Comment from Martin Bronstein in London

James Willstrop (photo © 2005 Debra Tessier)

For a couple of years now I have been saying that James Willstrop is the finest all-round squash player to come out of Britain. Last week in Qatar he proved just how good he is when he skewered the best field in recent months to take the trophy.

This was a major tournament with major prize money - $120,000 - and every player in the top 30 was there, not just for the money and ranking points but as a warm up for the World Open which is now underway in Hong Kong.

This means, that they were all trying. The upsets came thick and fast, most notably Alex Gough’s victory over  Lee Beachill who had traveled to Hong Kong  in high spirits after bagging the US Open title. Nor should we forget the marvelous battle between Peter Nicol and John White, with the Scottish Aussie just winning it after a year that he would rather forget about.

Few people, myself included, would have forecast  a final featuring  Willstrop, but not only did he reach the final, he scythed his way through the opposition dropping just one game in five rounds.  It is worth listing his victories on his way to the trophy just to underline  his awesome (and I don’t use that word often) feat:

First round:   beat Simon Parke  3/0

Second round:  beat Nick Matthew 3/0

Quarter final:   beat Alex Gough 3/0

Semi-final:     beat Anthony Ricketts 3/1

FINAL:       beat David Palmer 3/0 

Nick Matthew has had a good year, his playing has gone up several notches and he has now achieved the confidence to face any top ten player.  To be beaten 3/0 by anybody would have been a surprise, but  Willstrop must have hit a real streak to blank Matthew. That  Willstrop went on to beat Gough  by the same score is no surprise. Gough is 34 years old and  after his shock defeat of Beachill, followed by a tough match with Davide Bianchetti, even  Gough’s ever-young legs must have been feeling the pace.

Willstrop tames Palmer in the Qatar finals (photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert)

Anthony Ricketts’ comeback from injury (and surgery) was rapid and  ruthless as his victory in the British Open demonstrated. The man is back  and pumping on all 12 cylinders. He handled Willstrop easily in Manchester and there was no reason to believe that he couldn’t do exactly the same thing in Doha. But the reverse was true with Willstrop  dropping his only game of the tournament to Ricketts on his way to a convincing 3/1 victory.

His final opponent, David Palmer, had worked very much harder to get to the final. Four games against Liam Kenny,  four games against Karim Darwish, five games against Gregory Gaulthier (and there are no short rallies with Gaulthier) and another five-game lungbuster against Thierry Lincou. After this sort of ordeal it was surprising that Palmer could even stand up, never mind play squash. He was obviously stiff, managing just one point in the first game. He loosened up to  offer more of a challenge in the following games but Willstrop’s younger legs  were obviously a factor. This is not to claim that Willstrop  won on  fitness, inferring he is a hacker. Far from it: he is one of the most talented players on the circuit and can call on an arsenal of unique shots to get him out of trouble as he did in the fifth game against Ricketts in Bermuda earlier this year.

Willstrop definitely has the Jansher factor and his Qatar win will  move him up to third or fourth place in the December rankings. The question is: will his streak continue in the World Open in Hong Kong?  It is always a positive thing to go into a tournament full of confidence, but that confidence must be tempered with  hubris. Beachill, Nicol, Power, Lincou, Palmer and Ricketts will all be spitting nails in order to  do even better in the all-important World Open. It’s the title that allows the winner to call himself world champion for a year and every man, woman and child on this planet would like to be called world champion.  So if the players were trying hard in Qatar, they will be busting blood vessels in Hong Kong.

If Willstrop gets to the quarter or  semis, he will make top three; should he win the crown, then the number one spot is within his grasp. And when he does become number one, I  - and a million others – will all say “ I told you so.”