WORLD SQUASH NEWS

World's Best Head For Bermuda Open

A star-studded field, led by eight of the world's top ten players, will compete in the inaugural five-star Bermuda Open Squash Championship which is being held in the tiny city of Hamilton from 17-20 March.

Young Bermudian professional Nicholas Kyme, ranked 92 in the world, will have an ideal opportunity to test his mettle after being drawn to meet England's world No3 Peter Nicol in the first round of the $56,000 event which is presented by Logic & Hewlett-Packard, and hosted by Endurance.

Bermudians will no doubt support their rising young star, but wild card entry Kyme would face a daunting task against any of his fellow competitors in a tournament where the lowest-ranked player in the main draw is world No14 Ong Beng Hee, the former world junior champion from Malaysia!  Even the cut off for qualifiers is 38 in the world.    

Top seed Thierry Lincou, who became France's first ever world No1 in January, will face off against England's new world top ten debutant Nick Matthew, while Egypt's newly-crowned world champion Amr Shabana is drawn against Ong Beng Hee.

Perhaps the toughest first round match will be the battle between Scotland's new world No1 John White and the in-form James Willstrop.  The 20-year-old reigning world junior champion from England caused a major upset in January's Kuwait Open when he beat White en-route to his first major final.  The Scot, however, claimed his revenge last month, beating Willstrop in the quarter-finals of the Tournament of Champions in New York.  White went on to reach his first ToC final, but the victory ensured that he would become world No1 for the first time in his career.

England's Lee Beachill, the Qatar Classic champion who is now ranked four in the world, takes on a qualifier in the first round, as does former world No1 Jonathan Power, the Canadian who is the most successful north American squash player of all-time.  Australians Joseph Kneipp and Bermuda-based David Palmer are also drawn against qualifiers.

Gawain Briars, Executive Director of the PSA, and Robert Edwards, PSA World Tour Technical Director, recently completed a site visit of the tournament venue and expressed their delight with preparations made by the Bermuda Open organisers at a press conference held under swaying palm trees at the city's Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel.  Bermuda is anxious to prove that it is an ideal location for premier squash, and is already looking at ways of enhancing the tournament in future years.

Tournament Director Ross Triffitt added:  "The key to success in any tournament is obtaining the support of sponsors and the Bermuda Squash Rackets Association has been fortunate in obtaining tremendous support from Bermuda's business community and the Bermuda Department of Tourism.   In addition to Logic & HP, and Endurance, these include the Department of Tourism, The Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel, The ACE Group of Companies, Capital G, Miles Market and the HWP Group."

1st round draw:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v Nick Matthew (ENG)
[5] Amr Shabana (EGY) v Ong Beng Hee (MAS)
[4] Lee Beachill (ENG) v Qualifier
[8] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) v Qualifier
[7] Jonathon Power (CAN) v Qualifier
[3] John White (SCO) v James Willstrop (ENG)
[6] David Palmer (AUS) v Qualifier
[2] Peter Nicol (ENG) v Nicholas Kyme (BER)

Official website: www.bermudaopen.com