Scottish Open 2001 - Squashtalk.com


SquashTalk >2001 Scottish Open> E Burnside, Quarterfinals

Scottish Open 2001 Reports Draw/Results Qualifiers 1st Round day 1 1st Round day 2 Quarters Semis Final Player Profiles	Nicol and White win to set up Scottish semi showdown, while Martin Heath falters.	Squashtalk Pro Squash Headlines Event Engine Squash: Tourney of Champs US Open YMG Capital Classic World Men's Open Qatar Classic Cathay Pacific Superseries Qatar Masters '02 British Open Pakistan Open Macau Open Melbourne 01 Al Ahram Video recordings Player profiles Rankings Calendar

	Independent Squash News June 29, 2001, Perth By Elspeth Burnside All content © 2001 Squashtalk, file photos: © 2001 Debra Tessier Peter Nicol had it all his own way against England's Paul Johnson in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Open Squash Championships at Bell's Sports Centre in Perth, but it may be a different story in more ways than one when he meets John White in the semi-final. Nicol, the world champion, controversially defected from Scotland to England three months ago, while Australian-born White opted to play for Scotland - the country of his father's birth - three years ago. Both scored comfortable quarter-final wins to set up the dream match in the penultimate round. The question is: Where will the crowd's loyalties lie? Nicol, who won the Super Series Finals for the third time last week, showed the same form as he crushed Johnson, a former British Champion, 15-12 15-7 5-12 in just 55 minutes. But White was on and off court even quicker against England's Mark Chaloner. After just 43 minutes, he ran out a 15-8 15-10 15-9 winner on what was a thoroughly entertaining match. While Chaloner scurried all over the court, the taller and lankier White won point after point with a deft flick of the wrist. "I'm really looking forward to taking on Peter," said White, whose game has come on leaps and bounds since he moved from the Netherlands to England at the start of the year. Hi only victory against Nicol was on his way to victory in the Esso Open in Belgium earlier this year while, earlier this month, he again demonstrated his continued improvement when he reached the semi-finals of the British Open. "I know the crowd will have mixed feelings, but I hope they remember that I'm playing for Scotland and he's playing for England," he said with a broad smile. "But I know that it will be a great match. We are both in great form and I'm really looking forward to it." Nicol was also eagerly awaiting the clash. "I know John is desperate to show the Scottish public how well he can play and he'll be really up for the match. But I'm also ready. "I feel my form is really good at the moment, I felt I had plenty in reserve tonight. The good sign is that I'm already looking forward to starting summer training." If Nicol wins, there is a chance he could return to world no 1 ahead of Jonathon Power. "That shows you the character of the guy," said the defeated Johnson. "He was up at no 1 for so long and now he's trying to get it back. I felt I played well, but got beaten 3-0." But Scotland's no 2, Martin Heath, failed to make it through to his appointed semi-final berth when he suffered a shock defeat from the tournament's giant killer, Australian Stewart Boswell, a qualifier who had upset the seeded Malaysian, Ong Beng Hee, in the first round. Heath, the no 4 seed, did take the opening game ,but it was Boswell that took the match, 10-15 15-13 15-7 15-9 . "I'm thrilled," said the youngster. "It's never easy playing one of the home favourites and Martin is a great player so this must rate as one of the best results of my career." In the semi-finals he will meet fellow-Aussie Paul Price, who continued his passage with a victory over Wales' Alex Gough. The first game was close, but the no 2 seed eventually ran out an straightforward 17-15 15-5 15-5 winner. [also Quarters press report] [Day two report] [see tournament draw page]
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