Ross Burns White, Heath Out Too
Mar 5, 2005, by Espeth Burnside
SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2005 all Rights Reserved;

[Complete Draw/Results]

On a day of upsets, the top two seeds, Scotland's John White and England's Simon Parke, both crashed out of the Euroland Properties North of Scotland Open in Aberdeen.

For top seed White, the world No.9, the end came in the quarter-finals from a player ranked 43 places lower, England's Stacey Ross, while Parke went out in the semi-finals to Welsh favourite Alex Gough.

For 31-year-old Ross, the 11-10 10-11 11-9 11-2 win over White was easily the best of his career and he followed it up with a comfortable 11-9 11-2 11-5 triumph over England's Lee Drew to reach the final.

Against White, he took a 2-1 lead after three close games and then wrapped up the memorable win 11-10 10-11 11-9 11-2.

But underdog Ross does have a pedigree. He was the British Under-16 Champion in the same era as the legendary Englishman, Peter Nicol.

"I worked in the City of London for six years but have now come back to squash as a full-time player and I want to see how far I can go," said Ross. "I'm in my thirties, so I know I've only got a few years left. But this is the best win so far."

For Gough, a former world top ten player, it took four games to knock out old rival Parke. He won a tight match 11-6 4-11 11-10 11-10.

But it wasn't a good day for the home fans. Following White's demise, Scottish Champion Martin Heath, the No. 3 seed, also went out at the last eight stage, going down in five games - 9-11 11-10 11-9 6-11 11-9 - to Lee Drew.

Quarter-finals:
S Ross (Eng) beat J White (Sco) 11-10 10-11 11-9 11-2;
L Drew (Eng) beat M Heath (Sco) 9-11 11-10 11-9 6-11 11-9;
A Gough (Wal) beat S Meads (Eng) 10-11 11-4 11-7 11-5;
S Parke (Eng) beat P Billson (Eng)11-2 11-8 6-11 11-3

Semi-finals:
Ross beat Drew 11-9 11-2 11-5;
Gough beat Parke 11-6 4-11 11-10 11-10

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