Peter the Great

Peter Nicol was indeed grand after winning the Al-Ahram International Squash Championship, reports Nashwa Abdel-Tawab
Peter Nicol outclassed the field to capture what has become one of squash's most prestigious tournaments. Englishman Nicol defended his Al-Ahram International Squash Championship title for the fourth successive year, beating his Canadian rival Jonathon Power in a straight 60-minute 15-8, 17-15, 15-12 game in his favourite squash venue, the spectacular open-air court at the foot of the Great Pyramids.
It was the 24th meeting of their extraordinary careers but their first in the event and their first confrontation since the Tournament of Champions climax in New York in February. The Power-Nicol head-to-head record now stands at 13-11 in Nicol's favour.
Since January 1999, the pair have occupied the top two positions in the world rankings but mixed recent fortunes for both have led to a change in the world order with Australia's David Palmer rising to world No 1 this month. But Nicol, ranked third before the Cairo event, will probably recapture his perch atop the world after beating Power.
In the shadows of the Pyramids of Giza, Nicol won the $75,000 Al-Ahram crown in its sixth year. "I won the World Open on this court and always enjoy playing here," said Nicol. "I beat the two guys above me in the rankings and that's special," he added.
Nicol took the sting out of Power's attacking play and established his own rhythm from the start. "It is my first event since being hospitalised in Hong Kong with enteritis and tonsillitis," said Power. "I've not totally recovered but I'm playing good squash," added the world No 2 from Toronto who made his first appearance in the Al-Ahram final. Power has never before progressed beyond the Al-Ahram semi-finals, yet claimed his last PSA Tour title in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada in April when he swept through the PSA Masters field without conceding a game.
From bitter past experience, Nicol knew how vital the opening game would be against Power and he refused to let the controversial Canadian dominate, winning comfortably with a 15-8 scoreline. However, the second game was full of ferocious exchanges as Power attacked, only for Nicol to squeeze home 17-15. Power continued to look menacing throughout the third but Nicol was tactically superior and played tight, controlled squash to nullify his opponent.
It was a triumphant return to winning ways for Nicol, who surprisingly lost in the first round to Thierry Lincou in Hong Kong last month. He clearly has his sights set on regaining the No 1 ranking spot from David Palmer, whom he removed in the semi-finals. He will be looking for another majestic performance in Boston when he flies across the Atlantic for next week's US Open.
An upbeat Nicol, with four PSA titles to his credit this year, said, "I've put last week's Hong Kong loss behind me. I love it here and always do well."
Nicol beat Palmer 13-15, 15-11, 15-8, 15-11 after fighting back from a game behind to achieve a morale-boosting triumph over the No 3 seed, the Antwerp-based British Open and Hong Kong Open champion.
Palmer had been the most consistent player after five successive final appearances on the PSA Tour. But "tonight I wasn't good enough. I'm going away to work harder," said a disconsolate Palmer after his 74-minute defeat.
Power had reached his first Al-Ahram final after a 15-9, 15-13, 15-10 victory in 52 minutes over England's 10th seed Mark Chaloner who, despite the loss, is enjoying one of the best periods of his career with impressive wins over Australians Paul Price and Stewart Boswell to reach his first Giza semi-final.
"Mark was picking up a lot of balls but I'm playing pretty well now," said Power after the match. Chaloner added: "I hadn't realised how much last night's quarter-final took out of me. I'm more than a little disappointed. But there's no way they can leave me out of the England team now," said the 29-year-old from Lincolnshire who, at a career-high world No 7, is now the highest-ranked Englishman behind his new compatriot Nicol, who defected earlier this year from Scotland. He will lead his country for the first time in October's world team championships in Melbourne.
Four Egyptians crashed out to eliminate local interest for the first time since the inaugural championship in 1996. Scotland's 8th seed Martin Heath, a finalist in 1998, needed five games to overcome unseeded Egyptian Amr Shabana 15-4, 11-15, 15-14, 10-15, 15-9 in 78 minutes.
After a tough opening game, Nicol beat Egypt's 16th seed Omar El-Borolossi 17-14, 15-6, 15-7. His London Connaught Club training partner Ong Beng Hee, the 7th seed from Malaysia, twice had to come from behind before overcoming unseeded Egyptian Mohamed Abbas 13-15, 15-13, 15-17, 15-12, 15-5 in 90 minutes. Boswell beat Egypt's 20-year-old world junior champion Karim Darwish 15-17, 15-12, 15-11, 15-9 in 69 minutes. Darwish now stands 18 in the world.
Last month's unexpected retirement of Egyptian superstar Ahmed Barada and this month's debut appearance in the world top 20 have made Darwish the country's highest-ranked player for the first time. The unseeded youngster celebrated his new status in the best possible way, by crushing fifth seed David Evans, the 2000 British Open champion, 15-13, 15-4, 15-10 in just 33 minutes but couldn't stop the high-flying Australian Boswell, the 13th seed now ranked nine in the world.
In the Women's Heliopolis Open, Australia's three-time former world squash champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald returned to her customary winning ways in the final of the $30,000 event to beat England's 7th seed Cassie Campion 9-3, 9-1, 9-1 in 31 minutes and claim the established Egyptian title for the first time.
The world No 3 from Melbourne ended a 37-match unbeaten run on the WISPA World Tour in last month's Hong Kong Open semi-finals, losing a five-game thriller to New Zealand rival Leilani Joyce, the world No 1.
The victory marked a double celebration for the sport's popular ambassador who was appearing in her 75th WISPA final after reaching her first in England in 1988.
"Cassie played really well so I was pleased with the scoreline," said a delighted Fitz-Gerald, the top seed, after her fourth successive straight games win in the event. "This is my first Heliopolis title -- and what a great atmosphere to play in."
The Heliopolis title is the 46th of Fitz-Gerald's WISPA career and the 15th since returning to international competition after undergoing knee surgery in April 1999.
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