White Punishes Palmer As Australian Campaign Ends In Bermuda

Scotland's John White caused the major sensation of the second round of the Virtual Spectator Bermuda PSA Masters when he despatched Bermuda-based Australian David Palmer, the fourth seed, in four games to secure an unexpected place in the quarter-finals of the $120,000 PSA Super Series event, presented by Logic and hosted by Endurance, in Hamilton, Bermuda.

The later victory by England's James Willstrop over the in-form Anthony Ricketts - in a five-game 97-minute marathon - will leave the last eight of one of the PSA Tour's leading events of the year lacking any Australian interest for the first time for four years.

The clash between Palmer and White, the Australian-born 12th seed, was expected to be an exceptionally tough match between two aggressive hard-hitting players - with Palmer, runner-up twelve months ago, strong favourite to win on adopted home soil. The Australian started strongly, playing error-free squash, and appeared to be on course for victory as he took four straight points to win the opening game in 20 minutes.

The two continued to play at a blistering pace in the second game. White soon levelled the match and in the third hit a higher gear, winning seven points in a row while Palmer seemed to ease back and lose his edge. The Scot never looked in any danger for the rest of the match, taking control of the third with a series of blistering nicks in the front right corner and looking more and more confident with each winner.

Palmer looked physically out of sorts and resorted to arguing with the referee over calls which even his partisan supporters in the audience would not have disputed. It was a clear sign of frustration and it was no surprise when White again surged ahead in the fourth and ultimately clinched the match 7-11 11-9 11-4 11-6 in 68 minutes.

White's next opponent will be England's seventh seed Nick Matthew who, in his first PSA Tour event since withdrawing from last month's Kuwait Open with a back injury, needed 72 minutes to overcome Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee 11-8 11-9 11-9.

All who witnessed the second round match between Anthony Ricketts and James Willstrop - currently ranked seven and eight, respectively, in the world - agree that it not only lived up to all expectations but it also proved to be the match of the tournament so far. A thriller from start to finish, this 97-minute marathon saw 21-year-old Willstrop, the fifth seed, play brilliantly for the first two games, constantly playing to an immaculate length and simply making no mistakes on a court where patience was a necessity.

Ricketts, the 11th seed, fought back valiantly to win the third and appeared to have finally found the measure of Willstrop when he also cruised through the fourth. But, in the decider, Willstrop showed that he has both the willpower and wherewithal to dig deep when it is most needed, and fought to the finish to emerge the victor 11-6 11-8 7-11 3-11 11-8.

In the last eight, Willstrop will face his England team-mate Peter Nicol, the defending PSA Masters champion who also won the title in 2000, the event's inaugural year.

Nicol simply outclassed his young adversary Mohd Azlan Iskandar in straight games. While the Malaysian pushed hard in the first, forcing Nicol into some uncharacteristic errors at the front of the court, the impression was very much that the title-holder was biding his time.

And so it was in the second, as third seed Nicol markedly upped the tempo, taking the ball earlier and forcing Iskandar back into the corners, before bringing him scrambling forward with a number of delicate drops. It was not long before the pressure began to tell, with Iskandar tinning a number of relatively straightforward shots in quick succession before Nicol strode to his 11-10 11-5 11-9 win in 45 minutes.

Top seed Thierry Lincou, the world No1 from France, made a series of uncharacteristic unforced errors in the early stages of his match against Amr Shabana. The left-handed Egyptian, one of the most exciting players on the tour, played with consummate grace and elegance - constantly wrong-footing Lincou. Shabana won the first game and continued to look impressive in the second, but Lincou suddenly took charge, playing to an immaculate length, and the positions were reversed. Shabana was doing most of the running and Lincou refused to relinquish the tee.

Despite a determined effort by Shabana in the third game to force a tie breaker, Lincou took the next three games to win 6-11 11-7 11-10 11-3 in 53 minutes.

Lincou will now face Jonathon Power, the sixth-seeded Canadian who needed 72 minutes to overcome Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, the ninth seed, 10-11 11-1 5-11 11-3 11-2.

In the final match of the night, second seed Lee Beachill looked in ruthless form against the dogged Canadian Graham Ryding. Moving languidly around the court, Beachill's length was immaculate throughout the 40 minutes as he set about patiently dismantling Ryding's game. While a large Canadian contingent in the crowd tried hard to get behind their man, Ryding was never able to break the Englishman's stranglehold on the match.

The world number two's 11-4 11-7 11-2 victory takes Beachill into a quarter-final against Egyptian Karim Darwish. Darwish dashed Olli Tuominen's hopes of further progress in the event, beating the unseeded Finn 11-5 11-5 11-7 in 32 minutes.

2nd round:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [10] Amr Shabana (EGY) 6-11, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 11-3 (53m)
[6] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [9] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 10-11 (0-2), 11-1, 5-11, 11-3, 11-2 (72m)
[12] John White (SCO) bt [4] David Palmer (AUS) 7-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 (68m)
[7] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 (72m)
[5] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [11] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 3-11, 11-8 (97m)
[3] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-10 (3-1), 11-5, 11-9 (45m)
[8] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 (32m)
[2] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [13] Graham Ryding (CAN) 11-4, 11-7, 11-2 (40m)