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Super Series Finals Manchester 2007 SUPER SERIES FINALS MANCHESTER 2007 SOUVENIR NATIONAL SQUASH CENTRE, MANCHESTER PROGRAMME £3 THURSDAY 9TH TO SUNDAY 12TH AUGUST 2007 AMR SHABANA DAVID PALMER GREGORY GAULTIER THIERRY LINCOU JAMES WILLSTROP RAMY ASHOUR NICK MATTHEW KARIM DARWISH 2007 ATCO SUPER SERIES FINALS WELCOME WELCOME TO THE 2007 ATCO SUPER SERIES FINALS Following an unprecedented run of We are proud to welcome you to the presentations the Super Series Finals has ATCO Super Series Finals – Manchester changed hands to be promoted by Ziad Al- 2007 staged on the stunning all-glass Turki of the ATCO Group and Paul Walters show court at the National Squash Centre of internationalSPORTgroup™. This in Manchester. wonderful squash tournament pits the The Super Series Finals is without question world best eight players from the previous one of the most important events on the season’s PSA Super Series rankings into a men’s professional World Tour and we are unique format that, over the few days of fierce competition, thrilled to be promoting the championships provides the Super Series Finals Champion. as part of this seven-year agreement with PSA thanks and acknowledges the increasing support of the the Professional Squash Association. ATCO Group in mens professional squash, and we also owe Squash can not afford for a tournament as a debt to Manchester City Council for their late provision of the important as the Super Series Finals to be charismatic Sportcity squash venue for the finals. This venue is lost, and since the announcement that this synonymous with the best presentation in world squash and year’s event, originally scheduled to be held I am sure the ATCO Super Series Finals here this time will be in May at the Broadgate Arena in London, had been cancelled, no exception. we have been working very hard to put in place a solid and Finally, I hope that audiences who come to support the Finals sustainable platform from which the championships can prosper will see and appreciate the skills of the eight contenders. More of over the short, medium and long-term. a curtain raiser than a season ender, the ATCO Super Series The National Squash Centre, with its unrivalled reputation for Finals - Manchester 2007 represents the starting gun for another hosting major squash championships, is the ideal venue to kick ferocious season of professional squash where only the most start a very exciting period for the event and our special thanks carefully prepared players will thrive and increase their rankings. go to Manchester City Council for their support, without which Gawain Briars this years event would not be possible. CEO, PSA We are confident that our unique partnership will inject new lifeblood into the championships and through major events such On behalf of Manchester it gives me great as these we hope to help the sport reach new audiences, and pleasure to welcome you to the ATCO Super show that squash is one of the most exciting participation and Series Finals - Manchester 2007, here at the spectator sports in the world. National Squash Centre, Sportcity. This year’s championships promise to be one of the most We are particularly delighted to exciting and eagerly contested in Super Series Finals history welcome another international squash and will hopefully provide the perfect event to launch the new event to Sportcity. squash season. As part of the Council’s major event strategy, Manchester is Ziad Al-Turki positioning itself as a world renowned destination for sporting Vice-President of the ATCO Group events and the coming years are set to be an exciting time for sport in the City. In 2008 alone, the City is hosting a series of Paul Walters six major events including World Championships in Cycling, internationalSPORTgroup™ Limited Swimming and Squash. This not only supports the profile and economic growth of he City but also ensures that real benefits are delivered to the residents through our structure of sports development programmes. Manchester is committed to developing squash and in partnership with England Squash we are delivering a city- wide programme of activities enabling Manchester’s clubs, schools and communities to access opportunities to compete, volunteer, officiate and coach. Finally, may I take this opportunity to wish all competitors the very best of luck for the event and hope that all spectators enjoy what promises to be an exciting four days of squash. Councillor Richard Leese Leader of Manchester City Council 2007 ATCO SUPER SERIES FINALS OFFICIAL PROGRAMME | 03 PSA SUPER SERIES FINALS 2006 REVIEW SUPER Anthony Ricketts secured his first Super Series Finals title with a resilient and determined 11-7 6-11 11-4 11-10(2-0) victory over England’s Lee Beachill at the Broadgate