Friday 8th,
Semi-Finals:
[2] Lee Beachill (Eng) bt [3]
Peter Nicol (Eng)
11/9, 11/6, 11/8 (47m)
[6] Jonathon Power (Can) bt [12] John White (Sco)
11/4, 10/11(3-5), 11/8,
10/11(0-2), 11/4 (90m)
Jonathon Power & Lee Beachill
To Meet In Bermuda Final
by Ross Triffitt/Howard Harding
Jonathon Power and Lee Beachill will meet in the final of
the Virtual Spectator Bermuda PSA Masters after the sixth-seeded Canadian
toppled Scotland's John White in a dramatic five-game marathon and
Beachill breezed to a straight games win over England team-mate Peter
Nicol in the other semi-final of the $120,000 PSA Super Series squash
event, presented by Logic and hosted by Endurance, at the Jessie Vesey
Sports Centre in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Intensive Encounter
The Power/White encounter encapsulated all the intensity, speed and
excitement of top-class squash. The clash of the game's two most exciting
stroke-players was eagerly awaited by the near capacity crowd - and right
from the beginning, the quality of the squash did not fall short of such
massive expectations. Both players were coming off brutal, five-game
quarter-final encounters - although both looked fresh and determined at
the outset.
The gifted Canadian was first out of the blocks, however, stunning White
with a number of delightful back-hand drops and clever deception to take
the first game. The trend continued for much of the second, as White's
perennial inconsistency seemed to come back to haunt him following a
number of unnecessary tins under little pressure. At 4-10 down, the
31-year-old Scot was up against it, and it was only through sheer will
power and a critical lapse in concentration which has undermined the
Canadian throughout his entire career, that kept White in the game.
What followed was a number of jaw-dropping rallies, with both players
wowing the crowd with their speed and movement. White levelled the game at
10-10 with a rolling forehand volley nick, before claiming his first game
point in the tie-break. But a sloppy backhand error let sixth seed Power
off the hook and the players swapped serves several times to leave it at
3-3 in the tie-break. Back came White, however, stepping up the court when
he had to take the ball early and work Power out of position - a tactic
which paid off handsomely as he claimed the tie-break 5-3 to level the
match.
Power, 30, from Montreal, won the third game as a number of close
refereeing decisions threw White off his concentration. But the 12th seed
was back to his best in the fourth, taking the game 2-0 on a tiebreak with
a drilled forehand drive to the back, with Power smashing his racquet
angrily against the glass in frustration at having let the advantage slip.
Neither player had enjoyed a straightforward route through the tournament
- White having played three successive matches each longer than an hour -
and it was impossible to tell who would have enough gas in the tank for
the crucial decider. But despite being in his third five-game match in a
row, Power threw himself into the last like a man possessed, dominating
play from the centre of the court, and pouncing on anything remotely short
from White. Although he tried manfully, the Aussie-turned Scotsman's
lunges were looking increasingly desperate and his length, particularly
cross-court, began to falter.
Power ultimately took the match 11-5 10-11 11-8 10-11 11-4 in 89 minutes,
punching the air in triumph as White lay prostrate on the ground in the
back forehand corner, every last ounce of his energy used up.
It was Power's first PSA Tour win over White since beating him on the same
court in the Bermuda Open in March last year - since when the Scot has
twice had the measure of the Canadian.
Beachill too precise
In the second semi-final, Lee Beachill gave his great rival and friend
Peter Nicol a lesson in precision squash - taking the match comfortably
11-9 11-6 11-8 in 47 minutes. Rarely could Beachill have played as well as
he did in the first, pushing his illustrious opponent to all parts of the
court with squash which could not have been any tighter. Nicol, as he has
done for the past decade at the top level, gamely chased down every ball
and continually took the pressure off with a number of wonderful
high-lobs.
But Beachill was in a world of his own, looking every inch a Masters
champion in the making. Even at the start of the second, as Nicol rallied
briefly, it was clear that the rigours of the first game had sapped him of
the requisite strength.
Beachill continued to be ruthless, keeping Nicol pinned behind him and
forcing him to scramble around in the back corners. In truth, the match
never really caught fire and the man from Pontefract ran away with the
second and third to repeat his last victory over Nicol in the US Open in
September - by an almost identical straight games scoreline.
And the final is ...
Power and Beachill will therefore face each other in the final - the
Englishman now in his 13th on the PSA Tour and the Canadian celebrating
his 58th. Beachill has looked imperious throughout the week, dropping only
one game so far. Power, by contrast, his been pushed to the limit of his
physical capacity in all but one round. Whether the greatest ever North
American player, believed by many to be one of the finest stroke players
in the history of the game, has enough left to challenge the flying
Yorkshireman remains to be seen. Their last meeting was in the PSA Masters
just a year ago in Qatar - where Beachill secured his first ever win over
the former world No1.
