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[1] John White (Sco) bt [8] Liam Kenny (Irl)
      11/3, 11/4, 11/6

Scotsman John White showed why, at 33, he is still one of the world’s premier players Tuesday evening before a capacity crowd at the Birmingham Athletic Club.

White, the #1 seed, captured the 2006 Cadillac Motor City Open for the first time in his career, dominating a hobbled Liam Kenny. The victor received a $5,200 award and a Rolex watch after blowing through the eighth-seeded Irishman in just half an hour.

The title was White’s third of the year, and the 11th of his illustrious career. In last year’s MCO, he was swept in the finals by Canadian John Power. But since then, the game’s biggest hitter has settled his family in Philadelphia, settled down his game, and reduced his errors. The result was a different, more-consistent White this go-round.

Suffering from a gimpy kneeleft over from his semifinal marathon, Kenny often seemed to be playing on one leg against the relentless White.

From the first point, White controlled the match, holding Kenny to 13 total points. The big Scot took a 5-0 lead in the first stanza and finished it with nine winners. He was equally dominant in Game Two as it became apparent that Kenny was plagued by a sore knee suffered in his grueling 2-hour defeat of Adrian Grant the night before. White took a commanding 9-2 lead - finishing it with a drop shot just above the tin.

Urged on by a crowd eager to see more squash, Kenny - the 40th-ranked player in the world - won the first point of the third game. Showing the gritty determination that had earned him a surprise finals berth, he took a 6-5 lead - before White shifted into another gear and won six straight points for the match.

Kenny’s five-game match against Grant on Monday wore down the Irishman, making it easy for White to win points with drop shots or winners down the rail.

White only lost one game during his run to the finals - in the first game of the semis to Alex Gough.

Draw & Results

"Most of my shots were coming off very nicely He wasn’t moving very well. He played unbelievably yesterday to win in two hours, and I knew he was going to be a little bit tired.

"It’s good to win, especially coming here. It’s not good to come in the second spot, which I’ve done many times before.

"It’s always good to win a tournament for the first time. The squash crowd is so enthusiastic here, which makes it even better to play in front of."

"John’s proven that he’s a real shot-maker. If you’re not really 100 percent, like I wasn’t today, then he’s gonna make you pay. Full credit to him. He didn’t really give me much of a chance to get into the game today.

"I had a great week,” Kenny said. “I really can’t complain. I feel like my squash is getting to another level.

"My consistency’s always been there, but just really breaking through like I did yesterday is gonna do me good for the rest of the season. And I’m hoping for big things."

Photos copyright BAC

[1] John White (Sco) bt [3] Alex Gough (Wal)
       7/11, 11/9, 11/4, 11/7
[8] Liam Kenny (Irl) bt [2] Adrian Grant (Eng)
      11/10(2-0), 3/11, 11/9, 9/11, 11/10(2-0)

Top-seeded Scotsman John White and upset-minded #8 seed Liam Kenny of Ireland will meet in the 2006 Cadillac Motor City Open final Tuesday at the Birmingham Athletic Club. To get there, both accomplished something for the first time in their respective careers.

It took 12 years, but Kenny defeated Adrian Grant, the MCO’s #2 seed, for his first career win over the Englishman. And it took five, gruelling games to do it.

As for White, his accidental blow to #3 seed Alex Gough’s eye on a back-swing was the first time he has ever injured an opponent with his racquet. The blow, coming late in the second game, caught Gough just above the right eye, cost him the point, and the momentum – as White proceeded to dominate the next two games to win.

The first game of the White/Gough match-up was notable for an extraordinary 175-shot rally, surely the longest in MCO history. Gough ultimately won the point – and the game.

Game Two was pivotal.

At 10-9 to White play was suspended for five minutes as Gough was treated after an accidental swing of White's racket caught the Welshman around the eye. Gough’s eye continued to ooze blood for the remainder of the match, but the gritty 35-year old veteran continued play. White, however, slowly asserted his will on the match – controlling the T, taking fewer steps to the ball, and wearing his opponent down.