Arena in London, England. In a repeat of the pair’s first qualifying round match, in which Beachill fought back from 1/2 down to beat his Australian rival for the first time in three career World Tour meetings, Ricketts started confidently, and encouraged by a captivated sell-out crowd, the sport’s most forceful player imposed his presence to claim an impressive 62-minute victory. A player line-up of Amr Shabana, Thierry Lincou, David Palmer, Anthony Ricketts, Peter Nicol, Lee Beachill, James Willstrop and Nick Matthew, all of whom had qualified by virtue of the performances in major events in 2005, were split into two round robin groups over the first three days with the two group winners and runners-up qualifying for the semi-finals. Despite his loss to Beachill on the opening evening, which saw him surrender the top place in their qualification group, Ricketts grew in confidence as the championships progressed. Renowned for his aggressive and uncompromising style of play, the Australian reached the semi-finals with victories over James Willstrop and Peter Nicol, whom he defeated 9-11 11-10(3-1) 11-10(4-2) 11-5 in a punishing 68-minute second group match - a result which brought to a close Nicol’s eleventh and final appearance in the end of season event. The talented and charismatic Egyptian Amr Shabana had finished top of his qualification group, with wins over Thierry Lincou, David Palmer and Nick Matthew. However he had no answer to a determined and focused Ricketts who completed a remarkable 11-7 11-5 11-7 semi-final victory over the World No.1 in just thirty-one minutes. 04 | 2007 ATCO SUPER SERIES FINALS OFFICIAL PROGRAMME R SERIES FINALS PSA Super Series Finals, Broadgate Arena, London, England. 8 – 12 May 2006 Final: [2] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [7] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-7, 6-11, 11-4, 11-10(2-0) 2007 ATCO SUPER SERIES FINALS OFFICIAL PROGRAMME | 05 ZIAD AL-TURKI Ziad Al-Turki had to be a visionary. Coming from a country with almost no squash courts it wasn’t possible to be anything else when your favourite sport was squash. ZIADAL-TURKI By Richard Eaton Which makes it all the more remarkable, that in so short a time Ziad can attempt this partly through the knowledge and he has become the most important person in the sport. If you influence acquired through his business – which, with twenty-six don’t believe that, consider this. different divisions, provides services for oil and gas. But his high- powered plans contrast with his low-key introduction to the sport. People know Ziad as the man who has made the $210,000 Saudi International the world’s richest tournament, but few are aware “I started as a kid when my uncle built a squash court. He had of his passion and drive, not to create an iconic tournament for his house in a square. There was nothing correct about it: the his own pleasure and self gratification, but to help the sport floor was cement, the walls weren’t straight, and the dimensions achieve a higher profile and greater share of media coverage. weren’t right. But we just started playing anyway,” he said. More recently he has also become notable for having rescued, There were no coaches in Saudi Arabia, but Ziad still played for with Paul Walters of internationalSPORTgroup™, the Super two or three years before going school in Connecticut, which is Series Finals, and as the event is the showpiece climax on the where, he says, he first realised what a squash court should be men’s international circuit, much of the World Tour’s status has like. So when he returned home the first thing he wanted to do been rescued too. was build one. Through major events such as the Saudi International and “And then I realised why he couldn’t hit ball properly - because Super Series Finals, Ziad hopes to help the sport reach new I needed glasses!!” he says with nice self-deprecation. audiences, and to show that squash is one of the most exciting Ziad wants not only to develop the World Tour, but to alter his participation and spectator sports in the world. country’s image. To achieve his vision, Ziad believes that many areas need “Once people just thought of Saudi Arabia in terms of oil. Now addressing – a more stable World Tour, a better ordered they think of terrorists,” he says. calendar, and stronger commercial support, so that the year does not finish with exhausted and injured players. “But we are twenty-eight million Saudis and the rest of us are not like that. We have victims by terrorists the same as the rest “I’ve been talking to some big companies,” he says. “I’m trying of the people. Talk about September 11th; many times before the to get a World Tour sponsor to support the major tournaments attack on the US we were under threat.
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