Tuominen 11-2 11-4 11-1.
The fastest finish of the
day was claimed by James Willstrop, the Englishman who leapt to a
career-high world No2 this month. The eighth seed crushed Pakistan’s 16th
seed Shahid Zaman 11-6 11-4 11-4 in 21 minutes and now meets top seed
Thierry Lincou. The world No1 beat Gregory Gaultier after his
compatriot retired injured midway through the second game, with the score
standing at 11-7 6-0.
Day 1
Palmer Battles Through To Second Round In Saudi
David
Palmer
survived the toughest battle of all the first round matches in the Saudi
International, the second richest PSA Tour event of the year
which is being held for the first time in the Saudi Arabian city of
Al-Khobar.
The only seed
not to have taken part in last week’s World Team Championships in
Pakistan, Palmer was expected to flourish at the $127,500 PSA Super
Series Platinum event which rounds off a busy end-of-year schedule for
the world’s top men.
However, the
sixth-seeded Australian dropped the first game, and was taken to a tie-break
in the second, before finally emerging victorious 8-11 11-10 11-7 7-11 11-8
in 80 minutes over unseeded Egyptian Mohammed Abbas. It was
Abbas who was in action in the final match of the World Championships,
extending England’s Peter Nicol in a 44-minute title-decider.
Palmer, the
world No4 who could begin next year at the top of the world rankings if
successful in Saudi, now meets anther Egyptian for a place in the last
eight. Karim Darwish, the tenth seed, recovered from a game down to
beat Malaysia’s Ong Beng Hee 4-11 11-6 11-10 11-7 in 47 minutes.
England’s
world team championships-winning heroes all claimed places in the second
round without incident. Squad No1 James Willstrop, the eighth seed,
dismissed French qualifier Renan Lavigne 11-5 11-4 11-7, while
seventh seed Peter Nicol beat compatriot Adrian Grant 11-9
11-8 11-6. Fifth seed Lee Beachill needed four games to overcome
Dutch qualifier Laurens Jan Anjema 11-7 9-11 11-5 11-4, while 11th
seed Nick Matthew defeated Egyptian Wael El Hindi 11-5 10-11
11-7 11-1.
Preview
England's
World Champions In Final
Push For Further Glory In Saudi Arabia
England's victorious
World Team Championships-winning squad will be hoping to add further
glory in the final major squash event of the year, which gets underway in
the Saudi Arabian city of Al-Khobar.
The $127,500 Saudi
International, the second richest PSA Tour event of the year,
rounds off a punishing schedule for the world's top men which kicked off
with the Qatar Classic in the last week of November, followed by the
Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Privilege World Open in Hong Kong, then
this week's World Team Championships in Pakistan.
All four members of the
squad which reclaimed the world title for England in Islamabad are seeded in
the new PSA Super Series Platinum event – fifth seed Lee Beachill
due to face Dutch qualifier Laurens Jan Anjema, while squad No1
James Willstrop, the eighth seed who won last month's Qatar Classic,
is scheduled to face French qualifier Renan Lavigne.
Peter Nicol,
the seventh seed who clinched England's victory over Egypt, is drawn to meet
fellow English left-hander
Adrian Grant
in the opening round, while
11th seed Nick Matthew will take on Egypt's Wael El
Hindi.
Top seed in Saudi is world
No1 Thierry Lincou, the Frenchman who lost his World Open
crown earlier this month to Egypt's Amr Shabana. Lincou faces
Australia's Joseph Kneipp, while fourth seed Shabana takes on Welsh
qualifier Alex Gough.
Lincou is expected to meet
Canada's No2 seed Jonathon Power in the final on Tuesday.
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