SQUASH - British Open Draws

[Michael Hansen, DSqF]

SRA SQUASH NEWS

1998 BRITISH SQUASH OPEN ATTRACTS WORLD'S TOP PLAYERS

The world's top sixteen men and women will occupy the sixteen seeding
positions in the 1998 British Open Squash Championships, such is the quality
of entries in the draw which is announced today (16 March) by the Squash
Rackets Association (SRA).

The first round of the ś86,000 British Open, presented by the Mike Corby
Group in association with Hi-Tec Sports, will be played at Lambs Club in
London on
30 March, before the event moves onto the spectacular all-transparent
Perspex court at the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham from 1st
April
through to the finals on Sunday 5th April.

Pakistan's Jansher Khan will be seeking his seventh successive title in
Birmingham, but for the first time since 1990 will not be No1 seed - a
position which is taken by Scotland's Peter Nicol, Khan's successor to the
No1 PSA world ranking last month. Nicol is drawn to face a qualifier in his
opening match, while Jansher, the No2 seed who beat the Scot in a epic
126-minute five-game final last year, will meet Belgium's Stefan Casteleyn.
Nicol is expected to meet England captain and No13 seed Chris Walker in the
second round in a repeat of their encounter this weekend in the final of the
Austrian Open in Linz, won 3-1 by the British Open favourite. Walker's
England team-mate Simon Parke, the British champion who is the 7th seed, is
in Nicol's quarter; while world champion Rodney Eyles, the fourth seed, is
expected to meet the 24-year-old Scot in the semi-finals. In the opening
round, however, the Australian faces Egypt's rising star Amr Shabana, the
18-year-old world No23 making his British Open debut, and then has a likely
second round confrontation with Mark Cairns, the Oxfordshire-based No16 seed
who dismissed Eyles last week in Linz.

British interest in the top half of the draw will also focus on
Lincolnshire's
Mark Chaloner, the No9 seed who defeated Nicol to reach the British
Nationals' final last month. He faces France's Julien Bonetat, while
Welshman Alex
Gough, the new world No6, is drawn to meet a qualifier this year, yet failed
to qualify himself in '97.

In the bottom half of the men's draw, Canada's No3 seed Jonathon Power will
be making his first appearance this year after injuring his ankle last
month.
He plays Essex's Tony Hands in the opening round, and is then scheduled to
face
11th seed Del Harris, also from Essex, before meeting Egypt's world No5
Ahmed Barada in the last eight. His anticipated semi-final against Jansher
Khan
will be their first meeting since December's Mahindra International semi-
final, which Khan won 3-1.

A notable domestic duel will take place between Nottingham's 1995 British
Open finalist Peter Marshall, seeded No12 and making his first tournament
appearance this year, and London's Paul Johnson, the left-hander who
defeated Simon Parke in the Austrian Open.

In the women's draw, defending champion Michelle Martin will also be the No2
seed - with twice world champion, world No1 and fellow Australian Sarah
Fitz-Gerald seeded to win the title for the first time. Fitz-Gerald, 29,
from
Melbourne, faces a qualifier in the first round, leading to a likely
quarter-
final meeting with compatriot Liz Irving, the No8 seed who has played in
every British Open since 1984.

Norfolk's No4 seed Cassie Jackman shares the top half of the draw with Fitz-
Gerald, while her close English rival Sue Wright, the three-times British
National champion who is seeded No3, is in Michelle Martin's half. Wright's
first round opponent is Vanessa Atkinson, from the Netherlands, while Martin
must first overcome Kent's Stephanie Brind if she is to win her sixth
successive British Open title in Birmingham.

A record 450 players from 34 countries will compete in the two main events
and ten age-group categories of the 1998 British Open. One of the sport's
most
legendary figures will be participating in this year's first Men's Over-60
tournament: Pakistan's Hashim Khan, who won a record seven British Open
men's titles between 1951 and 1958, and six Over-55 titles from 1978-83, is
81
years old.

Men's draw
[1] Peter Nicol (SCO) v Qualifier
[13] Chris Walker (Essex) v Derek Ryan (IRL)
[7] Simon Parke (Yorks) v Qualifier
[9] Mark Chaloner (Lincs) v Julien Bonetat (FRA)
[4] Rodney Eyles (AUS) v Amr Shabana (EGY)
[16] Mark Cairns (Oxon) v Amir Wagih (EGY)
[6] Alex Gough (WAL) v Qualifier
[15] Martin Heath (SCO) v Qualifier
[10] Dan Jenson (AUS) v Qualifier
[5] Ahmed Barada (EGY) v Graham Ryding (CAN)
[11] Del Harris (Essex) v Qualifier
[3] Jonathon Power (CAN) v Tony Hands (Essex)
[12] Peter Marshall (Notts) v Paul Johnson (Kent)
[8] Anthony Hill (AUS) v Qualifier
[14] Byron Davis (AUS) v Qualifier
[2] Jansher Khan (PAK) v Stefan Casteleyn (BEL)

Women's draw
[1] Sarah Fitz-Gerald (AUS) v Qualifier
[15] Robyn Cooper(AUS) v Rebecca Macree (Essex)
[8] Liz Irving (AUS) v Qualifier
[11] Fiona Geaves (Glos) v Rachael Grinham (AUS)
[4] Cassie Jackman (Norfolk) v Toni Weeks (AUS)
[14] Philippa Beams (NZL) v Qualifier
[6] Sabine Schoene (GER) v Jenny Tranfield (Yorks)
[13] Leilani Joyce (NZL) v Maha Zein (EGY)
[12] Claire Nitch (RSA) v Tracey Shenton (Staffs)
[7] Suzanne Horner (Yorks) v Qualifier
[16] Natalie Grainger (RSA) v Qualifier
[3] Sue Wright (Kent) v Vanessa Atkinson (NED)
[10] Jane Martin (Northumbria) v Qualifier
[5] Carol Owens (AUS) v Qualifier
[9] Linda Charman (Sussex) v Qualifier
[2] Michelle Martin (AUS) v Stephanie Brind (Kent)

- ENDS -
For further information: HOWARD HARDING ASSOCIATES
The Old Bakery, South Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 7LB
Tel: 01737-243333 Fax: 01737-222787 Home: 01737-222425
SRA 285 Email: How...@aol.com 16 March 1998