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British
Open Preview:
Peter Nicol and Jonathon Power - both ready, both confident
last updated on: June 3, 2001 0:15
BRITISH OPEN PREVIEW By Martin Bronstein
Peter Nicol is chafing at the bit and can't wait to get at Jonathon Power in Eye Group British Open which starts (with the qualifying rounds) this coming weekend (June 1st) in Birmingham, England.
Mind you, if you look at the record of this engaging sportsman over the last nine years, you would have to be a bit of an optimist to put a lot of money on him to win the title.
Not
that he doesn't have the talent or the form, but there has been
a jinx hovering over his head in a most malevolent way. As Nicol quite happily
admits, in the early 90's he went four years without winning a game!. Not
a match mark you, but a game. He put that down to bad preparation and timing,
declaring that he was playing so much that when he reached the legendary Open,
he was exhausted.
In 1997 he planned well, played superbly to reach the final and then lost to Jansher Khan in five games. He should have won: as one observer put it in his report: "Nicol was protected from Jansher's devious ways by a shrewd referee for four games, but suddenly went blind in the fifth when Jansher's infamous blocking tactics went unpenalised." Nicol took that defeat with his usual uncomplaining equability, knowing that he had matched the champion in every area, including fitness.
The following year Nicol got his just rewards and beat Jansher to become the first Brit to win the title since Jonah Barrington back in the 60's. [Jansher this week announced his forthcoming retirement from the game. Nicol's victory in 1998 was surely the pream,ble to that announcement.)
CURSE OF THE BAMBINO?
Nicol could quite rightly expect to have a good run of British Open titles
from that moment on but in 1999 that jinx reappeared in Aberdeen, striking
Nicol down with food poisoning on the eve of the final against Power and although
he bravely tried to contest the final in front of a huge hometown crowd, he
was totally exhausted 
and
could not come out for the third game. Indeed, he ended up in hospital on
a drip because of extreme dehydration.
The jinx struck again cruelly on the eve of last year's Open when a leg ailment forced a withdrawal at the very last moment. It was an injury that forced him to play catch-up for several months and even though he won the Tournament of Champions in New York, he has only just got himself back to where he was at this time last year - fully fit and confident.
"I can't wait to play the Open this time and it doesn't bother me what has happened in the past. What matters is what I feel like now and what happens next week. The injury last year is now done with and it took longer than I thought to get back into fitness. That's why the end of last year was very tough for me; the other boys had played two or three tournaments in a row and I wasn't match fit, so I was struggling.
"I got back to match fitness for the Tournament of Champions and I won that playing reasonably well. But then I was affected by the travelling and had some bad results up to Hurghada," he told Squashtalk in an exclusive interview.
I
asked him about his poor results over the last two months where he was getting
hard pushed by players he used to beat easily:
"I
wasn't getting pushed, I was losing to them," Nicol responded with his usual
frankness. "I felt terrible. I had lost my confidence."
I
reminded him of how irritable he was in Hurghada when he was knocked out in
the quarters by David Palmer.
"I
was unhappy and irritable because I was unable to what I wanted to do. I was
up 8-1 in the fifth against Palmer but was soon as he started playing well
there was nothing I could do to stop him. When you are not able to do the
thing you normally can and you can't compete and you lose, you get irritable.
It's a bit of a vicious circle," Peter explained.
How do you break that circle?
"By getting down to some hard work and, in matches after that, making sure
I wasn't losing. I got my confidence back that way, by playing better and
better. In Ireland I had a couple of tough matches against Lee Beachill and
Johnny White to get to the final, and I was quite tired. But I played really
well in the final and thumped David Palmer."
I
wondered whether Nicol went on court against Palmer in Ireland with a "right
you bugger, I'm going to get revenge" attitude.
"No, it was a 'right you bugger I'm going to beat you' attitude. And I did
and it all felt very, very good. There was no thought of revenge. "Compared
to a year ago when I was unbeaten, my fitness is comparable now. It is just
a matter of form. And I am playing, moving and hitting the ball well."
His
recent run of bad form has been put down to the upheaval in his life (and
the squash world), when he threw off his kilt to claim English status. I asked
Nicol whether this was true.
" It might have might have something to do with it. You obviously get affected
by everything and that was part of it. But there was a lot more than that,"
he replied without expanding on the theme.
How
do you overcome a bad period?
"Work harder. You put your head down and really try harder. You try to do
things correctly and better than you did before. Stretch more, have more massages,
eat better, sleep better, stay away from bars more. Just do everything on
a higher level until you get back on an even keel."
Regardless
of Nicol's Hurghada form, Power was looking sensational, as sharp as I have
ever seen him. I asked Nicol how he fancied his chances against the new slim-line
Power.
"I can't wait! Because I don't believe, if we are on top form, he can beat
me. I don't think he's strong enough. He can play very well, but when it comes
down to it, I want it more. I really want it more," Nicol said with real conviction
in his voice. WHO ELSE? Unless there is a massive upset or the Nicol jinx
strikes again, no other player shows a consistency of purpose to get to the
final.
FORECAST:
POWER-NICOL CLASSIC
I am quite happy to forecast that with Power and Nicol on the top of their
form, this could be one of the greatest of British Open finals.
FITZ-GERALD
SUPREME
In the Women's draw I can almost repeat my above remarks, but this time for
just one player, Sarah Fitz-Gerald. Her come-back is complete, her confidence
is rock solid and no other player can produce her consistency of form.
Cassie Campion is making a steady comeback from her back surgery, but will need a couple of months to get back to full match fitness. She is seeded to meet Fitz-Gerald in the quarters and while that will be a good measure of her recuperation, with all the best Brit goodwill in the world, I cannot see Campion winning.
Carol Owens has been disappointing since her world open victory, and perhaps with her old racket brought back into service, she will feel more at home and will be able to use the touch that brought her the world title.
Leilani Joyce has also failed to regain the joy of her first British Open victory while Linda Charman-Smith should be getting back to her old form after hellish three months of no tournaments and a knee problem. It would be nice to see WISPA answer to Brett Martin, Natalie Grainger, hit true form without the usual mental wobbles that have done her so much harm in the last year or so. A 3/0 victory over any of the players ranked above her would do her a power of good.
THE LEGENDS ARE BACK
That remarkable and hugely likeable man Hashim Khan will be back at the Open,
celebrating his golden anniversary. Yes, it was 50 years ago that this unknown
came out of Peshawar and destroyed the old game of long white trousers and
graceful shotmaking to run everybody off court. He should be cannonised while
still alive: Squash needs a patron saint and St. Hashim is absolutely right
for the job. He will be giving away at least a 20 year advantage to his opponents
in the over 60 tournament where he has the chance of meeting a certain
Jonah Barrington, another legend. What fun that would be. I shall be covering it all as usual, starting with first round action on Tuesday.
