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Much has been written about the scenario involving the clash of dates between the long established US Open and the last minute French Open. (See Bronstein’s articles one and two.) Fortunately for the US Open the clash has been avoided. The French Open is still being held, but for a lot less money meaning that the top players will certainly be in Boston. If this clash wasn’t avoided the advantages and disadvantages for different squash groups was going to be very complex.

WHO WAS GOING TO BENEFIT?
If the French Open had remained a Super Series event and the US Open was held on the same date three groups would have benefited from this:

1. The PSA IN THE SHORT TERM. The game would go from strength to strength if every month you had big tournaments in different corners of the world clashing with each other. More money going to squash means more sponsors, more spectators, more coverage and more money for the pros which eventually means a stronger tour.

But there is a big difference between having tournaments every month that clash, and the actual situation which was only one tournament of substantial size in four months, then two at the same time. None in May, none in June, none in July and only the end of August having the Hong Kong Open. This lack of tournaments could be argued as the reasoning either for or against the decision that PSA made in allowing the French Open to be held. Such a drought of tournaments makes it seem absurd that they could allow a clash that could jeopardise the US Open. Conversely with such a drought of tournaments how could the PSA turn down money for their players? Remembering also that neither promoter was able to change the dates for their tournament. Turning away a $60 000 promoter would not be the action of a tournament-starved organisation.

2. The French Squash Federation and Fans. Obviously the group with the most to gain. The French League is arguably the strongest in the world so the French squash fans are used to seeing great matches and would hope for no less in a national title.

3. The Players IN THE SHORT TERM. Two big tournaments would have benefited virtually every pro player with a world ranking between #1 to #85. The US Open is one of the rare tournaments that is big, but still has only a 16 draw. A 16 draw is great for the top 12 players, but a disadvantage to all the others, especially the players ranked from 13 to 24. There are three very significant numbers in the rankings that pertain to tournaments.

#12 – If you are ranked number 12 or higher there is no tournament that you will not automatically qualify for the main draw, even if it is a16 draw. Having to qualify means literally playing a small tournament directly before a large one, knowing that your next opponent was able to rest.

#16 – If you are a top 16 player it means you are a seed in 32 draw tournaments and won’t play another player ranked in the top 16 until at least the second round. I can’t emphasise enough the importance of this. Joe hasn’t been in the top 16 for any of 2002. His first and second round matches for the big tournaments this year have been (with their ranking at the time in brackets): Dave Evans (#6) and John White (#3) in the memorial US Open, David Palmer (#2) in the TOC, Thierry Lincou (#5) in Pakistan, Stewart Boswell (#4) in the British Open, Chris Walker (#8) and Peter Nicol (#1) in Qatar. He has played #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 so far this year, and the only way he can avoid it for the rest of the year is to get his ranking inside the top 16. The importance of this in respect to the French Open will become clear soon.

#24 – In a 32 draw tournament 24 players go directly into the main draw, with the remaining 8 spots decided from the qualifying tournament. Having a ranking of 25 is very frustrating.

Now understanding the significance of these figures the French/US Open clash has greater meaning. Joe’s ranking for August should go to 18 (if I have done my calculations correctly). This means for the US Open he will have to qualify along with Alex Gough, David Evans, Amr Shabana, Oli Touminen, Karim Darwish, Paul Price, Omar Elborolossy, Paul Johnson, Mansoor Zaman, Del Harris and Stefan Casteleyn all of whom would not have to if the tournament was a 32 draw. You then have the hypothetical situation where if Joe wants to make the main draw of the US Open he has to win through the qualifying against many former top ten players. His qualifying draw could be against Graham Ryding in the first round then Paul Price in the second. Or Del Harris then Dave Evans. Or Simon Parke then Paul Johnson. Or Dan Jenson and then Alex Gough. The permutations are endless and all daunting considering the first round losers in qualifying get no prize money and only the price of a plane ticket to the States to show for their efforts. Remembering also if Joe does succeed in making the main round his reward is a match against one of the top 12 players who have been relaxing and enjoying Boston instead of competing.

