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Site updated on 02/07/2001
The CSFBdirect
Tournament of Champions 2001,
presented by NYSC Feb 3 - Feb 9 2001,
Grand Central Terminal, New York
Tournament of Champions quarterfinals, wednesday
can he do it again?
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS 2001
Ron Beck reporting from Grand Central Terminal Wednesday Feb 7. 2001.©
2001.
MATCH PREVIEW
THEIR GOALS
Jonathon Power seeks to win his fourth PSA
event in a row. Martin Heath seeks to reach
the TOC finals for the second year in a row. They are in each others pathway...
PAST MEETINGS
Power and Heath have collided (literally and figuratively) with regularity
for the past two seasons. The mini-rivalry started at the British Open in
Scotland
in 1999. There, Martin Heath was eager to gain stature versus his more-widely-publicized
Scottish rival Peter Nicol. To do so he would have to get past Power... but
he couldn't. Afterwords, Heath would say, "I tried to beat Jonathon Power
at his own game... I had the brashness to think I could do it, but I couldn't.
You have to hand it to him, he was better than me out there today..."
(left unsaid was Heath's thoughts that he planned to beat Power one day soon.
Heath had his chance one month later,
last year at the TOC in New York. They met
in last year's TOC finals, with Power again managing Heath's game with
seeming ease. It was a fine match, excellent squash,
but the outcome was not really in doubt.
Power has been able to handle Heath subsequently in Floida at the PNC Investment Open, and in Canada, at the YMG Classic, where Power and Heath faced each other on Power's home territory.
SPECTATOR FRIENDLY TACTICS
Both Martin Heath and Jonathon Power pursue an attacking style of play.
That's great for the game and the spectators, because their meetings are usually
full of motion, excitement, tension, and energy. Both players know the other
is going to do something with the ball when it finds its way into the front
court; but neither is afraid to attack up front. Power plays for the counterpunch
- he attacks and waits for the immediate opportunity for the followup counter-attack.
Heath isn't afraid of that style - he's attacking too, planning to outdo Power especially in the front backhand corner. In Scotland, in '99, things came to a head with Heath shoving Power across the court in frustration, but since then they have stuck to squash and have provided high excitement for the crowd at each meeting.
All materials on these pages, copyright © 2001 by SquashTalk.com, Concord MA USA. Materials may not be copied or used without the explicit permission of Squashtalk (permission@squashtalk.com)
