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ISS Canary Wharf Classic 2008
20-Feb-08
LOCAL BOY BARKER GOES FOR GLORY IN ISS CANARY WHARF SQUASH CLASSIC
 Squash
star Peter Barker has a special reason for wanting to do well in
the forthcoming ISS Canary Wharf Classic - he will soon be a local
resident!
Barker, the current world No.12, is moving from Bethnal Green to
Limehouse in May and said: “If the tournament was two months later I
could walk from home to the venue.”
Barker is sure to enjoy considerable local support when the five-star
PSA World Series event returns to the spectacular East Wintergarden
venue from March 10-14.
The left-handed Londoner is enjoying the best form of his life, and
warmed up for the Canary Wharf tournament by reaching the final of the
Swedish Open last Sunday.
He lost to England team-mate James Willstrop in a superb match
and the two could meet again in the ISS Canary Wharf final. However, for
that to happen, Barker would need to remove the number one seed, French
ace Gregory Gaultier, whom he is seeded to meet in the
semi-final.
Barker, 24, admitted: “I have never beaten Greg before. I lost to him in
Saudi Arabia last year and was not too happy with my performance. You
know you’ve got to give everything when you play guys like him.
“I was very pleased with the way I played in Sweden and I hope to carry
on that form. I beat Olli Tuominen of Finland in the semi-final and that
was the best I have played for months.
 “I
felt I played well in the final against James, but everything I did he
did just a little bit better. I am very optimistic about the next few
months and I am really looking forward to playing at Canary Wharf.
“It’s a brilliant tournament and lots of my friends will be coming along
to cheer me on.”
Barker faces fellow Essex player Daryl Selby in the first round,
just as he did in Sweden, and is scheduled to meet Cameron Pilley
in the quarter-finals if the tall Australian can beat the mercurial
Italian Davide Bianchetti.
Barker achieved a sensational victory over Pilley as England beat
Australia to win the World Team Championship in India in December.
Barker added: “I beat world number one Amr Shabana in Qatar last year
and I suppose that was a career highlight from an individual point of
view, but winning the World Team Championship with England was
definitely the greater achievement.”
In the draw for the ISS
Canary Wharf Classic, Willstrop, the number two seed, is scheduled to
meet a qualifier in the first round followed by Welsh veteran Alex
Gough ahead of a possible semi-final clash with his Pontefract
training partner Lee Beachill.
Willstrop achieved his first career victory over his Yorkshire and
England team-mate at Canary Wharf last year and is bidding for a third
triumph in London’s premier squash tournament, having beaten Thierry
Lincou of France in the 2004 final and Scotland’s John White last year.
Willstrop, the world number six, is seeded to meet French star Gaultier
in the final. Their rivalry goes back to junior days and their matches
are always absorbing physical and mental battles.
Gaultier, the reigning British Open champion from Aix-en-Provence, faces
fellow Frenchman Renan Lavigne in the first round at Canary Wharf
and is seeded to meet rising Egyptian star Mohammed Abbas, the number
five seed, in the quarter finals.
The first round draw at Canary Wharf also includes an intriguing clash
between Finland’s No.6 seed Olli Tuominen and Britain’s Joey
Barrington, son of squash legend Jonah. Tuominen and Barrington are
both noted for their attritional styles and spectators at the East
Wintergarden could well be in for a marathon match.
The first round will be split over two evenings, meaning that office
workers at Canary Wharf can stroll from their desks to the tournament
venue in time for play to start at 5.30pm.
Sadly, England star Nick Matthew has been forced to take a long rest
from squash because of a shoulder injury and will not be in action at
Canary Wharf.
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