19th February 2006
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THIERRY LINCOU WINS CANARY WHARF CLASSIC
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THIERRY LINCOU WINS CANARY WHARF CLASSIC ISS Canary Wharf Classic, East Wintergarden, London, England
Final:
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3

Thierry Lincou, who spent the whole of 2005 at the top of the men’s World rankings despite only winning one World Tour event in the year, the Pakistan Open in July, powered past an exhausted Anthony Ricketts 11-9 6-11 11-7 7-11 11-3 to win the ISS Canary Wharf Classic at the spectacular East Wintergarden venue in London's Docklands.

The 88-minute final was evenly poised until Ricketts finally wilted in the fifth game at the conclusion of his fourth consecutive five-game match.

Lincou had subdued a partisan home crowd in the semi-finals when he knocked out Peter Nicol 11-8 11-10(2-0) 11-9, having earlier in the competition defeating Welshman Alex Gough and English qualifier Peter Barker.

In stark contrast, the ever competitive Ricketts was forced to endure three consecutive five-game battles to reach his place in the final. Demonstrating his awesome powers of resilience, the Australian defeated Simon Parke 11-6 8-11 8-11 11-7 11-4 in his opening match, before being made to battle all the way by Gregory Gaultier, whom he defeated 11-8 4-11 8-11 11-7 11-10(4-2) in a punishing quart-final, and Karim Darwish who was overcome 9-11 11-4 11-5 1-11 11-6 in an equally demanding 78-minute semi-final.

Going into the final, Ricketts had been on court for 258 minutes of play compared to 112 by Lincou.

However, the Australian was still happy to prolong the rallies in a 28-minute opening game which Lincou pinched 11-9. Ricketts hit back strongly to take the second but the pattern continued as Lincou won the third and the robust Ricketts responded yet again, drawing on his phenomenal reserves of energy to take the match to a fifth game.

The capacity crowd willed the Australian to make one final effort, but Lincou played tight, stylish and inventive squash to regain control of the match and clinch a confidence-boosting victory.

Ricketts, philosophical in defeat, explained: "You could say that was one game too many at the end there, but Thierry is a class act and he played superb squash. He is always one of the hardest guys to beat."

The French former World No.1 admitted: "Anthony had a lot of hard matches and played twenty games in total. I guess that showed in the final, but I am very happy to win such an important tournament in a wonderful venue like this with a big, passionate crowd."

Semi-finals:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [7] Karim Darwish (EGY) 9-11, 11-4, 11-5, 1-11, 11-6
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [4] Peter Nicol (ENG) 11-8, 11-10 (3-1), 11-9

Quarter-finals:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [8] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 11-8, 4-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-10 (4-2)
[7] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [3] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-6, 4-11, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-5
[4] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [5] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-7, 11-7, 11-4
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 11-8, 11-7, 11-2

1st round:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [Q] Simon Parke (ENG) 11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4
[7] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-8, 11-10 (2-0), 11-7
[4] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [Q] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-8, 11-4, 11-4
Alex Gough (WAL) bt [6] Nick Matthew (ENG) 11-3, 11-10 (3-1), 11-10 (3-1)
[8] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-2, 11-8, 11-5
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Shahid Zaman (PAK) 11-9, 11-10 (4-2), 11-10 (6-4)
[5] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Ben Garner (ENG) 11-8, 11-8, 11-4
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [Q] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4

Issued by iSQUASHmedia.com