WORLD SQUASH NEWS
Spanish Open Suffers Last-Minute Power Failure
Canada's world No4 Jonathon Power has withdrawn from this week's
Seville Spanish Open Squash Championship following a back injury
sustained during training.
"Jonathon is devastated by this setback and wishes your tournament
all the best," said the Canadian's manager Jason Matthison in a
message today to Spanish Open promoter Jonas Gornerup.
Power was seeded to meet English favourite Peter Nicol, the world
No1, in the final of the $45,000 event which takes place in Seville
from 26-29 June - marking the return after ten years of one the PSA
Tour's leading events.
In a redraw, Australia's world No7 Anthony Ricketts is elevated to
No2 seed and now faces Egypt's Amr Shabana in the opening round.
England's Simon Parke, the world No12 from Nottingham who upset Nicol
in last week's BSPA Grand Prix Finals in England - a non-ranking
event - is separated from the top seed in the revised draw. Originally
expected to meet his compatriot in the quarter-finals, Parke now
becomes the sixth seed and faces a qualifier in the first round in the
lower half of the draw.
The 2003 Spanish Open, a four star event, will be staged on an all-glass
court in the main town square in Seville during the week before the
town hosts its traditional annual fiesta.
Revised 1st round draw:
[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) v Qualifier
[5] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) v Borja Golan (ESP)
[3] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Stephen Meads (ENG)
[8] Nick Taylor (ENG) v Qualifier
[7] Mark Chaloner (ENG) v Mohammed Abbas (EGY)
[4] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v Qualifier
[6] Simon Parke (ENG) v Qualifier
[2] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) v Amr Shabana (EGY)