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2002 Commonwealth Games Gold
by Martin Bronstein in London, July 31 2002

[last update was 4-aug-02 ]

Martin Bronstein, live from Manchester on Wednesday Night

Jonathon Power Peerless Tonight

POWER HITS GOLD
Jonathon Power fulfilled his four year ambition and took home the Commonwealth Games gold medal, the one he should have won four years ago after beating Peter Nicol six times in a row. Then, in Kuala Lumpur, he had to be content with silver after losing in five. Today, he wore Nicol down to a shadow of his usual self in four games; to be precise Power did it in three games - the fourth was a mere six minute formality in which a drained Nicol could do nothing but react to the control of the ball that Power held for most of the match.

FORGET THE MAGIC - LET'S GRIND

This was not Power the magician, or Power the clever dick. This was Power the Grinder and for once his winners came not from flashy winning shots but from the purest length you could hope to see. Time and time again he sent the ball to the back of the court, to Nicol's forehand, to unplayable length. The first game started that way and the usually fleet Nicol, perhaps a fraction of a second slow because of the slight hold on the shot, could do nothing but stab at the ball.

POWER CONTROLS - ABSOLUTE POWER CONTROLS ABSOLUTELY
From the start Power controlled the T sending the ball to the corners and then that signature Power drop pulled Nicol to the forward to scrape the ball off the wall only to see it going back into the corner. Power's rhythm was almost hypnotic and his reading and speed meant that Nicol could do nothing to get from under the spell.

The man who was volleying everything earlier in the year and putting his opponents on the rack, was now being stretched unmercifully. The first sign that Nicol feared defeat came at 4-2 in the first game when Power was awarded a stroke; Nicol argued with referee Jack Allen (who called an impeccable game). Nicol never argues - when you know you're gonna win, why put it off by talking? But for him to argue so early on, was, for me, very significant. Was he feeling the pinch ?

If anybody should be feeling tired it should have been the Canadian; in his previous four matches he had spent 237 minutes on court to Nicol's 194. Power led 8-2 and while Nicol has made amazing comebacks from hopeless situations before, considering what had unfolded, this game was beyond him. He had been made to work; at 6-2 Power had put in three consecutive drop shots, two had been just scraped up by Nicol, the third on the other side of the court was pure cruelty.

Power was in control - you could almost see the medal gleaming on his red team shirt. He won the game 9-4 with a backhand drop after nearly 19 minutes of absorbing squash.

AND THEN HE LOST IT
Nicol came back for the second, took a two point lead and hit a good ball down the left wall, catching Power on the wrong foot, Power dashed, tripped and fell on the court, clutching his knee.

Canada held its breath; would it end in injury? He took a three minute break (self inflicted injury) but was back on court in two minutes. (I won't even mention that he tripped wearing his own brand of JP Sports shoes which he will launch officially later this year.)

Strangely, inexplicably, Nicol was in control. Well, it was explained by Power: "I lost my length, hit a few errors and Peter was hitting the ball well."

But Power was still pushing Nicol to pick up the ball in the four corners and you could almost hear him saying to himself 'keep it going, make him work.' If I had to choose one point when the game was won it would be with Nicol leading at 6-4. Power was hitting the ball with pure precision and Nicol made four incredible retrievals to save the point, twisting, turning and lunging until it hurt just to watch him. It ended with Power hitting the ball at himself to give Nicol the point, but at enormous cost. Nicol won the 22 minute game 9-4.

THREE AND YOU'RE OUT

Power hit Nicol's first serve of the third game into the tin to give him a point but from then on Power took control. Feeling that Nicol's legs were on the point of melting, he increased his drop shot rate and his tightness of drive; Power was the puppet master and Nicol was now the puppet who could not cut the strings and turn the tables around. And the Gods were against him; he got hand in at 2-5 and Power won the rally with the luckiest nick by the service box.

You could see Nicol's shoulder's slump.

Nobody said squash was fair. Power went to 7-3 and when Nicol hit two forehands into the tin to give Power the game 9-3 after 12 ½ minutes, we all knew it was all over.

Power had simply ground the former ungrindable Nicol down to a mood of helplessness and hopelessness. Nicol came out for the fourth, but he was looking grey and wan. Power never took anything for granted and kept up the pace and the punishment. "I did not want to give Peter a sniff, because I know how he can make a comeback. I wasn't sure of the victory until 8-0 in the fourth," Power said later. Nicol ended the last two rallies by hitting the ball out of court and Power's face broke out into a huge smile, while Nicol, after the handshake, wandered numbly around the court. He must have felt not only personal disappointment but a feeling of having let down the huge crowd that had given him such a rapturous welcome and cheered him on at every point. There was a small Canadian contingent, one guy kept screaming "Come on Jonathon Power", just to make sure he got the right man.

A LIFE OF HOSTILITY? REALLY?

When asked later if he felt the hostility of the crowd, Power sat back and smiled that big Jonathon Power smile. "I've walked my whole life through hostility. No I don't feel that. When I'm on the court playing, I am in my own zone, nothing affects me." The medal almost completes the set; the only title that has eluded him is a Pan American Games gold. He also pointed out that this is the first thing he has ever won in England and hoped that this will change his luck (He won the British Open in Scotland).

At the medals ceremony, I sang the words to the Canadian Anthem (well the eight I can remember) much to the embarrassment of my fellow journalists who had all come to write about a Nicol victory. Power said he was all pumped up when the Maple Leaf was raised.

"When they did that in Kuala Lumpur I had my head looking down — this time I was looking up, showing my face," he grinned. He won't be playing in the doubles but heading straight home to Montreal tomorrow for a two week 'vacation' before he gets into training for Hong Kong. It was a fine victory but not the greatest of finals. Power has now four consecutive victories over Nicol and the question is what can Nicol now do before Hong Kong My guess is not a lot.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES FINAL
Jonathon Power (Can) bt Peter Nicol (Eng) 9-2, 4-9, 9-3, 9-0 (67 mins)
Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Aus) bt Carol Owens (NZ) 9-5 9-0, 2-9, 9-8 (56 minutes)

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