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Qatar PSA Masters Preview — The Top Half    [draw/results]
by Team Kneipp (Kah-nipe)

The war in Iraq caused the Qatar Masters to be delayed, originally scheduled
for a month ago. It will be a lovely change to be getting daily squash updates from
Doha rather than the war analysis and briefings from the huge US military contingent
based in the same city.

The Masters is an anomaly in regard to its entry requirements. Firstly there is no qualification tournament, just thirty-two main draw players. Normally a tournament has an entry closing date 3 to 6 weeks before the tournament starts.

Doha's Great Squash Venue, photo © 2003 Chris Walker

The Spanish Open is next month. If the entries closed this month I would be
guaranteed a place in the main draw with my current ranking of 12 (providing
there isn't a wild card). But the entry closing date is next month so whether I am a main draw player (ranked 12 or better) or a qualifier (13 onwards) will depend on my result in Qatar and the result of the players ranked 8 to 15 as we all have ranking averages in the same vicinity. So the precise date that a tournament closes the entries is very important.

The way the Masters works is there is a spot for the top 32 players as per the
rankings of the 1st of January. Having the tournament's entry five months before
the actual event means that there are a handful of players situated around the
crucial ranking positions (4, 8, 16, 32) that are very fortunate, or are cursing the system. Players that are no longer in the top 32 get thrown a life line to help bring them back towards the top 20. Players that weren't in the top 32 five months ago but are now can only look on with anguish.

If the entry date was this month rather than five months ago, it would benefit:

• Karim Darwish who would be a top 8 seed.
• Simon Parke who would be top 16
• Omar Elborolossy who would be top 16

But many players can be thankful that the entry isn't today. Chris Walker and Amr Shabana are both seeded for the tournament but wouldn't be from this month's ranking. David Evans, Stefan Castelyn, Wael El Hindi and Del Harris wouldn't even be in the tournament.

Qatar has hosted some great squash battles, Jahangir vs Jansher photo © 2003 Squashtalk archives

Evans was 24 but is now 34. Castelyn was 27 and is now 33. El Hindi went from 29 to 38 and Harris made the biggest move from 30 to 53.

They get entry into the tournament at the expense of four players who would otherwise qualify. They are Mohammed Abbas, Rodney Durbach, Shahier Razik and Adrian Grant.

Some people that would excluded from this tournament because of the entry
system (ranked 33, 34 & 35) have been let off the hook through the misfortune of
other players. David Palmer still hasn't recovered from his Appendicitis in March and can only watch on painfully as his best opportunity to win back the coveted #1 ranking goes by uncontested. Mark Chaloner has also not entered as his wedding and
honeymoon was already planned and the newly scheduled tournament clashed with the big event.

His commitment to his partner and their ceremony over his work even in these frugal tournament times bodes wonderfully for their relationship. And Chris Walker has withdraw at the eleventh hour making way for a very happy Dan Jenson.

Top Half of the Draw
[1] Peter Nicol (Eng) versus Nick Matthew (Eng)

Nicol is number one and has been for awhile now. Nick Matthew is currently ranked 24 and has a career high of 22 a couple of months ago. His biggest scalp so far in the PSA tour is a 2001 victory over Shabana at the Hong Kong Open.

Other than that he hasn't yet begun beating top 20 players despite nearly
reaching that ranking himself. We played for the first time in New York in
February and I was impressed with his game, but whether he can challenge
Nicol is another question, although he won't be daunted by the task.

Nicol and Matthew haven't played each other in PSA yet.

[12] Amr Shabana (Egy) versus Graham Ryding (Can)

Amr Shabana will face Graham Ryding photo © 2003 D Tessier

Shabana is currently ranked 23. It is the first time in over a year that he hasn't been in the top 20, with his best ranking of 13 coming only two months ago. His January ranking was 14 so he enters the main draw as a seeded player.

Shabana's resume is one of the best for a player that has yet to break the top ten and includes victories over Chaloner, Heath, Palmer, Eyles, Walker, Gough,Johnson and Boswell. He is the only player that has directly benefited from the tournament being postponed (aside from the little problem of war, bombs and death that has happily been avoided by each player).

