Derek Ryan reached the biggest final of his professional career last night by beating Belgium's Stefan Casteleyn in straight games in the semi-finals of the Kuwait Open.
The Dubliner, ranked 17 in the world, has now guaranteed himself a place in the top 16 when the new rankings are issued by the Professional Squash Association in December. A place in the top 16 ensures automatic entry to the main draw of the major tournaments. Ryan is almost certain, too, of improving on his best ever ranking of 15, which he reached two years ago.
The Irish champion overcame the Belgian number one, who won their last meeting in January's Greenwich Open, in 63 minutes. "I was actually very relaxed and just knew I had to focus really hard on the big points, and in the end I won most of them," said Ryan. "They were three close sets and I just made sure I did nothing silly."
"I was very wary of him because he beat me last time we met and he's one of the quickest guys on the circuit. Tactically, though, I played quite a good game against him and mentally I was very, very strong. I played the right shots at the right time. I'm playing well right now, feeling confident and looking forward to the final."
And in the final Ryan will meet world number one, Peter Nicol of Scotland - who happens to be his room-mate this week, in their Kuwait City hotel. "I suppose I have nothing to lose against Peter, but the fact we're sharing the same room is a bit of a nightmare. If I don't sleep well during the night he's going to know, which is not what you want. There again, if he gets sick I'll know all about it."
So, how does he feel about playing Peter? "I can't say, he's standing about two foot away from me at the minute - make it up." Put him on there. Hello, is that Peter Nicol? "Yeah." Is Derek Ryan going to thrash you tomorrow? "Ah, what d'you think I'm going to say to the Irish press?" Be diplomatic and say there's a very good chance of that happening. "Okay. There's a very good chance of that happening," said the ever-diplomatic world number one.
What kind of a room-mate is Derek? "He's terrible. Smelly feet . . . no, he's great. I didn't say it to him but at the start of the week when we moved in to together, I had a funny feeling we'd play each other in the final - I'm a bit of a witch that way. We're both very relaxed and once we get on court we'll give it everything. It should be a good final."
Ryan has only beaten Nicol once in six meetings, at the 1995 Pakistan Open, and lost to the Scot a fortnight ago, in straight sets, in the second round of the Al-Ahram International in Cairo. But, whatever the outcome of today's final, it's already been one of the best weeks of Derek Ryan's professional career.
Kuwait Open (at Kuwait City): Semi-finals: D Ryan (Ire) bt S Casteleyn (Bel) 15-12, 17-15, 15-13; P Nicol (Scot) bt A Khan (Pak) 1512, 12-15, 15-8, 15-10.
This weekend's Club Orange Westwood Open squash championships provide the final chance for the country's leading women squash players to force their way on to the Irish team for next month's World Championships in Germany.
The Open is a compulsory tournament for selection for the women's World Championships and the team will be announced on Sunday evening, after the finals. Madeline Perry, Anna McGeever, Laura Mylotte and Eleanor Lapthorne, the top four seeds at the Westwood club in Dublin, are the leading contenders for a place on the team, but will face a strong challenge from Olivia French and Jenny Dillon, as well as promising youngsters Aisling Blake and Fiona Parker, who complete the eight-player line-up at the tournament. Seven of the top 10 in the men's Irish rankings have also entered the Open, with only Derek Ryan, Willie Hosey and John Rooney absent from the draw.
Steve Richardson and Maurice Collins are seeded to meet in the final - fellow internationals Chris Collins and Patrick Foster are seeded three and four, respectively.
