White Whips Power In Windy City Marathon

Scotland's fifth seed John White ended a torrid spell on the PSA Tour by beating Canada's in-form Jonathon Power in a five-game marathon in Chicago, USA, to reach the final of the SSA Global Windy City Open.

Since reaching the final of the Tournament of Champions in New York almost a year ago, the 31-year-old former Australian, now based in Nottingham in England, has had a disappointing run in PSA events. The last time White exceeded his seeding was in the English Open in 2003 and, ten months after topping the world rankings for the first time, he now languishes at No12 - his lowest position for four years.

White and seventh seed Power, 30, from Montreal, have crossed paths many times in the past on the PSA Tour, with results evenly-balanced. Their two meetings last year included a 3/1 win for the Canadian in the quarter-finals of the Bermuda Open in March, followed by a straight games drubbing by the hard-hitting Scot in the Super Series Finals in London in May. Though White is seeded ahead of his opponent, Power is now placed above the Scot in the world rankings, at six.

White started poorly, a few errors helping Power to a 6-1 lead. Power was looking comfortable, moving well and striking the ball with authority. White dug in, but the first game was really all Power and he clinched it 11-7. White began the second game in similar inconsistent fashion but soon began to dictate the outcome of most of the rallies. Winners and errors by both players took the game to 10-10 and the firs tie-break. After Power saved three game balls, White finally succeeding in taking the 25-minute game on his fourth attempt with a well executed forehand cross court volley that was just out of his opponent's reach.

White was clearly enjoying the encounter now that he was firmly in it. A reflex backhand volley winner gave him a 5-4 lead and a backhand kill gave him the lead at 7-6. Power was clearly more frustrated, arguing most referee decisions that went against him. His retrieving was still incredible, but the world number 12 was now hitting many more winners than tins and a tight forehand drop gave White game ball at 10-7 and he finished it with a forehand cross court kill to take a 2/1 advantage.

A fiercely-contested fourth game saw the score move to 8-8 when White put a backhand boast into the tin. A no let and a tight forehand drop later and White stood at match ball. But a loose forehand that ended in a stroke to Power, followed by two tins by White, and suddenly Power had game ball. Power saved two more match balls and reached a second game ball for himself with a fabulous backhand volley into the nick. And, much to the joy of the crowd, he extended the match to a deciding game when he cut off a White cross court and fired it into the back corner for a winner.

After the disappointment of not closing out the match in the fourth game, White got himself off to a perfect start in the decider, building a quick 5-0 lead. White later led 7-2 - and a few rallies later Power hit a backhand out of court and it was 10-3 White. The Scot converted on his sixth match ball two rallies later when he hit a forehand cross court winner and secured his place in the final after 94 dramatic minutes.

The other semi-final also featured an upset, with Egypt's fourth seed Amr Shabana beating favourite Lee Beachill, the world No2 from England, 11-3 11-8 11-3.

Less than 24 hours after beating Beachill's Yorkshire club-mate James Willstrop, Shabana got off to a good start, taking leads of 4-0 and 6-3. He was finding the nick from anywhere on the court and Beachill was having trouble putting him under pressure. The Egyptian rattled off the last five points to close out the game 11-3 in only 8 minutes.

Beachill battled hard in the next two games, but Shabana's touch at the front was incredible and he was finding the nick at will. From 2-3 down he rattled off the last nine points to close out the match in just 35 minutes.

Semi-finals:
[4] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [1] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-3, 11-8, 11-3 (35m)
[5] John White (SCO) bt [7] Jonathon Power (CAN) 7-11, 11-10 (4-2), 11-7, 10-11 (2-4), 11-4 (94m)