So now consider the changes if the French Open was being held. Joe would be straight into the main draw of the French and a guaranteed $750 even for losing his first match. We could take a train to the tournament for considerably less than a flight across the Atlantic. Only two players would have to decide to play in the US Open to make Joe the 16th highest ranked player in the French. The magical 16 that would mean his first match would not be against another player ranked in the top 16. If that didn’t happen and all of the players went to France he could play in the US Open and be a seed in the main draw. Both great options. The US Open is a tournament for 28 players. 12 straight into the main draw, and 16 players in qualifying vying for the four remaining positions. The French Open as a Super Series event would have supported 56 players (24 main and 32 qualifying). On one weekend the 84 players in the world (76 PSA and 8 locals) have a tournament to cater for them. This is wonderful for the players IN THE SHORT TERM.

WHO WOULD BE DISADVANTAGED IF THE FRENCH OPEN WAS A SUPER SERIES TOURNAMENT?

1. John Nimick and the US Squash scene. Bronstein has detailed this disadvantage to great length and pulled no punches in giving the ramifications for Nimick, and telling his deserved side of the story so articulately.

2. The PSA and the Players IN THE LONG TERM. To put it as clearly as possible, John Nimick is the largest employer of squash players in the world. The rankings of the world players are formulated by calculating an average of the person’s performance for the past twelve months. Most of the top players for the past year have played nine or ten tournaments with three of these tournaments staged by Nimmick. This simply means that no country, organisation or individual is currently putting more into squash at the elite level than Nimmick’s Event Engine. This alone should guarantee that his events are protected. I can think of no long term gain for the PSA, the pro players, the US squash scene and Nimmick’s urge to stage tournaments by jeopardising one of his tournaments, especially considering it has already withstood the tragic events of last September, through considerable effort and work.

Jonathon Power to his credit indicated that he would play the US Open. Fortunately for him his spectacular results for 2002 mean that he is able to exercise what may be a moral decision over a financial or career-beneficial decision. Not many other players are able to do that. Graham Ryding told me a few months ago that he had calculated that for most pros the average prize money they made from PSA events throughout the year was roughly equivalent to how much it cost for the tournament’s travel expenses (try buying a plane ticket to Qatar, Pakistan or Hong Kong and see how much change you have from a thousand bucks). The PSA tournaments then enable you to get a world rankings which determines how much money you make in the various leagues which is what puts food on the table. There is a lot of money in the French league and club owners are going to pay particular attention to which pros do well in the French Open. Without a pro league in the States another variable was added to the myriad of factors needing to be considered in the which tournament to play.

Regardless of all of these factors Nimmick deserves the loyalty of the players and the PSA and his continued contribution to the squash calendar should have earned him this. It should not be the responsibility of the squash professionals to have to weigh up the moral rights and wrongs or which tournament they support.

SO WHERE WOULD JOE HAVE PLAYED?

Tough question. If the top 12 players went to Boston we would have been stupid not to go to France especially as he would have been the 6th seed. It is more likely that the decision would have been made for us with the majority of players going to France leaving Joe a spot in the main draw as a seed in Boston. Remembering also that arguably Joe’s best result to date is the Semi Final of the US Open in January and he is looking forward to trying to better that. But Joe was very happy when he found out there was no longer two big tournaments, despite him now having to qualify in Boston.

Thankfully my whole argument is now completely hypothetical and the US Open will attract the best squash players in the world. Now it is up to the squash supporters in the United States to ensure John Nimick gets the support and patronage that he deserves. Tickets can be purchased from www.squashtalk.com/usopen, beginning in a few days.

P.S. Living and training in Amsterdam with all of its canals has some great advantages. I was assisting Liz Irving coach a group of students from Philadelphia on the weekend when Joe arrived by boat with a mate. We had an enjoyable evening cruising the canals until Joe went to moor the boat so we could have a drink at a café. As he bent over to tie the rope to the shore his mobile phone slipped quickly and easily from his jacket pocket into the deep and polluted waters, never to be seen again. If you’re trying to get in contact with him please email us while the phone company sorts it out. dan@teamkneipp.com

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