For Thursday's Press Release click HERE

Press Release:

St. Louis MPM Open

Squash Tournament

- October 1, 2004 - Missouri Athletic Club - St. Louis Missouri - USA

Quarter Final Matches

A packed house was treated to an exciting night of squash as Power, Darwish, Kneipp and Shabana advance to the semi-finals.

Recap:

Jonathon Power (Canada) Def. Anthony Ricketts (Australia) 3 games to 1

11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 11-2

52 Minutes
Photos HERE

At times this match appeared to be more of a wrestling match than a squash match. Power and Ricketts bumped and battled one another through out. At one point they went to the floor on top of one another. Ricketts complained to referee Simon Parke that Power was bumping him excessively, to which Parke replied "I know, I played him last night" "Play on" said Parke.

Game one was close through out with Power prevailing at 11- 9.

The second game was the most physical of the match with both players requesting lets and seeking appeals from any one that would listen. In this, the longest game of the match, Power maintained his composure in spite of the physical play to win the game

11-7.

Powers became frustrated with his own shot making in game 3 and appeared to almost deliberately bury several balls into the tin mid way through the game. Clearly his head was not in game 3 and he surrendered it 11-6.

Powers proved why he is a champion in game 4, totally dominating the play and advancing to the Semi-Finals with a game 4 score of 11-2

Jonathon Power will face Karim Darwish of Egypt on Saturday in the Semi Finals at the Missouri Athletic Club

Karim Darwish (Egypt) Def. Graham Ryding (Canada) 3 games to 2

11-6, 4-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5

60 Minutes

Darwish and Ryding gave the fans a treat with a very stylized match featuring a broad array of shots. Several drop rally's and boasts for winners showed of the tremendous touch of these two players and their willingness to play an extremely aggressive game.

Darwish and Ryding traded games in a very even contest to send the match to a decisive game 5. But in the end Darwish controlled the tempo of game 5 and applied pressure to Ryding in a game that featured multiple let calls. Finally, an unforced error from Ryding at 9-5 put Darwish in position to close out the game 11-5 and move into the semi final.

Darwish will face Jonathon Power Saturday in the Semi final. (A must see match)

Joseph Kneipp (Australia) Def. Greg Gaultier (France) 3 games to 0

11-7, 11-5, 11-2

30 minutes

This match was almost over before it started. Joseph Kneipp dispatched of France's Gaultier in 30 minutes.

Gaultier put up a strong opening game but the match was never really close, with Kneipp playing at his best. Kneipp totally controlled the pace and at 6-2 in the 3^rd game it became clear that Gaultier wanted off of the court. The final points lasted only a couple of minutes and Kneipp eased into the semis

Joseph Kneipp will face Amr Shabana (Egypt) in the Semi Finals on Saturday

Amr Shabana (Egypt) Def. Mohammed Abbas (Egypt) 3 games to 2

11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 10-11 (1-3), 11-5

75 Minutes

A great match featuring fellow Egyptians truly captured the crowd. This match was either playerÕs to win all the way to the end. No one was the clear dominator as the game four 11-11 tie suggests. However, Shabana ran to an early lead in the 5^th and deciding game and never looked back. Shabana took game five by a score of 11-5 by virtue of some incredibly athletic diving gets and lightning quick changes of direction, and earned a spot in the Semi finals against Australian Joseph Kneipp.

Semi Final Match Ups

Jonathon Powers (Canada) vs. Karim Darwish (Egypt)

Joseph Kneipp (Australia) vs. Amr Shabana (Egypt)

For full tournament coverage and complete brackets please go to www.stlouisopen.com