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Eyles swan song at Cathay Pacific
Round one concluded from Colin McQuillan
30.8.00. FROM COLIN McQUILLAN IN HONG KONG
EYLES PAIN
It looks to me as though Rodney Eyles, the former world champion and President
of the Professional Squash Players Association, may have played his last Hong
Kong Open.
The Brisbane born, Bermuda based, increasingly North America oriented player will pass his 33rd birthday in a couple of weeks. At his peak he defeated Peter Nicol to win the 1997 World Open title in Kuala Lumpur and he defeated Jansher Khan to win the 1996 Hong Kong title, amid a host of other successes. Today he went down 5-15 15-7 15-9 15-9 in 38 minutes to John White, a big hitting Queenslander from Alligator Creek who now plays under the banner of Scotland.
White is world number 13 and Eyles, once briefly world number one and for a decade among the top ten contenders, must now double those figures on the rankings list. So he lost to a man who should have beaten him and deserved the win. But it was painful to watch an athlete who once pounced around the court, bursting with excess energy and springing back from drop shots to spin on a sixpence in joyous pursuit of the answering drive, pinging the tin repeatedly with half-hearted drops that lacked the confidence for true accuracy, and giving up on kills he would have eagerly converted to attacking drops in matches gone by.
"I am in great shape generally," he said after the match. "But on court everything is hurting. And this tournament was great compared to the Al Ahram in Egypt last week."
Stand by for developments.
AUSTRALIAN PRETENDERS
Not that Australia is short of a few new challengers: World number 27 Stewart
Boswell came out of the qualifiers yesterday to defeat Canada's Graham Ryding
in the first round. Today it was world number 39 Anthony Ricketts who broke
through beating Welsh Champion David Evans in straight games to reach a second
round match against England's Del Harris.
David Palmer took out Billy Haddrell in an all-Ausrtralian straight games encounter to reach Jonathon Power of Canada, the second seed, and Anthony Hill nagged his way out of first game trouble against Ireland's Derek Ryan to win 17-16 15-11 15-10 in 58 minutes for a place against White.
England Number One Simon Parke will play British Champion Peter Marshall after Parke's easy straight games win over Dan Jenson, an Australian qualifier who just cannot make things happen at the moment, and Marshall's far more laborious 7-15 15-12 17-14 15-10 win over Nick Taylor in 72 minutes.
POWER"S
DETERMINATION
Power came defiantly through his opening match today, beating the local professional,
Faheem Khan, 15-1 15-11 15-6 in 34 minutes and refusing to relent in his condemnation
of Ahmed Barada, the Egyptian he blames for a knee injury that put him out
of last week's Al Ahram semi-finals.
Power and Hill in Action (© 2000 Squashtalk file photo,
Vaughn Winchell)
"Yesterday I did a clinic with some Hong Kong youngsters and it was pretty painful. I was getting beaten by 14-year-olds. With anti-inflamatories and treatment I came up well today, though, and I want to concentrate right now on playing in my favourite tournament," the 26-year-old said. "I may not lodge a formal complaint against Barada. The video evidence might not completely confirm deliberate intent. But I do intend to follow it through with the Professional Squash Association because I am certain he deliberately kicked my feet out from under me and caused my knee injury in Egypt and something needs to go on the record for the next time he does this to somebody."
BARADA'S VIEW
The Egyptian star, who went on to lose the Al Ahram final to Peter Nicol and
is scheduled to meet the Scot again in the top half semi-final here,
insists that it was an accidental collision and that he was unaware of
any contact at all. "I know what was going on and so do the other players,"
Power responded yesterday. "I will be sure that something goes in writing
to the board of the Professional Squash Association when I get home from here."
POWERS ROAD TO
THE SEMIS
Power's quarter in Hong Kong also contains Anthony Hill, the infamously disruptive
Australian who was today receiving corner coaching from Barada during his
argumentative 58 minute defeat of Ryan and seemed at times to be deliberately
copying the Egyptian's awkward crouching style. Hill though, counts Power
as a friend and sparring partner in Amsterdam, and their contests have usually
been brief and cordial.
Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open Squash
Championship First Round Results -second half
Anthony Ricketts (Aus) bt David Evans (Wal) 15-10 15-5
15-5
Del Harris (Eng) bt Amjad Khan (Pak) 15-9 15-11 15-10
Peter Marshall (Eng) bt Nick taylor (Eng) 7-15 15-12 17-14 15-10
Simon Parke (Eng) bt Dan Jenson (Aus) 15-8 15-8 15-12
John White (Sco) bt Rodney Eyles (Aus) 5-15 15-7 15-9 15-9
Anthony Hill (Aus) bt Derek Ryan (Ire) 17-16 15-11 15-10
David Palmer (Aus) bt Billy Hadddrell (Aus) 15-5 15-9 15-8
Jonathon Power (Can) bt Faheem Khan (HK) 15-1 15-11 15-6
First
Round Results - first half
Peter Nicol (Scot) bt Joe Kneipp (Aus) 12-15 15-6 15-7 15-5
Alex Gough (Wal) bt Amr Shabana (Egy) 17-14 15-11 15-8
Martin Heath (Scot) bt Omar El Borolossy (Egy) 15-9 15-10 15-10
Mark Chaloner (Eng) bt Shamsul Islam Khan (Pak) 15-10 15-10 15-4
Ahmed Barada (Egy) bt Stefan Casteleyn (Bel) 15-9 15-11 13-15 15-10
Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt Graham Ryding (Can) 17-14 12-15 15-17 15-3 15-3
Paul Johnson (Eng) bt John Williams (Aus) 15-11 15-4 15-8
Ong Beng Hee (Mal) bt Thierry Lincou (Fra) 7-15 15-9 7-15 15-11 15-7
- Golestan Radwan: Egypt
- Tomas Barva, Czech Republic
- David Blick, Alaska USA
- Kim Tunney: Midwest USA
- Andre Maur: Atlanta USA
- Paul Ansdell: Massachusetts USA
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