World Open 2003 Preview

by Dan Kneipp, Team Kneipp report index
All content © 2003 Squashtalk

Dec 13, 2003

Pakistan
No country has produced more World Champions than Pakistan. If we had any doubts of the significance of squash in this country we were reminded upon our arrival. When you fly a lot you learn little tricks that make travelling smoother. At most airports it is usually around 500metres from the plane to the customs line (Dubai and Amsterdam’s walk can be particularly long, depending on where the plane is parked). Joe and I tend to power-walk this as a way to exercise after being stationary on a plane, but also to overtake everyone and not waste too much time standing in a customs line.

This wasn’t necessary upon our arrival in Lahore. We were met by an Army Major as we exited the plane. We were escorted past the immigration line, got our bags, and then were whizzed past customs without having to endure any probing questions or guilt-educing glances. I certainly didn’t miss standing in line having some impatient bloke behind me trying to speed up his entry process by banging me in the back of the legs with his bag.

So having the perk of being excused of Lahore’s arrival paperwork already made us feel privileged. This feeling of privilege was enhanced when we got outside of the airport and saw a driver with a placard waiting to meet someone from the World Health Organisation, which is obviously a less important profession than squash player as they weren’t met by an army representative and ushered through arrivals.

Joe and I both travel with the same luggage – a Dunlop large sports bag with wheels on it, and a racquet bag by the same company. Both have our sponsor’s logo plastered all over it. When people see us they presume that we are tennis players. Walking past the crowd of people waiting at arrivals I heard three groups of people talking about squash after seeing our luggage. This doesn’t happen anywhere. No one presumes squash.

But wait there’s more. The ride from the airport to the hotel is around 15 kilometres (the security for this drive, and the whole tournament, is unbelievable but I’ll go into more detail later). Spaced every 10-20 metres along the road is a metal street lamp post. ON EVERY SINGLE LAMP POST IS A LARGE POSTER ADVERTISING THE SQUASH TOURANMENT! FOR 15K!

Somewhere along the trip we drove past a two-storey squash racquet! It was dark and I wasn’t able to work out just why this gigantic racquet was placed on the medium strip of a six lane motorway, but it certainly would help explain why people at the airport didn’t think we were tennis players.

The tournament hotel is the very ritzy Pearl Continental. As with most five star hotels the foyer is very dramatic. The life-size wooden silhouettes of squash players and squash racquets lining the entrance all re-enphasised that Pakistan is giving the World Open Squash tournament the attention it deserves.

The Contenders
Good luck trying to predict the winner of this tournament. Power’s withdrawal, Nicol’s poor form in the past two tournaments, Palmer injury woes in the last two super series events, McWhitey’s unpredictability, Beachill’s sudden rise to the victory dias, Lincou’s ludicrous consistency throughout the year and the strength and depth in the top 20 mean that this tournament is incredibly wide open.

The first round consists of 64 players competing in 32 matches. Some of these matches will be very one sided, others will be great matches and there should be at least one of two surprises. Here’s the where the first round entertainment should come from.

The Locals
Never underestimate the strength and determination of the Pakistani players performing on their home soil. Regardless of the ranking difference any Pakistani player will be capable of an upset. Keep your eyes on Mansoor.

The absentees
Del Harris, Chris Walker, David Evans, Paul Price and Jonathon Power are all still PSA members, but aren’t in Lahore for a mixture of injury problems. It was disappointing to see up-and-coming Czech player Jan Koukal not in the qualifying tournament and I was surprised that Russia’s top player didn’t get an invitation to the event (despite the country fielding a team for the World’s and making great progress with their squash).

[9] Amr Shabana (EGY) v Bradley Ball (ENG)
This should be a nick slapping fest of a match. The Englishman can put the ball in the nick, and the Egyptian thrives off it. The highlight for me from the recent Qatar Classic was Shabana’s 2nd round loss to Nicol. Trailing 2 games to nil Shabana had a 14-10 lead in the third. Nicol was able to win the next four points to get the score to 14-14. It doesn’t make any sense for a player in Shabana’s position to call set 1. It gives his opponent a match ball, something you want to avoid. Shabana not only called set 1, but received serve on his backhand and went for a cross court nick return off the serve that rolled leaving the crowd cheering and laughing and even Nicol unable to contain a bewildered smirk. Who would go for that shot in that position?

[5] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
Pilley is an up and coming young Aussie player, facing Australia’s #2 player and the World’s #6. I can’t see Pilley defeating Ricketts, but as he trains alongside him at the AIS he won’t be even vaguely fased or overwhelmed by his top 10 opponent.

[28] Moh'd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) v Glenn Keenan (AUS)
A slight long-shot for an upset, but Keenan won his first PSA title recently and has been training successfully with Dutch legend (and farmer) Lucas Buit

[22] Adrian Grant (ENG) v Peter Genever (ENG)
Genever is currently ranked 51, but has been as high as 23, which is close to Grant’s best, where he is now. These two have played twice in PSA matches with Genever winning the first encounter and losing the second. I doubt Genever can cause an upset here, especially as Grant was playing good squash in Qatar, but it’s a slim chance.

[22] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) v Viktor Berg (CAN)
Berg was the only player last year to cause a first round upset, beating Renan Lavigne. This was the only victory he has had over a top 30 player so far. Abbas beat Anthony Ricketts in the first round of Qatar, a performance that will guarantee that he breaks the top 20 ranking for the first time in January.

[16] Simon Parke (ENG) v Ben Garner (ENG)
Parke made the quarters of the World Open last year. Since then he has only won two matches – beating lowly ranked Mika Monta in five in Sweden, and then taking Chris Walker out in February. Parke showed last year that a form slump doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of great squash. He’ll have extra motivation during this tournament because of the guaranteed ranking slide if he doesn’t do well.

The last time I saw Garner play was against Peter Nicol in Spain. It was great squash and if he can reproduce that standard he could upset any player outside of the top 10.

[27] Renan Lavigne (FRA) v Dan Jenson (AUS)
Renan Lavigne was the only seeded player to lose in the first round at last year’s World Open. Jenson, the former top 5 player would be the most obvious prospect for an upset. He won the Australian Open earlier in the year beating Paul Price in the final and beat Martin Heath in the first round of Qatar.

[13] Martin Heath (SCO) v Tommy Berden (NED)
Berden was ranked 22 a couple of years ago. He has beaten Anthony hill, Nick

Taylor and Peter Marshall during his career. Heath can be very erratic with his tournament results. He was a quarterfinalist last year and like Parke has a lot of ranking points to defend and will need to have \ a good tournament.

Other interesting matches that will offer either good squash (even if the scoreline is one-sided), or an upset possibility include:

[16] Mark Chaloner (ENG) v Michael Corren (AUS)
[21] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v Cameron White (AUS)
[6] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v Laurens Anjema (NED)
[4] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v Shahid Zaman (PAK)
[23] Nick Taylor (ENG) v John Williams (AUS)
[32] Farrukh Zaman (PAK) v Borja Golan (ESP)
[2] John White (SCO) v Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA)
[14] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) v Lars Harms (SUI)