SquashTalk>Columns>Team Kneipp > World Open Preview > Top Half of Draw

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Jonathon Power is a world open titleholder.  Photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert

The World Open has been held 26 or 34 titles, depending on whether you count the World Amateur Individual Title, the event that proceded the World Open while professionalism was still an issue. Working off the combined total, there have been 15 men who have won the trophy. Nearly two thirds of these victories have been won by just three men – Jahangir (8), Jansher (8) and Geoff Hunt (6).

Five men in the draw (Lincou, Shabana, Palmer, Nicol and Power) have won the event before, making it reasonably likely that for the first time since Jansher in 1996 the champion will have already held the trophy aloft.

Top Half of the draw:
1* THIERRY LINCOU versus WAEL EL HINDI

Lincou is the current champion and world #1 and should go into the tournament as favourite, but with such a strong field there are about six other guys who would enter the tournament will similar odds to Lincou. It will be interesting to see whether being the reigning champion works as an extra motivation, or creates pressure for him. Don’t forget that last year Lincou was champion and the year before he lost in the final. It’s that consistency that has him ranked #1.

Lincou and Palmer are both World Open titleholders. Palmer beat Lincou last week in Qatar  Photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert

Lincou won’t be happy with his draw. In theory he has fellow Frenchman Gaultier in the 2nd round. He hasn’t lost to him in a PSA event before but that won’t make the task any easier. Lurking as a potential quarterfinal opponent is Peter Nicol, the player that Lincou has the most difficulty beating.

Before any of those encounters Lincou has to get past #21 El Hindi, a player that you can bet the family farm won’t be the star of the tournament, but could be one of the many supporting actors who shine briefly. Lincou can’t afford to come out of the blocks slowly against a player like El Hindi, something Lincou is notorious for in early rounds. These two have never played before in a PSA match. Lincou is in for a treat.

10* GREGORY GAULTIER plays Qualifier 1
Gaultier is currently ranked 12 and won’t be pleased either that in theory he has Lincou in the second round. He beat Shabana in the 2nd round of the Qatar Classic and was 2-1 up against Palmer in the quarters. This result will probably provide him a nice mixture of confidence from a good result, and rest from not playing too many rounds.

6* PETER NICOL versus ADRIAN GRANT
Peter Nicol’s slow slip down the ranking (currently 7) won’t be helped for December’s ranking by his 2nd round defeat in Qatar at the hands of White.

The early loss in Qatar is more likely to motivate him in Hong Kong. To give you an idea of how well Nicol has performed over the past decade, here are his World Open results:

94 - semis (lost to Marshall)
96 – semis (lost to Jansher)
97 – final (lost to Eyles)
98 - final (lost to Power)
99 – winner (beat Barada)
02 – semis (lost to White)
03 – 2nd round (lost to Bianchetti)
04 – quarters (lost to Ryding)

Obviously there’s no one in the field that he hasn’t beaten at some stage (not counting the youngsters who haven’t had the opportunity to get beaten yet), but given a hypothetical seeding option he’d probably prefer a quarter final match against Lincou than Gaultier. Before that happens he’ll need to get past countryman Adrian Grant, currently ranked 18. You’d be forgiven for thinking that was a formality, especially considering that Grant hasn’t beaten a top ten player this year. But… last year this tournament wasn’t the World Open – just the Hong Kong Open (still a major though) and in the second round Grant beat Nicol in a tough five setter. That memory will surely encourage a few extra court sprints from Grant.

16* SHAHID ZAMAN plays Qualifier 2
Shahid is currently ranked 16, but that ranking is propped up by a steady stream of medium sized tournaments in Pakistan. He has won only one match outside of his home country this year. This statistic didn’t change in Qatar where he was downed by qualifier Davide Bianchetti.

4* LEE BEACHILL versus JOSEPH KNEIPP
World # 5 Lee Beachill is the 2nd player that needs to be noted as an obvious favourite for this tournament. He did badly in Qatar, losing to a rejuvenated Alex Gough and is quick to point out that he’s sick of traveling, but these things will fade away quickly once he steps on court for such an important event. He was the runner up at last year’s World Open and joins John White in a very prestigious but slightly unfortunate club of men who have served for World Open Championship point and not taken the silverware home.

Meneer Kneipp lost to Power in the first round in Qatar, but the level of squash was better than it has been lately and things are getting back on track after a slump.

This is the third time in three years that Beachill and Kneipp have played each other in the World Open. In 2003 in Pakistan we met in the quarterfinals and I won a tough five setter. Last year we met in the second round. Beachill won that in straight games. So surely that means it’s my turn to win again. Right?

11* JOHN WHITE plays Qualifier 3
John White has had very mixed results for the past few World Opens. He was runner up in 2002, lost in the 3rd round in 2003 and the first round last year. He was in great form in Qatar and can’t be excluded from the list of possible winners.

5* AMR SHABANA plays Qualifier 4
Shabana is another of the previous World Champions in the draw. He is the only World Champion that hasn’t bolstered that title with the #1 ranking.

This statistic highlights the erratic nature of Shabana’s results, but his current career high ranking of four, and the three tournament victories in a row in September and October that included wins over Ricketts, Willstop, Gaultier, Darwish and Palmer indicates he has solved that problem. Shabana will be happy with this draw.

15* OLLI TUOMINEN plays Qualifier 5
Tuominen has had a very consistent twelve months and has finally secured himself in the top 16. He usually does well in the World Open. Last year he beat White in the first round and then lost a five setter against Anthony Ricketts. In 2003 he made the 3rd round against the seedings. Providing he doesn’t get the Super Qualify he shouldn’t have any problems making the 2nd round. Like Shabana he will be happy with this draw. The reason they will both be happy (not knowing who their qualifier opponent is yet and presuming they get past that first hurdle) is Shabana would probably rather play Olli than Gaultier, Matthew, Darwish or White. Olli will be happy because he has beaten Shabana two of the four times they have played.

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