When the tournament was postponed each player was required to enter the tournament again. Or for a first time in Shabana's case — he simply forgot to enter the only major tournament on the tour calendar over a six month period. Words can't describe what a mistake that would have been.

Ryding spent all of 2001 in the top 20, but had a more disappointing 2002,
spending eleven months of the year outside the top 20, meaning that he had to
qualify for many of the big tournaments. He has returned to the upper echelon of
the pro men's game at #19 this month and will be immediately aiming for
the more significant goal of top 16. Ryding had his first ever loss to fellow
Canadian Shahier Razik earlier in the year, but reversed the result on the way to
cementing his position as the country's #2 player last week at the nationals, losing to Power in the final.

These two have played each other once in PSA, in December at the World Open
in Antwerp. Shabana won the second round encounter in straight sets. Despite
this Ryding will probably be happy with his first round opponent and both
players will go on court expecting to win. Normally Shabana's fitness, or lack of it,
would be considered an element here but he recently won his way through to the
final of the $25 000 tournament in Pakistan including a fifth set semi final upset over Mansoor Zaman after trailing by two games - not the tournament or conditions that allow an unfit player to excel.

[6] Anthony Ricketts (Aus) versus Stephen Meads (Eng)

Ricketts is the 6th seed for this tournament and will be salivating at the prospect of moving a few more ranking positions and taking a coveted top 4 seeding that would ensure he doesn't play the likes of Nicol or Power until the semi finals. Until that happens it seems that Ricketts is destined to spend most quarter finals on court with the Scottish Englishman.

Ricketts looks for a breakthrough photo © 2003 Debra Tessier

Ricketts has played seven tournaments over the past 12 months (a terrible indication of the prosperity of the men's tour). At the US Open, Qatar Classic, World Open and Tournament of Champions he was knocked out of each event in the quarter finals by Nicol. Add to that collection the quarter finals of last year's Pakistan Open in March, the 3rd round of the Commonwealth Games and now the semi of the Super Series Final, and Ricketts will be wondering what he has to do to get drawn outside of Nicol's quarter, and when his breakthrough victory over the #1 will come.

Stephen Meads is currently ranked 31, the same position he was in January. The thirty-three year old is one of the genuine veterans of the tour having been a pro on the circuit for the past ten years.. Meads would probably be the only player of the past four years that could rival Nicol and Power for ranking consistency. Granted he hasn't reached the top level of the game but he still has spent the past 45 months ranked in the 30s (nearly four years!). There are four tiny hiccups on this record of consistency where he snuck into the high 20s, reaching 27 at the end of last year, but otherwise his performance has been rock solid in its uniformity.

The only encounter Ricketts and Meads have had was over three and a half years
ago. Ricketts at the time was ranked 45 to Meads' 34, helping explain the
Aussie's straight set loss. Since then Ricketts has made a steady progress to the top 20 then top 10 so it would be unwise to bet on a similar score line for their rematch.

[16] Simon Parke (Eng) versus Paul Price

Parke had benefited greatly from the absence of Palmer and Chaloner. His ranking
was 18 in January and he should have missed out on a seeded position, instead
becomes the last seed at 16. This makes a momentous difference. Given the choice
between playing possibly Nicol or Power as a non-seed, or Price as a seed, no
ne would choice the former. But it would be an injustice to Parke's resurgence
if he didn't have a seeded position. His current ranking is thirteen care of his World Open quarter finals performance that saw consecutive upsets over me and then Stewart Boswell.

Paul Price is currently ranked 25 in the world. Over the past 12 months he has only beaten one top 20 player in a major tournament, getting past an injured Mark Chaloner in the first round of New York's T.O.C in February.

These two have played twice in PSA, the most recent being in 2000 which Parke
lost after winning their 1999 encounter.

[3] John White (Sco) versus Renan Lavigne (Fra)

White has regained a position in the top 4, the rankings finally showing him the
reward he deserves for making the final of the World Open. He has now been in
the top ten for over two years with the majority of that time remaining in the
top 5. His best ranking to date is #3 and he has made no qualms of announcing
that he's aiming for and capable of taking the top position. Anyone doubting
his credentials need only be reminded of the 15-9, 15-7, 15-10 whipping he
dished out to Nicol in 31 minutes in the World Open semi finals. White lost in
the second round of this tournament last year (to Beachill) so he will be
looking to go much further this year. Depending on what stage of the tournament White reaches, if he progresses one round further than Jonathon Power he could
replace him at the #3 position in June's rankings.

