WORLD SQUASH NEWS
RESULTS: PSA Qatar Masters, Doha, Qatar
2nd round:
[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Graham Ryding (CAN) 15-8, 15-9, 15-6 (38m)
[6] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Paul Price (AUS) 5-15, 15-11, 15-14, 15-10 (69m)
[3] John White (SCO) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 15-13, 17-14, 15-8 (54m)
[8] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [14] Alex Gough (WAL) 10-15, 14-17, 15-6, 15-6, 15-9 (95m)
[7] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [16] Nick Taylor (ENG) 15-11, 17-16, 15-4 (59m)
[12] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) bt Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 15-12, 15-9, 13-15, 15-0 (67m)
[5] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [9] Martin Heath (SCO) 15-11, 15-13, 15-7 (47m)
[10] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [2] Jonathon Power (CAN) 15-11, 15-8, 4-15, 10-15, 15-14 (97m)
Women's WISPA World Grand Prix Finals, Doha, Qatar
2nd qualifying round:
Pool A:
[1] Carol Owens (NZL) bt [4] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 9-3, 9-4, 9-1 (27m)
Fiona Geaves (ENG) bt Tania Bailey (ENG) 9-4, 9-2, 9-2 (21m)
Pool B:
[2] Natalie Pohrer (USA) bt Cassie Jackman (ENG) 9-2, 9-3, 8-10, 9-7 (46m)
Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [3] Linda Charman (ENG) 9-2, 10-9, 3-9, 10-8 (70m)
Power Controlled By Dazzling Darwish Display
Five days after clinching the Super Series Finals squash title in London by a
single point in a fifth game tie-break in the final, Canada's world No3
Jonathon Power crashed out of the $120,000 PSA Qatar Masters by the same margin in
the second round in Doha.
Karim Darwish, the 21-year-old Egyptian who made his debut in the world top
eight this month, was in dazzling form as he raced to a 2-0 lead over the No2
seed and defending champion from Montreal - much to the delight of the large
Egyptian section of the crowd.
True to form, Power hit back - clearly in no mood to suffer his first defeat
in the event since losing to arch rival Peter Nicol, the runner-up last week
in London, in the final in March 2000. After taking the next two games to
level the match, Power found himself at 14-14 in the decider, and again called
'set one'.
This time Power's characteristic 'sudden death' tactic proved to be his
downfall: Darwish hit a glorious winner to claim a sensational 15-11 15-8 4-15
10-15 15-14 triumph after 97 minutes. It was the biggest scalp of his career and
the partisan crowd roared with delight.
Tenth seed Darwish, the former world junior champion and youngest player in
the world top 16, now faces France's fifth seed Thierry Lincou, who cruised to
his second successive straight games win with a 15-11 15-13 15-7 victory over
Scotland's Martin Heath in 47 minutes.
An earlier second round match also required more than one and a half hours to
resolve. England's eighth seed Lee Beachill found himself 2-0 down against
Welsh No1 Alex Gough, the 14th seed. Beachill, the 25-year-old Yorkshireman
racing back to match fitness after undergoing ankle surgery in March, stuck to
his task and after 95 minutes claimed a 10-15 14-17 15-6 15-6 15-9 win and a
place in the last eight.
First round hero Gregory Gaultier, the 20-year-old Frenchman who despatched
Australia's fourth seed Stewart Boswell, was unable to maintain his Masters
momentum and went down 15-12 15-9 13-15 15-0 in 67 minutes to Joseph Kneipp, the
12th seed from Australia.
In the women's Qatar WISPA World Grand Prix Finals, second-seeded American
Natalie Pohrer threw Pool B wide open again when she beat England's Cassie
Jackman in the match she knew she had to win to keep her hope of reaching the
semi-finals. Clearly still smarting after her loss in five to Dutch No1 Vanessa
Atkinson, Pohrer started solidly, playing much more composed and controlled
squash and soon moved two games ahead.
Errors from Pohrer helped Jackman to forge a 6-3 lead in the third, but the
group favourite overhauled Jackman to reach match ball at 8-7. After this was
squandered, Jackman took the advantage and eventually converted her own game
ball to claw back Pohrer's lead. In the fourth, Pohrer regained the initiative
and finally took the match 9-2 9-3 8-10 9-7 in 46 minutes.
Delighted to be back in contention, Pohrer explained: "Yesterday my mind
wasn't straight. I made a much more considered effort today. I spent a long
time trying to prepare mentally and used some trigger words to bring me back to
the court when my mind wandered."
England's No3 seed Linda Charman also needed to grab a win to pull herself
back into the frame, but her opponent Vanessa Atkinson is playing with greater
self-belief these days. The Dutch girl raced ahead to take the first, but
Charman charged to 8-3 up in the second before allowing Atkinson to tenaciously
claw her way back as she pounced on the Englishwoman's loose drops. After saving
three game balls, Atkinson snatched the game to claim an improbable 2-0 lead.
A more assertive Charman made sure of the third game, then again reached game
ball at 8-3 in the fourth. This time Atkinson saved four game balls before
punching the air with delight to secure the match 9-2 10-9 3-9 10-8 in 70
minutes after another bout of escapology.