White from the Depths to the Top
Mar 18, 2005, by Martin Bronstein in London
SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2005 all Rights Reserved;

LIVE FROM CANARY WHARF, FRIDAY MARCH 18 2005 [complete draws and results]

A MATCH OF TWO HALVES
This was definitely a game of two halves, the first half belonging emphatically to Anthony Ricketts who simply outplayed John White. Unfortunately for Ricketts the second half belonged to White who went from a state of being unable to buy a winner to hitting winners on every rally.

White forced his way into the match, photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert

Ricketts started in his usual mode of overdrive, covering the court like an army blanket and simply not allowing White to try anything fancy. Ricketts simply could do nothing wrong. Even though he hit the top of the back wall to lose the first rally he took the next two points with the same shot, a surprise forehand boast that left White standing on the T. From that point on you might have imagined that there were two Ricketts on the court – he was everywhere and hitting drops, counterdrops, boasts and tight drives. He was even getting the luck of the bounce while all White could do was react.

When Ricketts left the court a 9-4 winner it was hard to imagine that he could lose – or more precisely that White could win. The second game proved that summation, even more so: Ricketts raced though to a 9-1 win in five minutes with the help of two White errors that were quite disastrous – the whole front wall at his disposal with Ricketts stranded in no man’s land and he dropped one into the tin and another he hammered into the tin. Disheartened was the only way to describe the expression on his face as he left the court and it looked like being a very short final for the ticket

World turned upside down for Ricketts, photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert

Then the world turned upside down for Ricketts. It was as though the wicked witch had suddenly taken a dislike to him and took the magic from his racket and gave it to White. The first rally ended with White driving the ball to perfect length. The second with an overhead crosscourt smash into the nick and the third with a stroke against Ricketts. White was 3-0 up and Ricketts gave up the fourth point when a backhand drop – White standing behind him – hit the tin. Now it was 4-0 to White and with his confidence on steep upward curve the shots rolled off his racquet; Ricketts could do nothing – except tighten up. The game was over in four minutes.

The fourth game started badly for Ricketts with a fine tight backhand from White and then a lucky nick at the back. Ricketts was obviously getting stressed and his serving was abysmal allowing White to smash dead nicks from the loose serve. White was now rampant and he seemed to hit winners at random, finishing the game with a stunning backhand cross court kill to win 9-3.

Ricketts tried slowing the ball down in the fifth but he was so mentally off kilter that a simple shot from White that came down the center of the court hit him on the hip as he turned to take it off the back wall. This was the man who was so quick in the first two games he could have caught flies with chopsticks.

The result was inevitable – a 9-1 game for White and the victory. Another evening that Ricketts would like to forget following his collapse against Peter Nicol in Kuwait when he was 10-4 up in the fifth – and lost.

White gets the trophy, photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert

White said later that he slowed the ball up in the third game and that allowed him time to set up his shots. The other explanation, often given by the players, is that this white ball goes dead in the third game. While the ball was shooting about White could do nothing, but once the pace was off, out came his arsenal of shots and Ricketts was on the back foot.

White took home $5000 while Ricketts took $4000 – the other six players earned $3000 each, which is not bad for an exhibition tournament. ISS, the sponsor will have thought this was money well spent with five days of solid crowds. Whether the next Canary Wharf Classic will be a PSA knockout tournament is uncertain: this tournament definitely has a very high entertainment content in its present form and the promoters might question the wisdom of changing it.

ISS CANARY WHARF CLASSIC
FINAL:
John White (SCO) bt Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 4-9, 1-9, 9-2, 9-3, 9-1 (49mins)
3/4 PLAYOFF:
3rd/4th PLAY-OFF
Lee Beachill (ENG) beat Jonathon Power (CAN) 9-7, 9-4, 9-6.

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