Renan Lavigne will make White run photo © 2003 Debra Tessier

Renan Lavigne moves into the top 20 this month for only the second time in his career. This will probably be bittersweet for the French battler as it also coincides with him being relegated to the third ranked Frenchman with Gregory Gaultier moving to #18. France's depth and strength in squash can only be good for the game, and along with the Netherlands and Finland emphasise that our wonderful sport is slowly broadening its elite base beyond just the Commonwealth countries.

Lavigne is one of the real runners on the tour. He is very fit, has a lean small frame that is ideal for continually moving, and he can be very patient. His two hour victory over Simon Parke at the European Championships being a good example of this. At the end of the match Parke was said to look like a punch drunk boxer from the amount of work Lavigne made him do.

These two haven't played against each other in a PSA event.

[14] Mansoor Zaman (Pak) versus Adrian Grant (Eng)

Mansoor is the first Pakistani player in a long time to make it to the top 20, and he's now knocking on the door of the top 10, sitting one spot away. I imagine it must be hard to be a Pakistani player in today's conditions.

The nation has been so spoilt with the hall-of-fame exploits of their past champions,
particularly the Khans, that anything short of a local player becoming #1 and World Champion must seem like a failure. But their junior team recently won the World Junior Team championships in India indicating better times ahead.

A low standard of living is a driving force behind many players from a poor background using sporting success as a vehicle to a better life. This is particularly obvious for sports like soccer where no facilities are required for a kid to excel. Unfortunately the infrastructure required for squash means this isn't very common in our game. A large number of today's top pros have gotten to that position because at some stage of their childhood their parents ran a squash centre -- not very comparable to a poor kid growing up in a slum in central Africa using soccer to better his life. But when you visit Pakistan you get a real sense that the sport can make an overwhelming difference in their lives, and the squash authorities seem astute enough to realise that if they don't expose a large base of children to the sport they won't find the rare talents that can excel.

Another important element to this success is the frequent tournaments that the
Pakistan Squash Federation hosts that are almost exclusively attended by the
Pakistani and Egyptian players. This is how Mansoor has been able to get his
ranking to #11 despite only having two career victories over top 20 players.

Darwish has also taken advantage of these tournaments, now having a ranking of 8 despite only having two major tournaments over the past year that he progressed
past the first round, and not making the quarter finals in either.

Lee Beachill on the rebound photo © 2003 Fritz Borchert

It won't surprise me if you begin to see more top players making the trip to
Pakistan toparticipate in the regular medium sized tournaments that have allowed
Mansoorand Darwish to get to the position they are in with very little success on the
bigger stage.

Adrian Grant is one of the extremely fortunate that wouldn't have been able to
participate in Qatar without the withdrawal of Palmer and Chaloner. Even if he
loses his first round match the invaluable ranking points will jettison him ahead of the trailing pack of players ranked from 33 to 50 that includes the likes of Dan Jenson, John Williams, Tommy Berden, Shahier Razik, Lars Harms and James Willstrop. The value of these points can't be understated. If Grant loses he still walks away with 156 points, which is only 20 less than what the winner of this week's stacked Mega Italia Open received. The winner!

Grant is now ranked in the high 20s for the first time in career. Over the last year he has caused upsets over Alex Gough and Paul Price at Hong Kong and Dayton respectively. Grant has drawn arguably the most inexperienced and unfit
player currently in the top 16 with his opponent Mansoor (I'm not saying he's
inexperienced or unfit, just relative to the other fifteen seeds). If given the choice of which player he would like to try to upset, Grant would probably choose Mansoor, but if he underestimates the Pakistani player, particularly his shot making abilities, his trip to the Middle East will be short.

This will be the first time that Mansoor and Grant play each other.

[8] Lee Beachill (Eng) versus Rodney Durbach (Rsa)

Beachill has spent the last year with his ranking bouncing around between eight, nine and ten. He has had a long running ankle injury that has ended his matches in the past three tournaments he has played - the World Open, the Dayton Open and the Tournament of Champions. It must be getting better as he was able to help guide England to victory recently at the European Team Championships.

