Nicol and Power down qualifiers

2.9.00. FROM COLIN McQUILLAN IN HONG KONG

BUT CAN HE TIE HIS SHOES?
Canada's Jonathon Power cannot tie his own shoelaces, but he can still play a bit of squash. Faced with one of a pair of brash young Australian qualifiers in today's semi-finals of the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open Squash Championship, the 26-year-old world number two reached a fourth successive final of the event by beating Anthony Ricketts 15-13 15-10 15-12 in 44 minutes.

For the third year in a row in Hong Kong, he will face Peter Nicol, the top seeded world champion from Scotland, in the final. He won in 1998. Nicol won last year. This is a decider, plus it is a head-to-head milestone : they stand 10-10 right now with Nicol the straight games victor in their previous two meetings this year.

The left-handed Scot hit his best rhythm today beating 22-yearold Stewart Boswell 15-10 15-10 15-8 in 43 minutes to reach what is also his fourth final. Nicol lost to Jansher Khan way back in 1994. Power's other appearance also featured losing to Jansher in 1997.

Still nursing a bandaged left hand hurt in a quarterfinal fall, Power complained after his match that he was unable to play in his usual free physical manner. He was forced to ask for help from a court official when trying to retie a shoelace at 1-2 in the second game. . "You don't realise how much you rely on your free hand, to push off the floor and walls, and to slide round the back of your opponent, until you have to do without it," the 26-year-old Canadian explained. "I played the back end of each game pretty well with the racket, because I had to, but the rest of the match was pretty much of a mess."

Ricketts, a 21-year-old from Sydney, ranked 44 in the world, chopped out three top British players, Simon Parke, Del Harris and David Evans, after beating Australia's Byron Davis in the qualifying finals. And he took on Power for the first time as if it were the Canadian who should be grateful for being there, and he was still showing plenty of fight when the 46 minute semi-final finished.

He started with Power the way he left off with Parke the previous day; cracking the ball around the unresponsive Hong Kong showcourt and introducing little crosscourt shots and reverse angles off a stiffly delayed racket preparation that had Power going every which way until the second seed was trailing 7-13 in the first game. But the Canadian raised quality racket attacks when the going got rough in each game. In a single hand he converted 7-13 to 15-13 in the 13 minute opening game with a stream of enterprising shots that had the young Australian twisting and turning all over the court, and he managed the same from 10-9 in the second and 12-12 in the third.

"Ricketts is a good athlete, isn't he? But you need a bit more than just physical strength at this level of the game. Give him a few matches at this level and he might be harder to handle," Power observed. "He certainly isn't afraid of much. "Tomorrow might hinge on how I wake up and what is going on in my head," he admitted. "Peter has obviously brought his game together. This hand could affect mine. "We have met 20 times and in only three or four of those matches have we really got in on. Usually it goes one way or the other pretty convincingly."

continued next column ---->

• Quarter final Report 8-1 (Squashtalk)
• Second round Report 7-31 (Squashtalk)
• Power looks strong 7-31 (SCMP)
• First Round II Report 7-30 (Squashtalk)
• First round, first half 7-30 (Squashtalk)
• Nicol confident 7-29 (SCMP)
• Barada relaxed, ready 7-29 (SCMP)
• Power confirms Cathay entry 7-28
• Power and Barada at loggerheads 7-25

Power and Hill in Action (© 2000 Squashtalk file photo, Vaughn Winchell)

The 27-year-old Scot was certainly convincing today. He came off court with a big smile for his girlfriend, Sally. Not his usual taciturn concentration all the way to the dressing room.

Boswell, a 22-year-old from Canberra ranked 26 in the world, had taken on the 11th seeded Graham Ryding, the third seeded Ahmed Barada and the sixth seeded Paul Johnson with increasing confidence after beating Finland's Juha Raumolin in the qualifying finals of the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open. But he looked overwhelmed today against the best rallier in the game..

Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open Squash Championship

Semi-final Results :
Peter Nicol (Scot) bt Stewart Boswell (Aus) 15-10 15-10 15-8
Jonathon Power (Can) bt Anthony Ricketts (Aus) 15-13 15-10 15-12

Quarter-final Results:
Peter Nicol (Scot) bt Mark Chaloner (Eng) 16-17 17-15 15-10 15-11
Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt Paul Johnson (Eng) 15-10 15-13 15-8
Anthony Ricketts (Aus) bt Simon Parke (Eng) 15-11 15-11 15-9
Jonathon Power (Can) bt John White (Scot) 15-10 11-15 10-15 15-8 15-12

Second Round Results:
Peter Nicol (Scot) bt Alex Gough (Wal) 15-6 12-15 15-8 15-7
Mark Chaloner (Eng) bt Martin Heath (Scot) 15-9 11-15 17-15 15-5
Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt Ahmed Barada (Egy) 15-9 15-5 7-1 ret.sick
Paul Johnson (Eng) bt Ong Beng Hee (Mal) 15-12 14-17 15-12 15-14
Anthony Ricketts (Aus) bt Del Harris (Eng) 5-15 6-15 15-11 15-4 15-7
Simon Parke (Eng) bt Peter Marshall (Eng) 15-8 17-15 15-8
John White (Scot) bt Anthony Hill (Aus) 15-9 15-5 15-9
Jonathon Power (Can)bt David Palmer (Aus) 15-12 15-4 15-3

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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