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Thursday 7th April:
Quarter-Finals:
[6] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [1] Thierry
Lincou (FRA)
9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8 (96m)
[12] John White (SCO) bt [7] Nick Matthew (ENG)
9-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-9, 8-11, 11-8 (97m)
[3] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [5] James Willstrop (ENG)
11-5, 10-11 (1-3), 11-4, 11-3 (50m)
[2] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [8] Karim Darwish (EGY)
7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 (54m)
Power Controls Lincou
To Reach Bermuda Semis
by Ross Triffitt/Howard Harding
"Squash at its best" was how one observer described the dramatic
quarter-final in the Virtual Spectator Bermuda PSA Masters between sixth
seed Jonathon Power and top seed Thierry Lincou - in which the mercurial
Canadian prevailed in a five-game marathon to upset the French world
number one and world champion to reach an unexpected semi-final berth on
the all-glass court at the Jessie Vesey Sports Centre in Hamilton,
Bermuda.
In a remarkable semi-final line-up of the
$120,000 PSA Super Series event presented by Logic and hosted by Endurance
which features four former world number ones, Power will face Scotland's
12th seed John White, whilst second seed Lee Beachill will take on third
seed Peter Nicol in an all-English affair.
Power tops Thierry
The Power/Lincou clash promised to be spectacular and more than lived up
to its name. The match started at a slow pace, with both players making
uncharacteristic unforced errors, trying to play the tightest of shots
from the outset. The first game remained close to 9-9 until Lincou rattled
off two points to take a 1/0 lead.
The pace picked up in the second with Power showing his amazing array of
deceptive shots which caused even the world champion to be constantly
changing direction. At seven-all it was anyone's game until Power reeled
off four unanswered points to level the match at one game each.
From the third game on, the quality of squash was superb - with neither
player giving any quarter. Power continued to demonstrate why he is
considered one of the greatest stroke players in the modern game and soon
moved into a 2/1 lead. But Lincou, chasing every ball and playing
superbly, seized the initiative in the fourth and won a closely-fought
duel to set the scene for a fifth game thriller. If the first four games
were hot, the fifth was a sizzler!
Both gave it their all and constantly fought to dominate the tee. Power
had been questioning the referee's decisions from the third game, always
in the belief that he can retrieve every shot, no matter how impossible -
and even Lincou started to question decisions in the final game. It was
clear that both badly wanted to claim victory and the game progressed
absolutely evenly.
At three-all, Power was accidentally struck on the right wrist by Lincou's
racket and took an injury time out - much to the consternation of his
opponent. When play resumed they went straight back into the fray until
seven-all. The next rally was unbelievable and had the audience on edge
while each player put away irretrievable winners only to see them returned
with interest. A perfect back hand drop shot by Power forced Lincou into
the front left corner where he played a cross court lob, only to have
Power hammer an overhead smash into the front right nick to end the rally
- and raise his racket as if victory was in sight.
But the match was not quite over. During the next rally Power flinched
when struck in the face by Lincou's racket but went on to win the point
before claiming a second injury time out to stop the bleeding to his lip.
When they finally returned to the court, Lincou took the next point. But
Power was not to be denied and he put away the last two points to take the
game and the match 9-11 11-7 11-6 9-11 11-8 after a gruelling 96 minutes
on court.
The last time the pair met, in the quarter-finals of the Windy City Open
in January, Power beat the Frenchman to set up a semi-final meeting with
John White. The Canadian will hope, however, that history will not be
repeated in Hamilton - as White defeated Power in Chicago en-route to
picking up the title.
White's Second Scare
Both players will clash following almost identical quarter-final workouts
- as White needed a minute more than Power to see off England's Nick
Matthew in the next match on the all-glass court.
Seventh seed Matthew won the first game after being given a conduct
warning with the score at 3-3 when he continued to argue with the referee
after what he considered to be a dubious let call. White, the 12th seed,
was visibly playing himself back into form, as he has throughout the
tournament, and won the next two games before Matthew, tenaciously chasing
down every ball, took the fourth to force the match into a decider.
There was no telling who would triumph as they each vied for the lead, but
White suddenly decided to play a series of devastating drop shots as
Matthew perhaps showed slight signs of slowing down. The Scot ultimately
took the fifth game to win the match 9-11 11-10 11-9 8-11 11-8 in 97
minutes.
One too many for Willstrop
The rigours of James Willstrop's epic 96-minute encounter the previous day
against Australia's Anthony Ricketts were clearly evident as he faced
fellow Englishman Peter Nicol in the next quarter-final.
Nicol, by contrast, looked sharp and fresh in the first game, pushing
Willstrop from corner to corner and generally looking the more aggressive.
In the second, Willstrop started to get it together - more by sheer will
power than anything else - and what followed was a spectacular exhibition
of athletic squash. One rally in particular - won by Willstrop, which saw
both players at full stretch and included a full-length dive by Nicol at
the back of the court to stay in the rally - will live long in the memory.
As Willstrop clinched the tie-break game with a delicate forehand
drop-shot into the nick, the enthusiastic crowd could have been forgiven
for thinking they had a serious game on their hands.
But the wily Nicol had other ideas in the third, retrieving with grim
determination and stubbornly refusing to concede the centre of the court.
As hard as fifth seed Willstrop tried, his legs were simply not there and
by the end, his shoulders slumped with sheer fatigue, it was clear Nicol
had it in the bag as he eventually wore down a willing but tired-looking
England team-mate 11-5 10-11 11-4 11-3.
The final match of the day was a rather flat affair between England's Lee
Beachill and Karim Darwish of Egypt - with the world number two Beachill
taking the game in four 7-11 11-7 11-7 11-9.
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