WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: West Edmonton Mall Canadian Open Squash Championship, Edmonton, Canada

Quarter-finals:
[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [8] Lee Beachill (ENG) 15-13, 7-15, 15-12, 11-15, 15-9 (78m)
[4] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [14] Graham Ryding (CAN) 15-7, 12-15, 15-9, 15-5 (62m)
[5] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [3] David Palmer (AUS) 11-15, 15-10, 15-2, 11-3 ret. (62m)
[6] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [2] John White (SCO) 15-10, 13-15, 15-8, 15-9 (69m)

Power Progresses To Canadian Open Semis

The quarter-final session of the $80,000 West Edmonton Mall Canadian Open Squash Championship ended with the result that all local fans were hoping for when Canadian No1 Jonathon Power, the fifth seed, fought back from a game down to beat Australia's David Palmer, the third seed, in four games at the Ice Palace in West Edmonton Mall.

The crowd roared as Jonathon Power made his appearance on the court for the most anticipated match of the evening.  Both players were in brilliant form right from the start.  The pace of the first game was fast and unrelenting but Power, the former world No1 and world champion from Montreal, made mistakes at key moments to allow Palmer, the reigning World and British Open champion, to take the first game.  The second game continued with the same frantic pace, but this time it was Palmer who was making the errors and Power, with the crowd loudly behind him, levelled the match.

The turning point of the match came at 2-2 in the third game when Power started to dominate the play and scored 13 unanswered points to take the game.  During the break after the third game, Palmer requested a three-minute injury time-out.  There were concerns that he may not return to the court.  The Australian did return, however, but his injury persisted and midway into the fourth game, Palmer decided to retire.  Power, the 11-15 15-10 15-2 11-3 victor in 62 minutes, walked off the court to a standing ovation from the delighted audience.

The world No5 will now face the player ranked one place below him in the Dunlop PSA world rankings after Australia's Anthony Ricketts pulled off his third successive PSA Tour upset over John White when he beat the world No2 from Scotland 15-10 13-15 15-8 15-9 in 69 minutes.  The semi-final clash will be only the pair's second PSA Tour meeting in more than three years.

Unlike the Power/Ricketts encounter, the other semi-final will be the one predicted by the seedings, with English favourite Peter Nicol taking on France's fourth seed Thierry Lincou in a repeat of the pair's World Team Championship meeting in Austria last month which the Lincou won to take France into their first ever final.

World No1 Nicol twice survived comebacks by England team-mate Lee Beachill, the eighth seed, before beating his Commonwealth Games Doubles gold medal-winning partner 15-13 7-15 15-12 11-15 15-9 in 78 minutes.  Lincou ended dreams of two Canadians in the semi-finals when he beat surprise quarter-finalist Graham Ryding 15-7 12-15 15-9 15-5 in a 62-minute match which was suspended for five minutes in the second game while the Canadian recovered from a nose bleed sustained from a clash with Lincou's elbow.

Official website:  www.wemcdnopen.com