SEVEN OF EIGHT TOP SEEDS STILL IN

Lincou handled Lavigne in the round of 16 (photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert)

The battle in Qatar has reached the Quarterfinal stage and seven of the eight top seeds are still in the tournament.

The last six months of squash has been so unpredictable with upsets becoming so common that all these seeds reaching this quarterfinal seems somehow strange.

The Tournament of Champions in New York in February last year was the last time a big tournament had all of the top players through to the last eight.

With the top echelon of men's squash in a lot of upheaval, this event at this time is quite exciting. Anyone can win. There are no easy corners of the draw.

Thierry Lincou vs Amr Shabana
This match will be a rematch of the World Open final.

Both Lincou and Shabana have attracted a lot of flak over the past five months for their inconsistent form. At the same time that Shabana become the new World Champion, Lincou became the first Frenchman to reach the coverted #1 World ranking. But since then they’ve both had a relative slump. Shabana has struggled with injury and has only managed to win two games this year, and been forced to withdraw from tournaments. Lincou has had the same problem – starting the year with withdrawals because of injury, and has also only won two matches. It’s obviously no coincidence that they were the two players that were the most successful at last year’s World Open, and they both have had injury problems (a dilemma every other player would happily have).

Shabana's already spoken out to the press this year. "I want to make a point" he said. He already has by overwhelming the streaking James Willstrop.

Lincou was the finalist here last year. Shabana was seeded 12th and lost in the first round to Graham Ryding (the main notable absentee this year along with Anthony Ricketts)

These two have played 3 times in PSA competition before – Shabana’s only victory was at the World Open in Pakistan in December. Make this match a tossup.

Peter Nicol versus Gregory Gaultier

Peter Nicol's back on court after a sojourn in Nepal (photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert)

Peter Nicol made the semis here in Doha last year. This year Nicol, who everyone said was getting old, just won the first two tournaments of the year (Kuwait and Tournament of Champions).

He took an unusual break from the circuit - he's just returned from trekking around the Himalayas. So far the break seems to have been good for him — he looks sharp.

Gualtier by contrast lost in the second round last year. He was expected to meet Darwish in the second round here, but thanks to Mark Chaloner’s upset he hasn’t had to
play a top ten player yet.

Expect there still to be competitive animosity surrounding the events at last year’s World Team championships where France bundled England out in a dramatic semi final upset, and the English players put some blame on Gaultier's on court persona.

These two played in January with Nicol winning comfortably in three.

Of these four players (Lincou, Shabana, Nicol and Gaultier), only Gaultier hasn’t been in the final of a major tournament, so he has nothing to lose as he goes after Nicol's scalp.

Beachill versus Power

Will Power's dropshot be on in the glass court? (photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert)

The ranking points separating the top three players (White, Nicol and Lincou) is ridiculously small, but Beachill is the player best poised to gain ranking positions from this tournament (although he mightn’t reap the rewards until June, when last year’s war-delayed Masters’ ranking will be removed). White is the defending champion (has lots of ranking points to defend), Lincou is last year’s runner up, and Nicol made the semis. Beachill lost in the quarters last year and will take a huge ranking jump from a semi final or final appearance here this year.

Power used to view Qatar as his favorite tournament and location. He has however had a bad run at Doha lately. He lost 15-14 in the 5th set at last year's Masters (2nd round versus Darwish), then broke his finger in the Qatar Classic last November. Since returning to action, he has made the semis of every tournament this year, against some very difficult draws; but for Power this isn't great — he's used to winning or being the finalist.

Power’s ranking of eight is his worst in over five years. Beating Beachill tomorrow will help his ranking immensely (although even winning the tournament won’t get him back into the top 4). Darwish, Palmer, Shabana and Power ranked 5-8 are all bunched up and will shuffle rankings after this event depending on how they all go — so the stakes are high for Power.

Last time these guys played was the British Open of 2002, with Power winning comfortably in three. A lot has changed since then.

White versus Palmer

Palmer looked strong in Bermuda, and so far this week (photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert)

This will be a rematch of the 2002 World Open final which Palmer won. But with some significant water over the bridge, now John White is ranked number one, Palmer number six.

White played devastating squash against Kneipp in the second round and seems to be totally on fire. But then again, White can inexplicably blow very hot one day and be a magnet for the tin the next.

Last time these two played was at the 2002 World Open final (not counting league matches.)

White has shown that he has no trouble regularly beating Nicol, Power and Beachill. The one player he can’t beat regularly is Palmer. They have played four times in the past three years, Palmer has won all of them, 3 of them in 5 sets.

All four of these player (Beachill, Power, Palmer and White) have won a Super Series gold tournament before. Regardless of which one of these four makes the final, it won’t be a huge surprise or upset.

Cassie Jackman kept Natalie Grinham on the run. (photo © 2004 grinhamsisters.com)

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