WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions, New York, USA

Quarter-finals:
[6] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 8-15, 15-6, 15-6, 5-15, 15-12 (98m)
[3] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [8] Nick Matthew (ENG) 15-8, 15-7, 15-6 (40m)

Nicol & Power Show Returns to New York

Another chapter in the long-running squash rivalry between England's Peter Nicol and Canada's Jonathon Power will be written at Grand Central Terminal in New York on Wednesday when the pair meet for the first time this year in the semi-finals of the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions.  Seventh-seeded Power earned his berth after a 98-minute five-game upset over France's top seed Thierry Lincou, while third seed Nicol cruised to a straight games win in less than half the time over eighth-seeded compatriot Nick Matthew.

"I'm just relieved," said Power after the quarter-final marathon.  "It was tough from the beginning.  I was on the wrong side of the officiating, he was playing well and we were both fighting for a little space."  In the first game Lincou looked very much like the world No1 that he is, using consistent rails deep in the court to keep Power playing from behind.   In the second and third games, Power used his lightning quick racket to turn the pace up a notch and this time it was the Frenchman who was scrambling in the backcourt.  After winning each of those games for the loss of just six points each, the four-times champion from Montreal looked as though he would cruise into the next round. 

But the top seed was not done.  He won the fourth by once again moving Power to the back of the court and took a five-point lead in the fifth.  Power, who had become distracted earlier in the match by some refereeing calls with which he did not agree, regained his focus and consistency to start chipping away at the 27-year-old Frenchman's lead.  For Lincou, the turning point in the match came when he was ahead 10-7 in the fifth.  "We played a long point and he moved me around the court a lot.  Even though it ended with a let, and I was up by three points, that was it!"

Indeed, Power then snatched six consecutive points to go up 13-10.  "When I was down 7-10, 8-10, the crowd gave me a big lift.  It was like having a hometown crowd which I don't have in very many places," said the appreciative Canadian.  Lincou nabbed two more points but Power closed out the match 8-15 15-6 15-6 5-15 15-12 - and the standing room only crowd rose to its feet in appreciation of the tenacity of both players. 

After the match a rueful Lincou said: "Today Jonathon was takeable.  But he is very strong mentally and he knows how to play the big points."

Defending champion Peter Nicol needed just forty minutes to secure his place in the semi-finals as he gave his 23-year-old opponent a lesson in clinical, efficient, play.  "I kept trying to sniff out chances to get back in the match," said Matthew.  "But every time I thought I might have an opening, Peter slammed the door shut.  I did learn a lot from Peter tonight - mostly that I need to be as ruthless and clinical as he is." 

Nicol, who relinquished the lead only once during the entire match when he was down 1-3 in the third, was focused on being as efficient as possible as a result of some lingering fatigue effects from a virus that has plagued him periodically in the last year.  "I'm not putting pressure on myself because I'm not feeling so well - and as a result I am playing really good squash," said Nicol. 

Both Nicol and Power are looking forward to their semi-final clash - their fifth Tournament of Champions meeting since 1996.  "There is always an extra edge when we play each other," said Nicol. "There has to be - we have been one and two for so many years that there is always more on the line than just the match we are playing."  The contrasting styles of the two players have helped cement their rivalries as one of the great ones - Power's quickness and touch against Nicol's finely honed technique and unsurpassed mental fortitude.  Over ten years and 36 encounters, Nicol has the edge 19-17 - but so marginal is the gap between the two squash gladiators that the points tally shows 1548 to Nicol, and 1546 to Power!