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Grandstand (A) Seating:
Mon/Tue/Wed £23.50, Thu £30, Fri £35 |
Courtside (B & C) Seating:
Mon/Tue/Wed £15, Thu/Fri £17.50 |
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*All tickets subject to a
booking fee. For details of group discounts and concessions,
please contact Tournament Promoters, WSM, on Tel. 020 7590 7515 |
28-Mar:
NICOL SET FOR ONE LAST ATTEMPT AT
KHAN'S SUPER SERIES FINALS RECORD
Tom Maidment reports ...
Peter Nicol will go in search of a fairytale ending to his phenomenal
11-year run at the Brit Insurance Super Series Finals when the 2006 event
gets underway at London's Broadgate Arena on May 8th.
The 32-year-old world no.7, who claimed a remarkable men's singles gold over
local favourite, David Palmer, at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne last
week, has hinted that this may be his last year on the PSA Tour. Victory in
what is likely to be his farewell appearance at Broadgate would see him
equal the great Jansher Khan's record of four Super Series Finals crowns - a
fitting end to one of the most remarkable careers in the history of the
game.
Nicol has qualified for the prestigious Super Series Finals on a staggering
11 consecutive occasions. Only Jansher and Canada's Jonathon Power, who
retired from the game last month, come close to Nicol's record with five
appearances apiece.
Nicol's first title coincided with the event's move to Broadgate in 1999
where he defeated Egyptian star, Ahmed Barada, by 3/1. England's Simon Parke
was his victim the following year before David Palmer, making his
debut in the event, became the third finalist to fall to the Englishman in
as many years.
It was Jonathon Power, back in 2003, who broke Nicol's 100% record of never
having lost a final at the event when, in a classic encounter between the
two adversaries, Power famously called set-1 with the scores level at
2-games all, 14-points all. The match went down as one of the finest of the
43 encounters played between the pair.
Nicol, who on Sunday added Commonwealth doubles gold to his remarkable
singles victory, is one of five medallists from the Melbourne Games to
feature in the line-up at this year's Finals. James Willstrop and Lee
Beachill both claimed medals for England - silver in the mixed doubles for
Willstrop and doubles gold and singles bronze for Beachill - whilst
Australians David Palmer and Anthony Ricketts gave the home crowd plenty to
cheer about with Ricketts claiming silver in the men's doubles and Palmer
taking silver in the singles and bronze in the men's doubles and mixed
doubles.
England's Nick Matthew, who earned his place in the 2006 Brit Insurance
Super Series Finals following Power's sudden retirement last month, narrowly
missed out on a medal after falling to compatriot Lee Beachill in the
play-off for singles bronze.
The 2006 Commonwealth Games squash event was dominated by England and the
host nation, between them taking 13 of the 15 medals on offer.
The Brit Insurance Super Series Finals will take place in a specially
constructed all-glass court at London's Broadgate Arena from 8th - 12th May.
One of the richest events on the PSA calendar, the tournament brings
together the top eight point scorers from the 2005 PSA Super Series Tour to
compete in a grand final.
Also contesting this year's event will be France's Thierry Lincou, the world
no.4, and Egyptian World Champion, Amr Shabana, the world no.3.
|
 |
|
Super Series 2005
Final Standings |
|
# |
Player |
Ctry |
Pts |
|
2 |
David Palmer |
Aus |
5175 |
|
3 |
Anthony Ricketts |
Aus |
5100 |
|
4 |
Thierry Lincou |
Fra |
5093 |
|
5 |
James Willstrop |
Eng |
4806 |
|
6 |
Amr Shabana |
Egy |
4406 |
|
7 |
Peter
Nicol |
Eng |
3087 |
|
8 |
Lee Beachill |
Eng |
3081 |
|
9 |
Nick Matthew |
Eng |
2731 |
|
David Palmer |
Anthony Ricketts |
Thierry Lincou |
James Willstrop |
Amr Shabana |
Peter Nicol |
Lee Beachill |
Nick Matthew |
Commonwealth Games
Hopefuls
Pack Super Series Finals Lineup
Five potential Commonwealth Games medallists – three of them English – will
contest this year’s Brit Insurance Super Series Squash Finals at London’s
Broadgate Arena from 8–12 May. Peter Nicol, Lee Beachill, James Willstrop,
Anthony Ricketts and David Palmer have all been selected to represent their
respective countries at next month’s games in Melbourne and all are expected
to compete strongly for medal positions. The Brit Insurance Super Series
Finals will be the first major PSA tournament to take place in the UK
following the Games.