Gough, the PSA Tour’s oldest player, briefly led in Game Four, 2-0 - but White came back to tie the score at 6-6. He then ran off five of the next six points to win the match.

Kenny’s win over Grant was one of the tournament’s most heated matches. There were more than 100 let-calls, much to the dismay of both players. Grant, who beat Hisham Mohd Ashour in a five-game thriller Sunday, was worn-down, while Kenny was fresh after Shahier Razik defaulted their quarterfinal match with a leg injury.

Kenny was down 10-8 in the final game, but rallied to win the next four points and the match. After winning the final point on a stroke, Kenny let out a jubilant: “Yes!”

White hopes Tuesday won’t produce another first for Kenny, the MCO’s Cinderella story this year. The Irishman has never beaten White, the 11th-ranked player in the world.
 

Draw & Results

MCO Daily

"All of a sudden I take my racquet back to swing and boom, I got him. I’ve hit someone with a ball before accidentally, but never with the racquet."



"It’s a bit unfortunate to get smacked in the eye. It was just one of those things. It was a rally where we were both scurrying around and he just caught me on the back swing in the middle of the court."

"We were just happy to rally. The ball was bouncing – it was just going on and on and on. That’s just the way the whole game went. I had to pick the pace up.

"Goughie’s one of these guys that when he’s moving around the court, he’s unbelievable. He gets a lot of balls back, and he’s got the shots to go with it."

"I felt he was a little slow off the ball. He had a hard match yesterday. That’s what happens in this game.

"I’m just glad to get through on this day. It was a great win for me. I‘ve been beyond expectations this week. I’ve been knocking on the door for a good season or two against these top players.

"I guess the work I’ve put in, it was bound to happen ..."

Gough, the oldest player on the tour, beat the speedy Samper, 5-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-2. He had never previously played Samper, and the Colombian caught the Wales veteran off guard in the first game. After that, though, Gough dominated by keeping the ball deep, retrieving everything in sight, and wearing down Bernardo who was playing his fourth match in four days.

"Alex was playing a young guy we’ve never really heard of, so there’s not really much you can say. It’s more just 'go back to basics'. Then he got his length back. Then the other guy started to make unforced errors. So, I’m a good coach at the same time."

White didn’t do badly on the court either, eliminating 23-year-old Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema in straight games. Anjema -who took White the distance at the World Open in Egypt this September - never really threatened this day as White has everything working, putting on a fireworks show of explosive drives mixed with deft boasts from all angles. Anjema’s only lead came at 8-4 in the second game, but White ran off seven of the next eight points to take the game.

“The crucial game was the second,” White said. “Any point of any given match, if you can fight and get 2-0 up or even 2-1, it’s a big thing to have.”

White and Gough will play against each other in the semifinals on Monday. Here’s betting White will keep any coaching tips to himself this time.

The other semi will feature Irishman Liam Kenny and Englishman Adrian Grant. Kenny got the day’s easiest draw as fourth-seeded Canadian Shahier Razik had to retire with an injured right quad muscle at 6-6 in the first game.

Grant, the No. 2 seed, beat charismatic Egyptian Hisham Mohd Ashour in the day’s most competitive match, coming from 2-1 down to win in the fifth.

Ashour trailed in the first game, 6-2, but came back, punctuating the game by burying a cross-court service return into the nick. At one game apiece, the athletic Grant dominated the third, chasing down nearly every possible shot. Ashour took the next game after racing to an 8-3 lead. Grant played an energetic final game, getting off to a 7-0 advantage. Ashour cut the deficit to 8-3, but unforced errors doomed the 24-year-old shotmaker.

Draw & Results

MCO Daily

"Johnny White spoke to me between games and told me I needed to get the ball a bit deeper and get him behind me.

"As soon as I started doing that, I started to get him to work. Then it all came a bit better.

"He started off really, really fast. I think I have to do something about my warm-up, because I lost the first game yesterday as well.

