WORLD SQUASH NEWS

Palmer In Second World Title Bid In Lahore

Australia's David Palmer will begin his bid to become the first player in seven years to successfully defend his world title when he meets Italy's Davide Bianchetti in the first round of the Bank Alfalah Men's World Open Squash Championship next month in Lahore, Pakistan.

England's world No1 Peter Nicol is nominated as top seed, with Palmer seeded three, in the draw which has been announced today (Monday 24 November) by the Professional Squash Association (PSA).

Palmer, the 27-year-old world No3 from Lithgow in New South Wales, has made a successful recovery following a four-month layoff after complications from an appendix operation in March.  Winner of his second British Open title seven weeks ago, Palmer became world champion for the first time last December in his adopted home town of Antwerp in Belgium. 

Palmer is one of three former champions seeking a second World Open title in the $170,000 championship in Lahore - the richest PSA Tour event of the year.  He is scheduled to face his Australian team-mate Anthony Ricketts, the sixth seed, in the quarter-finals - then favourite Nicol in the semi-finals.

Nicol, runner-up in 1997 and 1998 and champion in 1999, will be hoping to repeat the country's Rugby Union success in Australia by bringing a further world title back to England.   The 30-year-old former Scot, based in London, is drawn to meet Egypt's Hisham Mohammed Ashour in the first round.  He is expected to face Frenchman Gregory Gaultier in the last sixteen, before a quarter-final clash with 8th seed Karim Darwish, the former world junior champion from Egypt who upset the Englishman in their last meeting in the Spanish Open in June.

Canada's Jonathon Power, who won the title in 1998 in Qatar, is the fourth seed and expected to meet Scotland's No2 seed John White in the semi-final in the lower half of the draw.  Fresh from his success in last week's Canadian Classic in Toronto, Power kicks off against Pakistan's Shahid Zaman and is expected to line-up against Malaysia's 7th seed Ong Beng Hee in the last eight.

White, the world No2 from Nottingham who was runner-up in Antwerp, begins his 2003 World Open campaign against France's Jean-Michel Arcucci and is scheduled to meet another Frenchman, Thierry Lincou, in the quarter-finals.  Lincou, the fifth seed, boasts the most consistent record on the PSA Tour this year, having reached the semi-finals - at least - in all seven events in which he has competed.

The 25th World Open, which has been staged in Pakistan three times since 1984 but never before in Lahore, will be hosted jointly by the PSF and the Punjab Squash Association from 14-21 December.  The 2003 event will feature a 64-man draw, preceded by a 32-draw qualifying event from 12-13 December.

1st round draw:
[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) v Hisham Moh'd Ashour (EGY)
[17] Paul Price (AUS) v Gavin Jones (WAL)
[11] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Jonathan Kemp (ENG)
[28] Rodney Durbach (RSA) v Qualifier
[8] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Qualifier
[32] James Willstrop (ENG) v Lee Drew (ENG)
[14] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) v Lars Harms (SUI)
[23] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v Cameron White (AUS)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) v Davide Bianchetti (ITA)
[30] Moh'd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) v Wael El Hindi (EGY)
[10] Amr Shabana (EGY) v Bradley Ball (ENG)
[24] Adrian Grant (ENG) v Peter Genever (ENG)
[6] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[31] David Evans (WAL) v Farrukh Zaman (PAK)
[16] Simon Parke (ENG) v Ben Garner (ENG)
[22] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) v Viktor Berg (CAN)
[27] Renan Lavigne (FRA) v Dan Jenson (AUS)
[9] Lee Beachill (ENG) v Michael Corren (AUS)
[21] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Qualifier
[7] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v Laurens Anjema (NED)
[26] Shahier Razik (CAN) v Qualifier
[13] Martin Heath (SCO) v Tommy Berden (NED)
[20] Omar Elborolossy (EGY) v Qualifier
[4] Jonathon Power (CAN) v Shahid Zaman (PAK)
[25] Nick Taylor (ENG) v John Williams (AUS)
[15] Graham Ryding (CAN) v Qualifier
[18] Mark Chaloner (ENG) v Borja Golan (ESP)
[5] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v Qualifier
[19] Alex Gough (WAL) v Del Harris (ENG)
[12] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) v Liam Kenny (IRL)
[29] Stefan Casteleyn (BEL) v Qualifier
[2] John White (SCO) v Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA)