WORLD SQUASH NEWS

Matthew Backs Out Of Kuwait Open

England's world No8 Nick Matthew has been forced to withdraw from next week's Sheikha Al Saad Kuwait Open Squash Championship, from 9-12 March in Kuwait City.

In last week's Tournament of Champions in New York, a back injury caused the 24-year-old from Sheffield to concede his quarter-final match against Thierry Lincou midway through the third game.  "The same injury has reoccurred a few times now, so it's a case of having a month or so of strengthening and rehab work before I'll be 100%," Matthew told the PSA today.

In a reseeding of the event, and a revised draw, Egypt's Karim Darwish is elevated to eighth seed and will now face England's Adrian Grant in the first round.  Malaysian Ong Beng Hee comes into the draw and will take on England's sixth seed James Willstrop.

The $65,000 event, in its second year as a PSA Tour 5-star championship, has attracted the world's leading players, led by world No1 and world champion Thierry Lincou.  The Frenchman is expected to face England's No2 seed Lee Beachill, the world No2, in Saturday's final.

Defending champion Peter Nicol is aiming for his fourth title in Kuwait City, after also winning the event in 1997 and 1998.  The fourth-seeded Englishman is expected to meet Australia's in-form Anthony Ricketts in the quarter-finals, in a repeat of their clash at the same stage of last month's Tournament of Champions.  Ricketts prevailed in the encounter - and went on to lift his first Super Series title after beating Thierry Lincou in the final at Grand Central Terminal.

1st round draw:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v Joseph Kneipp (AUS)
[8] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Adrian Grant (ENG)
[4] Peter Nicol (ENG) v Qualifier
[7] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) v Qualifier
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) v Ong Beng Hee (MAS)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) v Abdullah Almezayen (KUW)
[5] Amr Shabana (EGY) v Qualifier
[2] Lee Beachill (ENG) v Qualifier