Number 2 Beats Number 1...
Dec 3, 2004, Colin McQuillan Reporting from Doha for SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004;

[Draw/Results]                                            [also Womens quarters from Doha]
Lincou Gets Big Win over Beachill

Lee Beachill came up short against Thierry Lincou. Photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

Tonight, Lee Beachill faced his big moment, after seeing the British Open three weeks ago slip away into the hands of David Palmer. Beachill was facing Thierry Lincou, who had the hot hand after a great performance last week in Toronto.

Thierry Lincou, the 28-year-old Franco-Chinese from the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, last night became the first French player to win a World Squash Championship when he defeated the top seeded Lee Beachill of England 5-11 11-2 2-11 11-10 (2-0) 11-8 in the 83 minute final of the Qatar Men’s World Squash Open in Doha.

The first man to shake his hand off the court was Jahangir Khan, the President of the World squash federation who was six times a world champion and ten times a British Open Champion for Pakistan in the 1980s. The championsjhip was launched in 1976 with the first four titles going to Geoff Hunt of Australia. Jahangir took six and his Pakistani compatriot Jansher Khan took over to accumulate eight. Rodney Eyles of Australia won in1997, Jonathon Power of Canada in 1998. Peter Nicol won for Scotland in 1999, David Palmer for Australia in 2002 and Amr Shaban for Egypt in 2003.

Beachill was the first Englishman to be top seeded for the title and there were moments in the fourth game, when Beachill led 6-4 and then 10-9 that it seemed he would become the first English winner of the title. But the fast and accurate French second seed produced a supremely measured forehand delivery from midcourt into space on the lefthand side of the court to save the matchball and then took the tiebreak with a forehand drop shot directly into the top righthand nick and a backhand drive into the deep lefthand corner.

Thierry Lincou "commandeered the court". Photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

In the fifth it was Lincou, the most frequent winner on the PSA World Tour since the men’s professional game changed to a new 11 point scoring system in August, who commanded the court, driving Beachill down from the center of a court that notoriously demands command of the front and dictating the shape of the play while the top seed ran with gradually increasing desperation in search of another winning edge.

Beachill took an early initiative in the fifth game but it was Lincou who increasingly looked the stronger as he moved up court to launch an early ball attack that carried him from 4-5 to 9-6, with four Beachill errors in the count, and then to 10-7 with another of the precision backhand drives perfectly into the deep left corner that are almost becoming his hallmark. It was almost inevitable that the last point of a magnificent final would come from a tinned error, backhand straight into the middle of sounding board, from the frustrated Englishman.

“In the vital parts of the match we were rarely more than a couple of points apart,” Beachill said. “I thought we both played well, but Thierry played the big points just a bit better that me.

“I am furious to have got so close and not won the world title, but I think I did everything I could and didn’t do much that was wrong. It just wasn’t quite enough in the end.”

Lincou, who came close to the game’s greatest title last year when he narrowly lost the final in Lahore to Egypt’s Amr Shabana, said he was determined that he would not repeat that disappointment. “I had the same trouble in the final as in the semi-final with Graham Ryding. I could not take the front court enough in the early part of the match so I had to return to basics of line and length to the deep court until the opportunities began to return later to mix front court attack in with the deeper approach.

“This is my best moment in the game. The first French World Squash Champion. That is something.”

Qatar Men's World Open Squash Championship
Doha, Qatar

Final Results:

[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [1] Lee Beachill (ENG) 5-11 11-2 2-11 11-10(2-0) 11-8

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