YMG Capital Classic 2002

Canada's Jonathon Power advanced to the quarter-final round of the 2002 YMG
Capital Canadian Squash Classic on the glass showcourt in front of a sold-out crowd at BCE Place in downtown Toronto, defeating world number 29 David Evans of Wales in a 49-minute first round match 15-7, 15-8, 15-7. But it was Joe Kneipp, the mercurial and likeable Aussie, who upstaged Power by taking the upper hand of the best match of the evening. Kneipp staged the only upset of the evening by suddenly taking the upper hand of an even and fascinating battle. After losing the third game 17-14, and then the fourth, Kneipp worked some raquet and footwork magic, and appeared to be also better conditioned to outlast Beachill in the fifth.

But the Toronto crowd had come to cheer on their hero. Dressed in Canadian red and white, Power made quick work of the 6'3" Welshman. With only a few choice outbursts at the referees, Power dominated the court, disarming Evans with precise drops and amazing wrist shots. "I wanted to go out there and get settled in right away," said Power post-match.

"I'm happy with tonight's match. I think this is indicative of how the tournament is going to go."

"It was a bit harder than it probably looked," Power said as he signed posters for a horde of admiring fans after the match. "Dave has fantastic reach and tonight he was guessing pretty well in the top right corner. You cannot relax against guys like these.

"I am fit and in good shape but I have not have time to prepare particularly for this tournament after playing in Qatar last week. This is one of my bread and butter tournaments though, so I am very keen to win it back. I will need to be a bit sharper and more aggressive as the week moves on, but right now I am happy to be moving well and staying out of the referee's eye."

Second seeded behind the defending champion, Peter Nicol of England, Power has recently launched his own shoe brand under the JP Sports banner and talks rather disturbingly in terms of home markets and brand image, rather than athletic challenge.

Tonight he was wearing the new white version of the JP shoe teamed with the Canadian national colours and it has been noticeable that several other Canadian players taken to the showcourt at BCE place in downtown Toronto wearing the new footwear.

By the time Mark Chaloner, the seventh seed, and Simon Parke got on court for the all-England last match of the first round session at BCE Place, Parke seemed to have descended into a suicidal exhibition mood that, even if he had won, would have surely meant his next opponent would merely have had to limit his error count to reach the semi-finals.

Of course, the next opponent is Power and perhaps the canny Yorkshireman, having shown his credentials by beating one Canadian, Victor Berg, in a five set qualifying final, was not prepared to risk it again the best in the land.He gave us unstinting effort, amazing retrievals, racket eating pretences, joke speed increasing dances when the referee opined that he might not reach some shots, and an astonishing range of skills both in movement and racketwork. What he did not bother with at all was tactics or game plan, which suited the admirably earnest Chaloner right down to the ground.
After 88 minutes of thoroughly enjoyable but intellectually barren squash, Chaloner went on to meet Power on Tuesday with a 15-9 12-15 15-4 15-13 victory, although it has to be said that the intense pain on his face as Parke threatened to take matters into a fifth game forcing back from 11-14 to 13-14 at the end.

"I am pleased to win that," admitted Chaloner. "I would never have heard the last of losing to Simon in that mood. You have to stay completely on your own game plan. He can be so entertaining and amusing in that headless chicken mood that you find yourself drawn into it and then, suddenly, he is playing seriously to win while you are still playing the fool."

Scotland's fourth seeded world number five, John White, tonight took out the
first of the qualifiers, Stefan Casteleyn of Belgium, but there were moments
in the 101 minute 13-15 15-13 7-15 15-4 15-5 first round encounter when it
seemed the hot court and the flying white ball would give the qualifier a
truly satisfying result.Casteleyn, the world number 24 who defeated Canada's Shawn Delierre in a straight games qualifying final, went straight back on court in the same
attack mode against White, forcing a stream of tinned errors from the big-hitting Australian born Scotsman and beating him repeatedly, especially with a sharp delayed forehand reverse angle, to secure the first game in just 15 minutes. Had he not hit a backhand volley unnecessarily in the tin when trailing 13-14 in the 21 minute second game, it might have been him facing Australia's Joe Kneipp in Tuesday's quarter-finals instead of White.

The Belgium led 10-6 and 13-11 in that second game but seemed the more disturbed of the two players when the referee, Gerry Poulton of Vancouver, gave him the point after an almost balletic collision in the front court. White escaped with a forehand volley drop, a penalty stroke in the backhand court and a brace of tinned errors while Casteleyn was still thinking about a two game lead.

A run of five errors from the world number five showed immediately at the start of the 29 minute third game suggested that a little more Belgium concentration in the previous game would almost certainly have led to another comprehensive victory but, after easing off that game from 4-10 down, White was increasingly confident of victory. He even managed at 7-2 in the five minute third game to persuade Poulton to change a no-let decision for a penalty stroke in the forehand court and then joked afterwards :"Perhaps we can discuss all the earlier calls now."

That fourth game ended in a string of three unforced errors from Casteleyn and the 15 minute fifth game ended almost resignedly in a couple more, despite a lengthy pause at the start for an accidental knee into the back of White's knee. At the end White was sufficiently relaxed to stay on court and hit a few balls with a bunch of juniors who had stayed on at the showcourt after a coaching session with the pros earlier in the afternoon.

Australia's Joe Kneipp was not wearing the Power shoe, but he certainly had some extra punch in his footwork as he reached five places up the PSA world ranking list to defeat England's sixth seeded Lee Beachill, the British National Champion and world number eight, 17-16 15-12 14-17 8-15 115-3 in 91 minutes.

There was seemingly unbreakable balance between the two players until Beachill, having recovered from a two game deficit to win the fourth from 7-7 in a couple of hands, suddenly collapsed to 1-10 in the fifth and lost it in seven minutes having served only three times.

He was unlucky to lose the 26 minute opener on a tough no-let call from the referee, Mo Shehata of Toronto, after working diligently back from 10-13 to 16-16, but he could not get quite so close from 10-13 in the 17 minute second as Kneipp chased his attacking shots so tenaciously that eventually he started hitting them into the tin.

The 20 minute third game went to 14-14 once more but this time the British National champion close out with a perfect forehand nickshot, a cleverly delayed forehand crosscourt pass and a backhand serve so testing that Kneipp could only return it to the tin.

In the 13 minute fourth game it seemed Beachill was taking control of the match. From 6-6 he went to 14-7 in a single hand and then finished off with a clinging backhand dropshot that sent his opponent drooping from the court. It looked all over, and it was.

But not quite in the anticipated manner.

Within seven minutes Kneipp was thrusting his arms triumphantly into the air. With Beachill repeatedly missing his targets and finding the rough end of Mr Shehata's decisions, the Australian sped to 10-1 in a single hand, 13-2 in another, and 15-3 on a cutting backhand dropshot in a third.

YMG Capital Canadian Squash Classic
First Round Results:

Joe Kneipp (Aus) bt Lee Beachill (Eng) 17-16 15-12 14-17 8-15 15-3
John White (Scot) bt Stefan Casteleyn (Bel) 13-15 15-13 7-15 15-4 15-5
Mark Chaloner (eng) bt Simon Parke (Eng) 15-9 12-15 15-4 15-13
Jonathon Power (Can) bt David Evans (Wal) 15-7 15-8 15-7