Squash Magazine

In Search of No. 1 Could the New Era Be a Revolving Door? By Martin Heath

Since the professional game began there has always been one major player who dominates their era. Their subsequent departure from the tour doesn’t necessarily open the floodgates for all the eager hopefuls, but usually heralds in a new champion to dominate the next era. Given this seemingly formulaic trend, what has happened to the current world rankings? So far this year there have been four players leapfrogging each other to that coveted No. 1 spot, and the current top nine holds six former No. 1s. Is this trend going to continue or is this just the shakeup before the new leader takes the baton? And if so, who is that leader going to be? Now at the end of the Peter Nicol era, I believe we have found another leader; perhaps not a dominant one, though a leader nonetheless. Lee Beachill has cut his teeth on the pro circuit for a number of years, spending many years hovering in and out of the top 10. Now his promise has come through and out of the blue he has taken hold of the No. 1 spot, clinching four major titles along the way. Like his predecessor Nicol, Beachill doesn’t possess devastating shot-making ability or the powerful strides of a Brett Martin or Jonathon Power, though he places the ball further into the front and back corners than anybody else and consequently doesn’t need to get embroiled in physical or shot-making battles. He also possesses a naturally deceptive delay, which lends an uneasy ambiguity to his shots and makes whatever shot he hits all the more effective. His game is an exercise in simplicity, which will naturally give his performances the consistency a No. 1 needs. His tight loop lengths cut into the back court, staying closer to the backwall; he volleys his opponent’s loose shots short with similar slice; then he uses fast footwork and deception to hold and flick the ball to a winner. Rocket science it is not, though he is a great example to aspiring juniors of how to play pure positional squash without turning it into a wrestling match. The other obvious immediate contenders for the No. 1 position are David Palmer, Thierry Lincou and Nicol. It is certainly possible for Palmer or Lincou to take over the reins for a while since they are such strong, commanding athletes. Their downside is that both push the ball rather than cut or slice it, and as such they are unable to drag their opponents into the corners as much as Beachill does. Peter Nicol also used this intelligent, sheathed sword kind of combat, which allowed him to defeat stronger, more powerful athletes. I don’t think, at 31, he would be too upset with me for saying that he is nearing the end of his career and so can only be considered a threat for the very immediate future. The same applies for Power. A truly extraordinary talent and one of the best players ever, he may still win the odd tournament here and there for the next 18 months and will do justice to his talent before he retires, though his body, now at age 30, may break down too many times for his liking and so I don’t consider him a threat to regain his No. 1 ranking. I would love to be proved wrong. So who else is standing in the wings? Who can challenge the consistency and simplicity of Beachill’s game? Emerging from an ever-growing pack, there are Frenchmen, Englishmen, Australians, Egyptians and Malaysians. I can see Beachill being beaten occasionally by the silky movement and shot-making prowess of Karim Darwish, the power and speed of Gregory Gaultier, the manic machine-gun frenzy of Anthony Ricketts, or the beautiful strokes and positional play of James Willstrop, though for the most part I can’t see any of these guys challenging the consistency of Beachill over the next four years. Sitting here writing the prognosis for the next era, I can’t help but feel that we are missing one major challenger: Stewart Boswell. He emerged at the time when Nicol and Power were still dominant and Palmer was making a breakthrough. He put all his energy into beating these guys who weren’t yet ready to leave their perch, his body broke down with the effort, and a slightly less severe version in the form of Lee Beachill broke through in what must seem to Boswell like an usurping of his rightful crown. The same happened to the great Peter Marshall in 1995 when he succumbed to the intensity and effort of toppling Jansher Khan. He was struck down with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and left the way open for Nicol to sweep up the pieces. Perhaps there has to be a fall guy for every era, and it seems as though it is the quiet, unassuming Boswell that bears the burden of this one.