"He didn’t miss a thing."

Gough v Samper

Anjema v White

Kenny v Razik
Action photos by B'ham AC

"The fifth was still 50-50.

"Even though it’s 2-2, it doesn’t mean the momentum is on his side.

"I wasn’t really thinking who’s gonna win or who’s gonna lose.

"I was just thinking what’s my next tactics, what to do in that fifth game."

Draw & Results

Colombian Bernardo Samper wasn’t content with just qualifying for the main draw of the 2006 Cadillac Motor City Open. He’s just getting interested.

Samper, who won two rounds of qualifying the previous two days, upset seventh-seeded Englishman Mark Chaloner in first round play Saturday at the Birmingham Athletic Club. Chaloner, the president of the Professional Squash Association and a tour veteran, has been suffering from a strained hamstring and did not look his usual spry self.

Quickly down 0-2, Chaloner came alive in the third game. The 34-year-old took a 10-9 lead, but Samper’s winner down the right tied the score. Samper then won the next two points to move on to the quarterfinals.

Next up for Samper is Englishman Alex Gough, the draw’s oldest player at 35. Gough, the #3 seed, beat Swedish qualifier Badr Abdel Aziz in four after dropping the first game.

In the day’s best match, #8 Liam Kenny beat ninth-seed Mark Heather in a gruelling duel of two fit, deep hitters that went the full distance before the Irishman took it 11/7 in the fifth.

"It was just one of those games -- it was back and forth. I just felt in critical periods I really stepped up and made it count, and that was probably the difference today."

Liam Kenny

Kenny, ranked #40 in the world, will play fourth-seeded Shahier Razik next round. Razik, a steady, lightning-quick Canadian ended qualifier Scott Handley’s run in straight games.

In a dazzling display of shotmaking, athletic Egyptian Hisham Mohd Ashour edged past Frenchman Jean-Michel Arcucci in three close games.

He will play Englishman Adrian Grant, who stopped fellow countryman Ben Garner in four.

Top-seeded, big-hitting John White – he of the 170-plus mph shots - dispatched Detroit Athletic Club pro Australian Michael Joint in an entertaining match.

The Scotsman drew gasps from the crowd with his usual assortment of WMD to the corners, keeping Joint pinned to the back of the court.

Laurens Jan Anjema, who beat fellow Dutchman qualifier Dylan Bennett is next up for White on Sunday. With a couple career wins against the top seed, and a nailbiting defeat in the fifth in August's World Open in Cairo, he poses a real quarter-final threat.

Draw & Results

MCO Daily

"I knew I had to play him quick and fast. I think he was struggling a little bit and I took advantage of that. I’ve been working on that, getting to the ball quicker. I think everything just came together today.

"This week has been great for me. The draw has been good. Then I come here and play Mark Chaloner, who when I was growing up I saw him as one of the top players. And now playing him - I’m very happy with the results."

"He’s always going to be competing like that. I’m sure it was good for moral support from the club here and the DAC. It’s good to have that in a PSA event."

John White
 
"It’s an experience, that’s all you can say.
 
"It’s awesome playing against someone who was No. 1 in the world."
 

Draw & Results

In the evening’s best match, #4 qualifying seed Aziz was pushed to the limit by America’s top-ranked player, Chris Gordon, before winning in five games.

After trailing two games to one, Aziz fell 3-0 behind in the fourth. He managed to recover to lead 10-8, but Gordon tied the score at 10-all. The Egyptian won the next two points, turning the momentum for the rest of the match. Aziz stormed to a 6-0 lead in the final game and cruised to victory.

With Gordon's loss and Scott Handley's defeat of American teen John Fulham, the MCO lost two of America’s top young talents before the Main Draw. Fulham, a 19-year-old from Boston, led the favoured Handley, seeded two, in each game, but Handley prevailed in three.

Dutchman Bennett, at world #51 the top seeded qualifier, beat Australian Raj Nanda in a tense, physical battle. Both players repeatedly complained to the referee of blocking, ultimately resulting in a shove to Bennett from a frustrated Nanda.

