As the millennium brgins for real this time (where were all those end-of-millennium celebrations, anyway? Was everyone still tired from last year?), it’s that time again. Time to review the last year in squash and pick a few highlights. For the year 2000, there were seven of them, and – not that you need reminding – feel free to disagree.
1. A Really Open British
Over the past few years, it would be fairly safe to predict a showdown between the world’s top two players, Peter Nicol and Jon Power, in the finals of any major tournament. But 2000’s British – the biggest of the major tournaments – championship match featured two players who weren’t even seeded in the top eight. Nicol had to withdraw before the tournament began because of a strange lower leg pain, but Power lost in the quarterfinals to David Palmer, who lost to eventual winner, David Evans, in the semis. Evans’s opponent, Paul Price, got to the finals via a one-point win in the semis over Joseph Kneipp. Can you say parity? Somewhere, Pete Rozelle is smiling.
2. Latasha Khan Takes Title Number Two
You have to say this for Latasha: she just keeps coming back. A finalist for the women’s title every year since 1997, she took her second title this past year. Who won the other two years? Demer Holleran. And with Demer’s retirement after her title in 1999, Latasha is the unquestionable queen of US squash. A class act on and off the court, Latasha is also ranked in the top twenty in the world with her sights set higher.
3. Egypt Continues its Rise
It was almost a storybook ending in 1999 when Egypt won the World Championships, for Egypt is the hotbed of squash in the world right now. But it looks as though it really may be a storybook beginning. Omneya Abdel Kawy has been the dominant junior woman on the planet in every age group in which she has competed, and this year she showed that she may the player of the future in the open category as she made the quarters of the British Open. On the junior men’s side, the dominant junior in the world is Karim Darwish. Already he is ranked #50 in the world in the open division, and he won the 2000 junior world’s without losing a game. In 1990, Egypt was not in the top ten in either the men’s or the women’s sides – now it looks like the strong fan base is going to have something to cheer about for a long time to come.
4. Marty Clark Wins Again – Surprising Everyone Except Himself
“It ain’t bragging if you can back it up,” said Yogi Berra. Marty Clark told people at the Tournament of Champions last year to “bet on me” at the Nationals. Some eyes rolled, for everyone knew that Damian Walker was going to be eligible to play for the first time. But Marty backed it up by beating Walker in straight games. Four titles in six years, the highest world ranking ever by a US man, and a full-time medical school student… I guess he isn’t bragging: the guy is good.
5. The US Junior Men Start to Close the Gap
Taking a lead from the 1999 Men’s team, the junior men raised some eyebrows in 2000 when they managed to finish 17th and beat New Zealand on the way. Seventeenth may not sound great, but our senior and junior men have been far behind for a long time, and this team of Julian Illingworth, Pat Molloy, Richard Repetto and Michael Blumberg showed that we may be closing the gap. Coupled with Will Broadbent’s remarkable win in the Australian Under 16s, suddenly the US future in squash is starting to look bright.
6. The US Hall of Fame is Created to Honor The Greats
As the US started to make a move in international prominence during the year 2000, Mac Brand, Charlie Kingsley, Nick Lapore, Steve Park and Kathy Carson were working hard to establish the US Squash Hall of Fame and Squash Museum. By all accounts, the inauguration was emotional and incredibly successful. How appropriate that 2000 was both the start of a new future and the time to remember past.
7. The Penn Women Go Undefeated
One of the surefire future members of the Hall of Fame is Demer Holleran. The winner of 16 national singles and 11 national doubles titles retired after her 1999 singles championship and decided to devote herself to coaching. So what did she do in 2000? She guided the University of Pennsylvania women’s team that she has led for the past eight years to its first-ever undefeated season and national championship. The lady doesn’t know how not to win.
Whether 2000 was the end or the start of the new millennium, it is clear that it was a time of transition. Let’s hope that the success of Egypt and the US juniors augurs well for squash’s transition into the new age.
