Men's World Championship 2002 Antwerp, Belgium

Men's World Championship 2002> Final

Antwerp 2002
Men's World Open:
Reports
Draw/Results
Qualifier Draw/Results
Qualifier Day 1
Qualifier Day 2
Preview
Day 1
Day 2
Round of 32
16s day 1
16s day 2
Quarters 1
Quarters 2
Semis
Final

PSA Profiles

1999 Event

SQUASHTALK TODAY
WISPA Vassar
NAO Doubles
WISPA Greenwich CT
WISPA Rye NY

RECENT EVENTS
Junior Mens Worlds
Men's World Open
US 5 Man Teams
Weymuller US Open

CURRENT CONTENT
Hall of Fame
News Index
Club Links
Gear Links
E-boast Newsletter
(sign up now free)

David Palmer becomes new World Champion

by Martin Bronstein
All content © 2002 Squashtalk

Sat Dec 14

PALMER DELIVERS THE GOODS

David Palmer can today call himself the world champion and with every justification. He has been saying for the past few months that the world open was in his sights and, being played in Antwerp where he is based, he knew he would be playing in front of a lot of friends and supporters.

And when push came to shove, this lanky Australian shoved just that little bit harder to deny John White a match point in the fourth and shoved just a little bit harder still to dominate the fifth and final game. Palmer now has done it all: British Open, world number one, world team championship and world champion. What will he do for encores? There are no encores.

Yes, he had a couple of bits of luck on his way to the title. Jonathon Power got too close in their semi-final, got thwacked on the eye by Palmer’s racket and had to retire. In the final John White made a critical error holding match ball in the fourth, allowing Palmer to get back in to win the game, tie the match and then dominate the fifth. But in a long, long tournament like this world open, those two drops are not very important.

White started the final in the same explosive fashion, with the skill and accuracy that had seen him cut down higher ranked players and ending the hopes of the world number one Peter Nicol in the semi-final with a display of killer squash that is regarded as the finest he has ever played. He took a two game lead over Palmer and seemed on course to put Palmer away in the same way that he put Nicol away. But these are old adversaries, and Palmer says he is used to being two down against White. “I rarely beat John in less than five,” he told Colin McQuillan of Squashnow. He buckled down, took the third game 15-6 and led the fourth 10-7 only to allow White back in. White took full advantage of the opportunity to race to match ball, 14-13, which Palmer saved. At 14-14 White called ‘one’: one point away from being world champion. Palmer served tight to stop White smashing the ball into the nick – a favourite return of serve, and in the ensuing rally White went for a simple forehand drop which hit the tin.

The match was now tied and Palmer came out lusting for the title in the fifth and White simply could keep up. After one hour and 42 minutes White hit the match losing shot into the tin and Palmer was world champion.

There was huge rejoicing from Palmer’s fan club, but, strangely, the biggest cheer of the tournament was given to John White, and considering his performance over the last six days rightly so. The match was played in the most gentlemanly way and White rarely – if ever – blows up or gets into arguments with his opponents. Certainly we should shed a tear of sympathy for any man that gets that close to success and fails. White himself said of the tinned drop shot “That’s as close as I can get to winning the world title without actually winning it.”

Immediately afterward they were both on the phone to Joe Shaw in Australia to share the good news. Shaw takes pride in Palmer’s achievement: it was he who persuaded Palmer to take up his racket again after he had given the game up because of the treatment he received at the hands of the people who run the Australian Institute of Squash (AIS). They objected to Shaw as Palmer’s coach, told him he would never reach the top 50 in the world with Shaw guiding him. Indeed, according to Shaw, who is in litigation with the AIS, the Institute want $17,000 in costs from Palmer and his father. Although they are not actively pursuing their claim through the courts, they refuse to wipe it off the slate. If Palmer sometimes acts as though he has a large chip on his shoulder, his history with the AIS is largely responsible.

John White has also had input from Shaw recently, so Shaw is whooping up a world open double, while the folks at the AIS must be wincing in pain. (Incidentally, they object to the above story being told and retold, but at no point have they ever written to me to deny the claims.)

The last Australian to win the world open was Rodney Eyles in 1997 and before that Geoff Hunt in 1980. Well done David Palmer; regardless of national flag, you have earned the right to be world champion. And a large pat on the back to Shawn Moxham, his Australian coach, who has guided him (with help from Joe Shaw) every step of the way.

RESULTS: Men's World Open Squash Championship, Antwerp, Belgium

Final:
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [5] John White (SCO) 13-15, 12-15, 15-6, 15-14,
15-11 (102m)