England’s Peter Nicol, who qualifies in seventh place for the prestigious
eight-man event in the City of London, claimed gold in the men’s doubles and
silver in the singles in Manchester in 2002. The former world No1 also
claimed two medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games when competing for his
native Scotland. Nicol will be joined in the Brit Insurance Super Series
Finals line-up by England team-mates Lee Beachill, his gold medal winning
doubles partner in Manchester, and 22-year-old James Willstrop who makes his
Commonwealth Games debut in Melbourne.
The trio led England to victory at the World Team Championships in Islamabad
last December and there are high hopes that all three will return to London
in May as 2006 Commonwealth Games medallists.
Australia’s world No4 Anthony Ricketts, beaten finalist at last week’s
Canary Wharf Classic, and world No1 David Palmer have both been selected to
represent Australia’s self-proclaimed ‘strongest team ever’ in Melbourne.
Ricketts, the reigning British Open champion, claimed men’s doubles silver
behind Nicol and Beachill in Manchester and will be hoping to go one better
in front of a partisan home crowd when the 2006 Games get underway in just
over three weeks. Likewise Palmer, who picked up bronze medals in the
singles and doubles in Manchester, will be hoping for further podium
finishes in Melbourne and the two-time British Open Champion is likely to
prove a major threat on home soil.
Completing the eight-strong Brit Insurance Super Series Finals line-up will
be Egypt’s two-time World Open champion Amr Shabana, currently ranked No3 in
the world, and France’s Thierry Lincou, winner of last week’s Canary Wharf
Classic and runner-up to Jonathon Power at Broadgate last year.
The Brit Insurance Super Series Finals brings together the top eight
qualifiers from the PSA Super Series Tour to compete in an annual grand
final. The qualifying events for the 2006 event included the 2005 Tournament
of Champions, the 2005 Bermuda PSA Masters, the 2005 Pakistan Open, the 2005
Qatar Classic, the 2005 World Open and the 2005 Saudi International.
The 2006 Brit Insurance Super Series Finals, presented by British Land,
owners of the Broadgate Arena, will take place in a specially constructed
all-glass court in the heart of the city of London.
The eight qualifiers will be drawn in two groups of four for the round robin
stage from Monday 8th – Wednesday 10th May, with the top two from each group
progressing to Thursday’s semi-finals. The final and 3rd place play-off will
take place on Friday 12th May.
|
|
|
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Super Series 2005
Final Standings |
|
# |
Player |
Ctry |
Pts |
|
1 |
Jonathon Power |
Can |
5643 |
|
2 |
David Palmer |
Aus |
5175 |
|
3 |
Anthony Ricketts |
Aus |
5100 |
|
4 |
Thierry Lincou |
Fra |
5093 |
|
5 |
James Willstrop |
Eng |
4806 |
|
6 |
Amr Shabana |
Egy |
4406 |
|
7 |
Peter
Nicol |
Eng |
3087 |
|
8 |
Lee Beachill |
Eng |
3081 |
|
Reserves |
|
1 |
Nick Matthew |
Eng |
2731 |
|
2 |
John White |
Sco |
2187 |
Power Goes Out
As Door Opens
for Matthew
Canadian world number one Jonathon Power has confirmed that he will
not return to London to defend his title at the 2006 Brit Insurance Super
Series Squash Finals in May after announcing his retirement from the sport
at last week's Tournament of Champions in New York.
Power's place in the 8-man line-up will be taken by England's Nick
Matthew, the newly crowned British National Champion.
The 25-year-old world no.10, runner-up in New York last week, finished 9th
in the 2005 Super Series Tour standings and qualifies for the prestigious
annual event as the first reserve. His inclusion brings the number of
Englishmen in the 8-man line-up to four and the number of Commonwealth Games
medal hopes to six.
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