Martin Bronstein reporting from THE EYE GROUP BRITISH OPEN
THE ONLY THING PETER NICOL AND ANTHONY HILL have in common is membership of the PSA. In every other aspect of life and profession they are resemble fresh chalk and stale cheese. A conversation with Nicol is a rewarding exchange of ideas; with Hill it becomes a spiraling vortex of near Pythonesque logic.
Hill is a sublime squash player with an inborn feel for bat and ball. Who else can accomplish an overhead topspin shot and make it a winner? Nicol is a fine player who has
reached the top through the application of hard work and intelligence. When they meet on the squash court the result is as certain as death and taxes. Hill will be brilliant in flashes and error-ridden the rest of the time. Nicol will apply every little thing he has ever learned and will win.
LOSING ENTERTAINMENT
And so it was today with Nicol winning in four while Hill was supplying the entertainment with his brilliant racquet work that produced scintillating winners or scintillating errors. He won the longest game (12 ½ minutes) 17-15 but felt he'd done enough and lost the fourth 15-5 in just over six minutes.
Two colleagues both expressed the wish that Hill would sometimes try when he plays those ranked above him. The thinking is he plays well enough to get to the quarters and retain his position in the top ten. After that, it seems, he is making guests appearances.
CASSANDRA CAMPION? Wow!
Yesterday I was enthusing over Linda Charman's current form and muscular squash so, naturally, I couldn't wait for her to get on court with Cassie Campion in the first women's semi-final. Sad to report it was a bust. Cassie Campion is a
much better player than Cassie Jackman. Amazing what marriage and a change of name can do to a girl.
She was, as the Americans say, awesome. She was too fast, too accurate and just too bloody good for Charman. How good? 9-4, 9-0, 9-1 in 21 minutes. And Charman is the number 4 seed! By the third game you could see Charman's resolve just evaporate as everything she tried resulted in another lost point.
I can only conclude, based on the performances of the top ten women players here, that Campion will dominate the women's game for the next five years. The only interest left is how well Sarah-Fitzgerald will fare the next time she meets Campion, which is likely to be in New York in January.
PARKE LOOKS GOOD FOR FINAL
It was a meeting of the world number 8 and the world number 4 and it made a mockery of the rankings. Simon Parke dropped from five to eight in the December rankings while Paul Johnson was back at four. In their quarter final match Parke jumped to a 12-0 lead - that's twelve points to nothing. This wasn't against a one-legged man with a wooden racket. This was against one of the most athletic players on the circuit. And the world number four.
Johnson finally a point and fought back to salvage his pride a little, losing 3-15 in under 15 minutes. He managed six points in the second and seven points in the third, but he will leave the tournament a very unhappy man. "He doesn't do anything with the ball," said a voice behind me, a sentiment shared by most informed observers, and a failing that David Pearson, the England national coach who has been advising Johnson for the last five years, has been trying to correct.
When under pressure Johnson will revert to a very basic length game, or, as Pearson puts it, go negative. It is simply not in Johnson's nature to push forward, take the ball early and go for the winners.
That being said, Parke is playing superbly well. All this year I have been saying that he is playing the best squash of his life and in the last month he has beaten everybody in the top ten. Who else has beaten Nicol and Power in the same tournament? Parke, who was once without a front court game is now the complete player and his attack his formidable. Only Nicol stands between him and a place in the final and I am not betting on the outcome.
The top half of the draw is much tougher with Power, Barada, Heath and David Evans fighting for a final place. Again, I am steering clear of the betting shops; this is a very open Open and hence, very exciting.
Hill is a sublime squash player with an inborn feel for bat and ball. Who else can accomplish an overhead topspin shot and make it a winner? Nicol is a fine player who has 
Yesterday I was enthusing over Linda Charman's current form and muscular squash so, naturally, I couldn't wait for her to get on court with Cassie Campion in the first women's semi-final. Sad to report it was a bust. Cassie Campion is a
