| The top eight seeds started the
second round in Hong Kong, and while most made it safely through to the
quarter-finals, Lee Beachill and Anthony Ricketts produced the upsets of the
day, putting out Mark Chaloner and John White respectively.
KNEIPP'S KNEE TROUBLE
Top seed Peter Nicol was first on, and looked to be continuing his good form
from the first round, taking the first two games against Australia's Joe
Kneipp. Kneipp rallied to take the third, and looked to have the world
number one in some trouble, reaching 8-8 in the fourth. One point later
though it was all over, with Kneipp having to retire due to his knee
'popping out'. An injury break didn't help, so Kneipp was out.
"I was playing an attacking forehand and had twisted my body.
My leg was in one direction and my body and weight was changing direction
when my knee clicked. I was playing well and felt I was in control and had a
chance of winning," Kniepp told the South China Morning Post.
Nicol was sympathetic, but grateful for the win. "I was
starting to get control of it but at that stage I wouldn't say I was in
control. But I'm happy. A win is a win although it is a shame he hurt
himself. Some of my squash was good but some of it was pretty average. I
play five or six points well and then the next four points I give it away.
There is no consistency. It is now a case of getting better as the
tournament progresses," said Nicol.
Much to Kneipp's annoyance the knee 'popped back in' shortly afterwards in the
changing rooms. "It is unbelievable. I have seen the light. It just clicked
back into place," said Kneipp, doing a jig to prove the point.
POWER BATTLES ON
The Jonathon Power v Paul Price match was keenly anticipated - matches
between the two tend to be tempestuous affairs, and this was no exception.
Power squeezed home 17/16 in the first, a game that was close all the way.
"The crowd ooohed when they saw the graph of that game on our giant
scoreboard," said Horizon
software's Adrian Battersby, "it was a real battle."
Thereafter Power was rarely troubled as he took the
second comfortably and eased away from 8-8 in the third. The referee was
still overworked though - Battersby was providing commentary to those in the
CathaySquash chat room, and at one point said "I'm not telling you about
disputes any more, just assume there's one every three rallies!".
"I hate playing Paul as he attacks
so well. I had to play good squash to win," Power told the SCMP after the
match.
NO DRAMA FOR AUSSIES
There was better news for the Australians as third and fourth seeds David
Palmer and Stewart Boswell both enjoyed comfortable wins on the showcourt,
beating Egyptians Amr Shabana and Karim Darwish respectively. They will be
joined in the quarters by Anthony Ricketts, who eased past England's
seventh seed Mark Chaloner in 44 minutes.
OUT OF THE DARKNESS CAME THE BEACH
Other matches on the Centre Court, nicknamed 'the Black Hole' by the chat
room visitors due to the difficulty of getting results out of it, saw
Thierry Lincou end the run of England's qualifier Adrian Grant, and Ong Beng
Hee record an emphatic win over Pakistan's Mansoor Zaman, the Malaysian's
main rival for the Asian Games title next month.
''It is good to go into the Asian Games having won here.
Both of us are the top seeds and we are expected to meet in the final. This
is a big boost for me,'' Ong told the SCMP after his 52-minute battle.
Zaman would like another chance to play Ong before the
Asian Games, but one opportunity, the US Open in September, has been denied
him. "I'm a Pakistani and it is difficult getting visas to go to the United
States. It is a shame because I wanted to play there. The next time I meet
Ong will be in Korea. Hopefully I will be able to turn this result around
then."
The final match in the 'black hole' (all future matches
are on the Perspex court and live on CathaySquash), featured John White and
Lee Beachill. White enjoyed the support in the chat room, where friends and
family were eagerly waiting news, but when it came it was that British
Champion Beachill had scored an emphatic 3-0 win over John White to set up a
quarter-final meeting with his Commonwealth Games partner Peter Nicol.
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