"This has got to stop!" shouted Nanda as boos rained down from the DAC crowd. Bennett’s tactics worked as he defeated Nanda for the first time in his career.

The day's first match featured a battle of ex-Trinity College teammates with 24-year old Bernardo Samper beating Lefika Ragontse in straight games.
 

MCO Daily

Qualifying Finals:  Full Draw

Dylan Bennett (Ned) bt
Raj Nanda (Aus)
  11/7, 14/12, 1/11, 11/9

Bernardo Samper (Col) bt Lefika Ragonste (Bot)
  11/9, 11/8, 12/10

Badr Abdel Aziz (Swe)
bt Chris Gordon (Usa)
  11/5,7/11,14/16,12/10,11/5

Scott Handley (Eng) bt
John Fulham (Usa)
  11/8, 11/8, 11/3

"It was tough. I wasn't very confident playing in the first three and a half games.

"I started to push up more in the T, and I found that rhythm in the end of the fourth and again in the fifth.

"Chris didn't let me do that in the beginning."

"We used to have a few battles but I never won. I'm pretty happy to beat him for the first time, even if the match was a bit scrappy here and there."

Gordon needed four games to overcome English teenager Joe Lee, playing in his first pro event, and looked to be heading for a straight-games win before Lee fought back to take the third 17-15. Gordon eased away in the fourth to claim a match against Sweden's Omar Abdel Aziz in the finals.

"The third game was tough. I had a couple of match balls. A bit unlucky there, but you just have to accept it and move on. "He played really well. He made me win it."

"He came out firing in the fourth game and I didn't. "But that's what I have to learn at this level."

Two other Americans in the draw were not so lucky. Raj Nanda defeated ex-BAC assistant pro – and newly-minted American citizen - Rob McFadzean, and Beau River was upset by Botswana's Lefika Ragonste. Ragonste, 31, will play his former Trinity College teammate Bernardo Samper Friday. Samper, a Colombian, beat No. 9 seed Patrick Chifunda.

MCO Daily

Fulham in Five

Like Gordon, the young American Fulham - just 19 and headed to squash power Yale U. - won the first two games, but struggled to close against fellow American Ryan Donegan. Fulham finally prevailed in five games, 11/8 in the fifth.

The Bostonian advanced into the next round where England's Scott Handley awaits after a bye.

"I came out in the fifth just thinking one game left no matter what. "Gave it my all and luckily I pulled through."

Action Photos by Birmingham AC

Liam Kenny

Qualifying:

Finals, Fri 3rd:
Dylan Bennett (Ned) bt Raj Nanda (Aus)              11/7, 14/12, 1/11, 11/9
Bernardo Samper (Col) bt Lefika Ragonste (Bot)  11/9, 11/8, 12/10
Badr Abdel Aziz (Swe) bt Chris Gordon (Usa)       11/5, 7/11, 14/16, 12/10, 11/5
Scott Handley (Eng) bt John Fulham (Usa)            11/8, 11/8, 11/3

Round One, Thu 2nd:
Dylan Bennett (Ned)                                             bye
Raj Nanda (Aus) bt Rob McFadzean (Usa)               11/6, 11/9, 11/10(5-3)
Lefika Ragonste (Bot) bt Beau River (Usa)              7/11, 11/7, 11/6, 11/5
Bernardo Samper (Col) bt Patrick Chifunda (Zam)  11/9, 10/11(1-3), 11/8, 11/9
Christopher Gordon (Usa) bt Joe Lee (Eng)             11/9, 11/6, 10/11(5-7), 11/4
Badr Abdel Aziz (Swe) bt Rik Smet (Bel)                11/10(2-0), 11/6, 11/10(2-0)
John Fulham (Usa) bt Ryan Donegan (Usa)             11/10(5-3),11/9,8/11,2/11,11/8
Scott Handley (Eng)                                              bye

2005 Event