Canary Wharf Classic A Hot Ticket by Howard Harding 15 March 2012-
Peter Barker, runner-up to England team-mate Nick Matthew last year, is
aiming to go one better this year and win the Canary Wharf Classic for
the first time.
The PSA World Tour International 50 squash event, in its ninth year in
Canary Wharf in London, gets underway at East Wintergarden on Monday
following two days of qualifying at Wimbledon Racquets & Fitness
Club.
Londoner Barker, England's world number seven, is itching to get back
on court following treatment to a knee injury - and a shocking mix-up
over scans that almost resulted in him undergoing surgery.
The 28-year-old left-hander, the event's number three seed, said: "I
had to withdraw from the North American Open a few weeks ago and that's
only the second time in my whole career that I have had to pull out of
a tournament.
"I have had problems with my knee since playing in Hong Kong in
November last year. It finally came to a head in New York in January
when I played James Willstrop and the injury recurred. I had hoped that
a break over Christmas would help but it clearly did not and so I
booked myself in to see a sports doctor and have a scan.
"The diagnosis came back that I had a torn meniscus and was booked in
for surgery on the following Monday. On the Friday I got a call to say
that they had mixed up the scan results with someone else and the good
news was that I did not have a tear!
"There were other issues that were treatable with physiotherapy,
rehabilitation and strength conditioning exercises to realign my
kneecap.
"Thankfully, that process now means that my knee feels better than ever. Hopefully I can carry that fitness forward."
With many of the game's top stars, including Canary Wharf top seeds
Nick Matthew and James Willstrop, suffering recent injury problems,
Barker added: "To be honest, everyone is aware of the dangers in
playing a game like this. The priority has to be in managing your body.
That's a big factor all the time.
"You cannot be 100 per cent fit all the time but you are just trying to
get as close to 100 per cent as you can. You aim to peak for certain
tournaments and you know that you can't play in every one. Like I say,
you manage your body as best as you can."
Barker is looking forward to his comeback tournament and added: "The
work I have put in during the last three or four weeks has put me in
the best shape of my career. I have not had a great deal of squash in
that time but I am hoping that as the week goes on I can get better and
better.
"Looking at the draw, I am seeded to meet Nick in the semi-finals this
year - but I also face a tough quarter-final against the German number
one Simon Rosner, who is playing very well at the moment.
"As long as I am playing to my ability I will have a good crack at it
and aim to go one better than last year. Canary Wharf is such a special
tournament, one of the best in the world.
"I am hoping to get a lot of home support and would love to win it before I get too old!"
With Matthew seeded one and Willstrop two - a reverse of their
positions as world No2 and world No1, respectively - followed by
Barker, Daryl Selby and Adrian Grant, home fans will be hoping to cheer
an England victory.
However, number four seed Mohamed El Shorbagy leads a quartet of young
Egyptians into the draw at the spectacular East Wintergarden venue,
which is heading for another sell-out next week.
Tickets have been snapped for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but a few
dozen are available for Monday and Tuesday's first round action.
Shorbagy meets English wild card Joe Lee and his younger brother Marwan
El Shorbagy faces Tarek Momen in an all-Egyptian clash - with the
winner seeded to meet Willstrop in the quarter-finals.
However, Willstrop says he is not thinking about his seeded clash with
rival Matthew in next Friday's final. "I know squash fans like to talk
about our rivalry but all I think about is being able to beat the best
players on a consistent basis," said the 28-year-old from Leeds who
overtook Matthew to top the world rankings this month. "First of all I
have to plan for a very difficult first round match against my training
partner Saurav Ghosal, the Indian number one.
"I feel rested and rebooted following a nice three-week break after
winning the North American Open and I'm looking forward to Canary
Wharf. It's one of my favourite tournaments, with a great crowd and one
of the best venues in the world."
World champion and top seed Matthew meets Egyptian Mohd Ali Anwar Reda
on Monday as he launches his bid to win a hat-trick of titles. The
31-year-old from Sheffield beat Barker in last year's final and Gregory
Gaultier of France the year before - following a two-hour epic
semi-final against Willstrop.
1st round draw:
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY)
Daryl Selby (ENG) v Qualifier
Simon Rosner (GER) v Qualifier
[3] Peter Barker (ENG) v Qualifier
[4] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) v Joe Lee (ENG)
Adrian Grant (ENG) v Qualifier
Tarek Momen (EGY) v Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY)
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) v Saurav Ghosal (IND)