Here he tells ALAN THATCHER how he has recovered from that injury and how he is enjoying mixing squash with business.

It took three weeks for Jonathon Power's vision to be fully restored after being smacked in the face by David Palmer's racket during the World Open semi-final in Antwerp in November. Now the Canadian showman has his sights set on winning the forthcoming Tournament Of Champions in New York.

Last year's victory at Grand Central Terminal was Power's fourth success in the event, confirming NY as one of his favourite stopping-off points on the world tour. His emphatic 15-6, 15-8, 15-10 result against great rival Peter Nicol was revenge for the Scottish-born world number one's similarly one-sided success in the final of the Memorial US Open, 15-7, 15-5, 15-7, in Boston.

Power's New York title set him on the path to one of the most success-laden passages in his career. This was largely due to the fact that he remained injury-free for a prolonged spell, thanks to a new-found belief in looking after his body, which, as everyone knows, had suffered considerable abuse over the years at the hands of its owner.

With the help of an instructor who had worked with ballet dancers before moving into the sports arena, he finally learned how to stretch his long frame to keep his troublesome back as supple as possible, and was thus finally able to cope with the phenomenal physical demands imposed on the senior players of this most brutal of all sports.

He reached a peak in the Commonwealth Games, registering a rare 9-0 fourth game victory against Nicol as he gained sweet revenge for defeat in Malaysia four years earlier. It was Power's fourth consecutive victory against the London-based English number one. Nicol stopped the rot by winning in Hong Kong and David Palmer showed a renewed hunger, discipline and strength by winning the US Open at Boston’s Symphony Hall as Nicol and Power fell by the wayside.

Power regained the ascendancy as he beat Nicol in the final of the YMG Classic in Tornto and was determined to end the year in style by regaining the World Open trophy he had won in Qatar in 1998 by beating Nicol in the final.

All was going according to plan as he cruised past Farrukh Zaman, Tim Garner, Chris Walker and Thierry Lincou to set up a semi-final against Palmer. In recent years these two have become embroiled in some of the most physical encounters seen in the history professional squash, and many were not surprised that the contest was ended prematurely when Power was hit in the face by Palmer's backhand follow-though. Whatever the nature of their recent battles, the incident was entirely accidental. Power was one game up, and the score was 10-10 in the second when disaster, and that racket, struck.

Power was forced to withdraw, and Palmer went on to beat John White in an enthralling final in the Australian's adopted home city of Antwerp. Power was philosophical as he admitted: "It was hardly the ideal way to finish a pretty successful year. I played well all year and had not had too many problems with my back, which was good. I felt I had no problems with David in the semi-final and felt in control of the match."

Power and Palmer have contrasting technique and the Canadian said: "Everybody has their own style. David is a good player. I would never say anything bad about the way he has accomplished things but I was just disappointed about the fashion it happened. I don't begrudge him anything. We all do things in our own way. We are all different."

He required stitches to his left eye and it was closed for several days. He added: "It took me three weeks to get my full sight back again. Then it was a case of getting back on court and fine tuning ahead of the Tournament of Champions. I like that tournament and I'm looking forward to it. There are not many tournaments at the moment so I have been playing a number of exhibition matches with guys like Shahier Razik and John White. A lot of tournaments are not happening, or have been moved back to the fall, like the British Open.

"I am the sort of player who likes to play a few (tournaments) in a row to get a good rhythm and and at the moment I have lots of things to do, not just playing the tournaments. My company, JP Sports, is going well. We've had some successes and some setbacks. We are making the next shoe as we speak - the ultimate squash shoe.  We are aiming to have the perfect shoe that everybody likes. It's all about getting feedback from the players

"Eventually we would like to sell in the UK and become an established brand. The UK market is big and demands a response from us." Power would love to be back at number one and have a clothing brand that leads the squash market. He confirmed: "I am fully into it and am happy running two empires, on and off court. It's a great way to promote the game and that's why I'm doing it.

"There is a lot of old-school mentality when it comes to squash clothes design. I want to find the ideal combination between funky new gear and something like the classic Fila brand. You've got find the right balance, and of course it has to be comfortable. I want to represent youth and style, and I want kids to wear this stuff to school and say to their friends 'Hey, this is a squash shirt'."

Power, however, will not be designing his own signature squash rackets. He explained: "I have a great deal with Dunlop in North America. Dunlop are a strong company, I have my own racket with them, and I am happy to promote the two brands alongside each other."

Power is looking forward to making 2003 a profitable year but first of all he wants to take care of business in New York. As he counts down the days to his return to competition after a two-month absence, he adds: "I am looking forward to getting 2003 started and I am confident, well, more excited than confident. We have just a had a national squad session in Montreal and next week I will be fine tuning with Shahier Razik. I just want to be moving well and feel sharp, and I'm working hard at it.  I'm a little bit disappointed to have drawn Graham Ryding in the first round as we have been training with each other all week. Then it's on to Martin Heath or a qualifier in the second round."

Power didn't look as far ahead as the quarter-finals, where he is likely to face rising Australian, the man who won the Swedish Open last week and knocked him out of the US Open in Boston last September. It was a major shock after the way Power had recorded a 9-0 pummelling against Boswell in the fifth game of their Commonwealth Games semi-final.

That Boston result was a sure sign that Nicol and Power are no longer having it all their own way, and that the Aussie-born quartet of Palmer, White, Boswell and Ricketts are muscling in at the top. Power and Nicol know they will have to work harder than ever to stay in front, which makes the ToC event an important barometer for the shape of squash in 2003.

Power's ready for New York

It was going well in Antwerp ...

Until the semi-final.

An accidental clash ...

and Power was out.

Now he wants another ToC trophy

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