Ricketts & Tuominen Overturn Seedings At Grand Central Terminal

In an extraordinary second evening of quarter-final action in the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions in New York, Australia's Anthony Ricketts and Finland's Olli Tuominen dramatically upset the seedings to earn themselves a semi-final clash in the PSA Super Series event in its tenth year at Grand Central Terminal.

It was hard to imagine that the outstanding quarter-final encounters could match the excitement of the Ramy Ashour/James Willstrop confrontation 24 hours earlier - but it proved to be another evening of "on the edge of your seat" squash.

First up in the men's draw were two-time finalist Thierry Lincou, the third seed from France, and 2005 champion Anthony Ricketts, seeded seven. On paper, Lincou was the favourite - however, Ricketts came into New York feeling fit and eager to do well in the championship that two years prior had been one of the highlights of his career.

The Frenchman and the Aussie battled to a first game tiebreak. Although Lincou managed to stave off two game points, he ultimately lost the game at 4-2 in the tiebreak when the referees made a "no let" decision on game ball. As Ricketts walked off with the crowd booing the referees' decision, it was clear that the evening's matches would include a further component - the sold-out crowd who were not going to hesitate to voice both their appreciation and disapproval!

The first game loss seemed to take the energy out of Lincou's game, and Ricketts played aggressive, focused squash to win the next two to record an 11-10 (4-2), 11-4, 11-6 victory.

"That first game was so important," said the 27-year-old from Sydney. "There were long rallies, lots of lets and lots of discussion. Whoever won was going to get a big boost."

The win takes Ricketts into the semi-finals against Finland's Olli Tuominen, who scored one of the biggest victories of his career when he defeated reigning World Champion and No2 seed David Palmer of Australia in four games.

Tuominen, who had only defeated Palmer once in their previous 12 matches, had already done better than his tenth seed position when he had eliminated No8 seed Lee Beachill in the second round. After that victory, he talked about the confidence he had gained by making to the semi-finals of the Swedish Open just 10 days prior to the ToC.

Having lost to Palmer, he was eager for a re-match: "I feel like I am playing really well right now, and it is still my goal to make the top ten," said Tuominen, who is never taken lightly by his opponents. "But I don't have that much time left to do it," added the 27-year-old from Helsinki.

Palmer won the first game 11-9, but Tuominen wrong-footed his opponent twice in the second game tie-break to even the score. Tuominen jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the third, which proved insurmountable for Palmer. By the third game, the match had taken on a new dimension - a combative physicality where the players were pushing and shoving each other in excess of what was really necessary to demonstrate to the referee that they deserved a let. The physicality put Palmer on edge, while Tuominen received a conduct warning, but still played creative and tenacious squash.

After Tuominen won the game 11-8, Palmer was clearly on the ropes. The Australian fell behind 2-5 in the fourth, but he was not ready to go down for the count. The reigning World Champion pushed ahead to a 9-7 lead, but once again, his opponent played calm and played strategic squash. Tuominen hit a brilliant backhand volley followed by a tight rail that Palmer couldn't get enough of his racquet on to return, resulting in a 9-9 tie. A Palmer volley winner gave him game ball at 10-9 but a "no let" call - disapproved by the crowd - evened the score at 10-all.

By this time, you could cut the tension in the Terminal with a knife. A Palmer tin swung the lead back to Tuominen. Several spectacular saves of shots that had Palmer diving and leaping to stay in the match brought the crowd roaring to its feet when he appeared to have hit the ball past his opponent. The "yes let" call once again earned the ire of the stands and Palmer hit a gutsy resounding winner on the next point - pumping his fist at the referees after the ball rolled out of the nick. It wasn't until the fourth match ball that Tuominen finally put the match to rest after 78 minutes, winning 9-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-8, 11-10 (6-4).

"I am surprisingly calm, but I felt calm throughout the match," said Tuominen immediately after reaching his first semi-final in 38 Super Series event appearances since making his debut in the World Open in September 1999! The win also marked the first time that the Finn had beaten two higher-seeded players in the same event since reaching the final of the Motor City Open, also in the USA, in October 2004.

As for his semi-final match up with Ricketts, Tuominen added: "I am looking forward to it. After all, I have come this far - I have nothing to lose."

Quarter-finals:
[7] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-10 (4-2), 11-4, 11-6 (56m)
[10] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [2] David Palmer (AUS) 9-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-8, 11-10 (6-4) (78m)