Peter Nicol, the 30 year old former world champion and number one, showed he was still one of the most potent forces in squash by winning the 2004 Tournament of Champions title without losing a game in four matches. He narrowly stopped John White from marring the record by winning the second game of the final 17-15, the closest any of his opponents in New York had come to taking a game.

White had been playing near faultless squash up until the final, showing the sort of discipline badly lacking in his early years. But Nicol's determination, accuracy and court sense gave White a bad case of the jitters and as he tried to make his winners even more precise to prevent Nicol from picking them up, he committed errors and errors in abundance.

QUESTIONS ON NICOL'S HEALTH ANSWERED

The first game was long, the sort of length that White would have welcomed because of recent questions regarding Nicol's health and fitness. The rallies were intelligent without being boring and White played well -until it came to his attempted winners and then it was disaster for the lanky Australian. Even simple drops at the front, with no pressure from Nicol, were hitting the tin. White was trying boasts from the back of the court - a shot he says he never tries - and they were all ending up on the tin, making the electronic detector go into its all-flashing, all buzzing routine. At the end of 23 minutes White had committed eight errors, a generous contribution to Nicol's 15-10 win.