“I sent a text message to Geoff Hunt in Australia this morning to say that I would do my best to bring his trophy back to him,” said the 26-year-old from Sydney of his Australian Institute coach, the seven-times winner of the title more than two decades ago. “Without doubt it’s the best moment I’ve had in my career” added Ricketts, after his 55 minute 11-7 11-9 11-7 victory, which extends the time that the trophy has been in Australian hands to four of the last five years. “The first two games were pretty crucial but I felt stronger as the match went on.
The British Open is the event that all squash players want to win – it means the world to me to have done it” explained the fiery Australian, who was out of the game for more than six months last year following knee surgery. Willstrop, the former World Junior Champion who is widely tipped to be England’s next World No.1, was full of praise for his opponent: “We have a lot of respect for each other, but physically he’s an animal, which I mean in the nicest possible way” added the 22-yearold Englishman.
Both finalists had endured strenuous semi-final workouts; Ricketts removing England's twice former champion Peter Nicol and Willstrop, becoming the youngest player to reach the final since the great Jansher Khan in 1987, after defeating Canada’s 1999 champion Jonathon Power.
In one of the most dramatic matches ever seen in the championships illustrious history, Peter Nicol narrowly failed in his bid to reach his sixth final when he lost out to Ricketts in a 95-minute marathon which had the crowd on the edges of their seats. Nicol had reached the last four after upsetting France’s World No.1 Thierry Lincou in the quarter-finals, but the 32- year-old, conceding six years to his opponent, showed little sign of fatigue as he built up a 2/1 lead. Ricketts however, piled on the pressure in the fourth to level the match with the loss of just two points as the veteran campaigner began to labour. Despite being 1-4 and then 5-9 down,
Nicol refused to give up – in one rally twice having to pick himself up from the floor to continue the fight back against the Australian as he levelled to nine-all. The Englishman saved one match ball to force the decider into a tie-break, but Ricketts ultimately prevailed to reach the final for the first time. The second semi-final was just as entertaining as the first. Power, the 31- year-old from Montreal led Willstrop throughout the first game and had three game balls in the second before his younger opponent fought back to draw level. In just five minutes, Power reclaimed the advantage to move 2/1 ahead but the former World Junior Champion stuck to his task and after 77 minutes secured a magnificent 5-11 11-10(2-0) 3-11 11-6 11-7 upset over the World No.2. Willstrop summarised his ambitions of capturing the world’s most prestigious title when after his remarkable semi-final win he proclaimed: “One of my main targets this year is to win a major – and it can't get much more major than this!”
However, in the end Ricketts’ greater physical capacity and reserves proved crucial in denying the young Englishman his dream.