WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions, New York, USA

1st round:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Mike Corren (AUS) 15-14, 15-13, 15-11
[12] Paul Price (AUS) bt [Q] Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) 15-12, 15-12, 9-15, 15-12
[6] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [Q] Viktor Berg (CAN) 15-8, 15-11, 15-5
[11] Graham Ryding (CAN) bt [Q] Yasser El Halaby (EGY) 15-12, 15-10, 15-12
[3] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Rodney Durbach (RSA) 15-8, 15-10, 15-12
[16] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 15-11, 15-6, 13-15, 15-11
[8] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Moh'd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 15-7, 15-10, 10-15, 16-17, 15-9
[15] Martin Heath (SCO) bt [Q] Karim Yehia (EGY) 15-11, 15-12, 9-15, 15-11
[14] Alex Gough (WAL) bt Jonathon Kemp (ENG) 12-15, 12-15, 15-13, 15-8, 15-8
[7] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) bt [Q] Liam Kenny (IRL) 15-14, 15-3, 15-4
[10] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [Q] John Rooney (IRL) 15-2, 15-13, 15-8
[4] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Simon Parke (ENG) 15-6, 15-6, 15-4
[13] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Dan Jenson (AUS) 15-14, 15-8, 15-12
[5] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Patrick Chifunda (ZAM) 17-16, 15-8, 15-6
[9] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Gavin Jones (WAL) 15-14, 5-15, 7-15, ret.
[2] John White (SCO) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 15-13, 15-12, 15-6

Seeds Advance in Tournament of Champions in New York

Form held true on the opening day of action in the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions at Grand Central Terminal in New York where the day started with three successive matches featuring squash players who have all been ranked as the No1 in the world.

Top seed Thierry Lincou, who despatched Australian Mike Corren 15-14 15-13 15-11, is still getting used to the pressure that goes along with topping the world rankings:   "It felt good to get that first match played," said the Frenchman who just last month attained the No1 world ranking and now moves on to face another Australian, 12th seed Paul Price, in the second round.

Next up was four-times champion Jonathon Power, who is the seventh seed after a drop in the rankings precipitated by a broken wrist and an ankle injury in December.  "I'm feeling good," said Power - and quickly amended that to "great" when he realised his long-time rival Peter Nicol had just walked up behind him.  Victor Berg, the young Canadian who was eliminated by Power in three games, assessed Power's game: "Jonathon has three or four shots that he can hit really well while most players have one or two, so he tires you out that much more quickly." 

Defending champion Peter Nicol, who held the No1 spot for 24 successive months until this January, played the third match of the day.  Nicol had also lost some playing time recently due to a recurrence of a virus that he had in 2003, but was pleased with his play against rising South African Rodney Durbach. "I really enjoyed being out there on court today," said the two-time Tournament of Champions titleholder.  Nicol jumped out to big leads in each game, but the capacity crowd was hopeful that the match would be extended as Durbach gamely fought back to close the gap at 10-8 and 10-9 in the first and third games, respectively.

"Peter's physical presence on court used to overwhelm players." said Durbach.  "I don't think Peter has the same intensity now that he used to, so I think players feel we have a bit more of a chance against him.  But he's still a fierce competitor." 

The longest match of the day was won by 14th seed Alex Gough of Wales, who prevailed over Englishman Jonathon Kemp in five games that took ninety minutes to complete.  Eighth seeded Nick Matthew also found himself in a five-game match against Moh'd Azlan Iskandar when the young Englishman lost a bit of focus after winning the first two games without too much difficulty.  "I think I got back on my heels a bit after the first two games and Iskandar picked up the pace," said Matthews. 

The evening crowd found themselves cheering wildly for qualifier Patrick Chifunda of Zambia.  Chifunda, who now resides in Baltimore as teaching professional, had never before reached the main draw of a major PSA event.  "This is the most thrilling thing that's ever happened to me," he said.  The agile and athletic Chifunda stayed even in the first game with No5 seed David Palmer, who may not have been expecting so many balls back at him from his relatively unknown opponent.

After winning the opening game 17-16, Palmer played with more confidence and took the victory in three games.  Chifunda was undaunted. "This has been great," said the engaging young player. "Now I know I can play with the best in the world so I just need to keep working hard and believing in myself."