Rodney Durbach is alway a big threat photo © 2003 Debra Tessier

His opponent in Doha will be the #1 South African player Rodney Durbach. He was
ranked 34 at the beginning of the year and along with Adrian Grant should take
the time to write a little thank you note to both Palmer and Chaloner. Or perhaps a get well card for Palmer and congratulatory note to Chip. Durbach's ranking has fluttered around the 20s and 30s over the past couple of years and he'll be looking for that one big result or consistent steady performances to make the important step to top 24 then top 16. Looking at his recent tournament successes he has already made huge inroads towards the consistent steady performances.

To say Durbach is capable of causing an upset is an understatement. The stocky South African has a consumate game that on a good day can cause grief to any of the top pros. Take his last six tournaments for example. Of these on three occasions he upset a seeded player. At November's YMG Classic in Toronto he qualified then beat Scotland's Martin Heath in straight games. At the Catella Swedish Open in February he got past defending champion Ong Beng Hee in a marathon five setter. Then in the last major in New York he didn't drop a game as he swept aside Alex Gough.

It is strange how the luck of tournament draws work. Obviously everyone has players that they prefer to play and ones they want to avoid. It's exactly the same as at club level — you keep losing to John but can beat Bob easily. John has no trouble beating you but struggles with Bob. How often you come across different player depends on the luck of the draw and how far you progress in the tournament.

Durbach and I have both been PSA members since 1994 and during that time
played a lot of different players. Prior to November last year I had never stepped on
court with Lee Beachill. Not in a league match, not in an exhibition, not in a PSA event. During that same time Durbach has had to play Beachill six times, and it seems like he is someone that the South African doesn't like playing.

Of their six encounters Beachill has won five including their most recent one earlier this year at Dayton. The only time he didn't win was in Italy but that was over three years ago.

Beachill will be thinking of this track record and will be probably hoping to have a quick victory over his South African opponent with lots of winners.

That prospect already diminished when the draw was released stating the court
allocations. Of the eight matches being played on the first day six will be on the permanent glass show court and two will?? be on the normal court which is
considerably bouncier and harder to hit winners on. Past form would obviously
back Beachill for this match, but you can never discount Durbach.

[15] Alex Gough (Wal) versus Stefan Casteleyn (Bel)

This is the other match that won't be played on the show court. Both players
have been in the top ten earlier in their career, Gough most recently in
February 2001 when he was #9, Castelyn in December of 1999 when a World
Open semi final appearance got him to #7. The Welshman is now ranked 17 and has spent the last year bouncing around the teens. The Belgian has spent every month of
the past three years moving in the 20s and 30s. I think he is the fastest player on the circuit. He makes some retrievals that are breathtaking to watch.

Stefan Casteleyn has a deceiving game © 2003 Debra Tessier

There is a lot more pleasure in watching these retrievals from outside the court and
not as his opponent. Castelyn made it clear that his immediate future would hinge on his performance at last year's World Open hosted in his country.

He didn't achieve as he hoped and since then has had many lacklustre results
including very surprising league losses, tournament upsets and the relinquishing
of his national title. His main result last year was at the Qatar Classic in November where he had to qualify first then met me in the main draw. I won the first game comfortably with Castelyn beginning to look very tired as I was making him do lots of work. Then everything changed. Winners started flowing from his racquet from every part of the court. He couldn't do anything wrong and I couldn't stop the flood and went down in four. Analysing the game afterward to see what I could have done better we worked out that I didn't play badly and was simply beaten. Stefan even told us that it was the best match he has played for a very long time.

Dutch champion Tommy Berden has seen Castelyn play many times and was at the match. He said that every time he has seen Castelyn play he has wondered how he made the semi final of the World Open as he didn't think his game was quite good enough for that. After watching the match in Qatar he said he understood and just hadn't seen the Belgian play that well before. It's cold comfort for me as the loser but helps emphasise that Castelyn is very capable of brilliant games and when motivated can upset many of the game's elite.

The last time Castelyn and Gough played was early 2001 with the Welshman
winning in 4.

These are the eight matches that make up to top half of the draw and the
first day's play. The preview of the bottom half of the draw will be ready soon.

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