Anticlimaxes….who needs them?
Don’t buy tickets for the finals or semis, I tell everyone, buy tickets for the quarters because you are sure to get a least one great match.

Well, shut mah mouth…what happened at the quarters stage of the 2004 Pace Canadian Classic? Nuthin’. Well almost nothing. Three 3/0 scorelines and three injured players. And a crackerjack that went ‘pouf’ instead of ‘KERPOW!!!’

POWER BACK TO MAGIC
That crackerjack was as the biggest anti-climax of them all - the much awaited meeting of Nicol and Power. Their 39th with Nicol leading 21-17 on the head-to-head. Both players recovering from injuries (and advancing years) and looking forward to locking horns again.

From the beginning it was Power and in the middle it was Power and in the unexpectedly fast conclusion it was Power again. He controlled the rallies with his chopped drop shots and perfect cross courts – and of course his speed. As he was to comment later: “My length was working and my drops were working – it was hard for Peter to cover everything.” Indeed, Mike Way was said to have claimed that he hadn’t seen Power hit the ball so well in six years. But then, Mike does have a Way with words.

Everything was in Power’s favour – a fast court, a hot ball and the shortened scoring to eleven. He was hitting his favourite shot – the backhand drop – with deadly accuracy and holding his shot until the last moment, leaving Nicol flat-footed time and time again. And to add insult to injury, Power was hitting outrageous drops from the back of the court.

The pace was fast and furious and the accuracy breathtaking. Nicol tried to take the initiative by stepping up the court and volleying anything he could, but Power was reading everything superbly and even when he mis-read it, his speed saved the day.

The packed galleries were all for Power and he gave them what they wanted, leading throughout the three games to win 11-7, 11-7 11-2 in 40 minutes. While the Canucks were delighted to see their boy win, it must be reported that on the final winning shot, the celebrations were muted. There was disappointment in the air.

There is not a lot more to say: Nicol was perhaps not at the top of his game, but on this form Power could surely beat anybody in the world. How did he explain his performance apart form his usual claim that his body was in good shape?

“I was moving well from the beginning which is always important and I took the T away from him, which is also important. Peter wasn’t reading my shots because I was really putting holds on the ball and then snapping it past him. And then my drops were working well so he had to cover them. So my touch game and my length game were working and it was tough for him to cover them both.”

BEACHILL LIMPS OUT
Power will now face Anthony Ricketts whom he has beaten twice this year. Now we know that Ricketts is getting back to his former self but we have yet to see much of his form. In the first round he walked through on Nick Matthew’s withdrawal. Tonight he walked through in three as Lee Beachill succumbed to an abductor muscle injured in an 8-man tournament in Manchester – a non-ranking event. Just how wise is that?

Beachill had performed superbly in his first round match on Monday, but he admitted after his match today that Ricketts had put him under enormous pressure with long rallies. In the first game the two players both played crisp tight squash with Ricketts as focused as I have ever seen him. At 6-3 there was a tangle of legs, leaving Beachill in much pain with a dead leg, the results of a knock on his calf muscle. From that moment on he seemed hesitant and only half the player who is the much deserved world number one.

This is not to detract from the performance of the Australian, presently ranked 14 in the world. From the first ball he played inch-perfect squash, putting just the right weight on the ball leading all the way to win the first game 11-4, hitting six outright winners on the way. Beachill fought to 6-6 in the second game, but it was obvious that he was not feeling 100 percent. After losing the game 11-6, Beachill took a 3-minute injury break and there was pain on his face as the physio tried to work some relief into his groin. It didn’t help and third game was over quickly 11-2 as Beachill’s movement left him completely and with it his determination.

So Ricketts went through to the semis without really playing a complete match.
(And without the audience seeing a full match)

KNEIPP GREAT FOR ONE GAME
But that wasn’t the end of A and E at the BCE (Medical) Centre. Joe Kneipp played wonderfully to beat Thierry Lincou in the first game and then he too was soon on his back getting treatment for a leg ailment in a three minute injury break. He lasted one and half more games before withdrawing in the middle of the third because of his muscle strain. Lincou was now in the semis to face Graham Ryding or Paul Price.

Now can you guess what happened between those last named players ? With Ryding leading 2/0, Price took a 3 minute injury break. The third of the evening. (Is this new accelerated scoring causing too much stress? Or are three minute injury breaks the new black?) You won’t believe this but at 8-0 in the third Paul Price retired.

The only nice thing you can say about the evening is that there are two Canadians in the semi-final for the first time ever. And it’s only nice if you hold a Canadian passport.