WORLD SQUASH NEWS

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

Quarter-finals:
[4] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [7] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) 15-14, 15-3, 15-4 (48m)
[2] John White (SCO) bt [13] James Willstrop (ENG) 15-13, 10-15, 15-6, 15-8 (67m)

White Avenges Willstrop Defeat To Clinch New World No1 Ranking

Scotland's John White avenged his defeat by James Willstrop in last month's Kuwait Open by beating the fast-rising English squash star in the quarter-finals of the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions at Grand Central Terminal in New York to ensure that he will become world No1 for the first time when the next Dunlop PSA World Rankings are published on 1st March.

The second-seeded Australian-born Scot needed 67 minutes to overcome 13th seed Willstrop in four games - and now meets Willstrop's Pontefract club-mate Lee Beachill in the semi-finals after the fourth seed swept to a straight games win over Australia's seventh seed Joseph Kneipp.

White had a game plan going into the match against world junior champion James Willstrop, the hottest youngster in squash.  "I wanted to go out as hard and fast as possible," said the current world No3, already universally regarded as the hardest hitting player on the tour.  But 20-year old Willstrop didn't immediately wilt in the face of his 30-year-old opponent's power or experience.  It was nip and tuck in the first game with White prevailing by a mere two points after Willstrop made what he called "a few strange errors."  Displaying remarkable maturity, the young Englishman successfully slowed the pace in the second game to counter the power hitting from White and evened the match. 

A fast start in the third and White was off and running again with a lead he never relinquished. "I think the difference in the match was the good starts that John got in each game.  John's a confidence player and once he gets ahead, he's really tough," said Willstrop in his after-match assessment.

White took an early five-point lead in the fourth at 7-2, but Willstrop fought his way back to 5-7 as the crowd roared its approval.  A long point, which ultimately went to White, saw each player use every shot in his arsenal and cover every corner of the court.  Despite giving the serve back to Willstrop as a result of a tired looking tin, White revved up the pace at 6-8 to power the ball just past his opponent's 6" 5" reach. 

Willstrop, finally looking as if he was feeling the effects of his marathon second round match against David Palmer, was just a step slower to the ball than he had been throughout the tournament and was unable to stage any kind of comeback attempt.  Fittingly, at match ball, White moved Willstrop up in the court and then drove a power cross court past his opponent to win the match.

"It always feels good to win," White said after the match.  "And this was a little extra special because James had beaten me last month."

White's ranking boost follows the failure of the current world No1 Thierry Lincou to progress beyond the last eight in New York.  The Scot is now certain to top the next world list, even if world No2 Peter Nicol successfully defends his Tournament of Champions title.

White's opponent in the semi-final will be Englishman Lee Beachill who found himself in a hard-fought battle in the first game of his match with Australian Joe Kneipp.  Once Beachill prevailed 15-14, Kneipp was inexplicably unable to make anything happen in the next two games, winning only seven points in the two games combined.  "I had one of my worst days on court tonight," said Kneipp after the match. "It was just a really bad day at the office."

The White-Beachill clash - a repeat of the pair's British National Championship final earlier this month, in which the Scot prevailed - will follow the greatly anticipated semi-final match between defending champion Peter Nicol and four-times title-holder Jonathon Power.  It will be the pair's first meeting this year, but their 37th of all-time.