21 Mar 05 - Whirlwind White Wins at the Wharf

John White

Prince squash star John White produced a phenomenal recovery to beat Australia’s world No6 Anthony Ricketts to win the ISS Canary Wharf Classic in England.

The event, in its second year in the heart of London’s Docklands, attracted a star-studded field featuring eight of the world's top 11 men.

White, 31, fought back from two games down to win 4-9 1-9 9-2 9-3 9-1 in 49 minutes of blistering, attacking squash.

Ricketts began forcefully and a quick win seemed on the cards as he dominated the opening two games.

But the Nottingham-based Scot suddenly unleashed a flurry of dazzling winners to turn the match around. He struck six outright kill shots in the third game to stop Ricketts in his tracks and continued in the same vein to collect his last title on British soil before moving to the USA with his wife and four children.

While Ricketts reached the final after crushing England's second seed Lee Beachill in straight games in just 34 minutes, White had been held to a five-game marathon by Canadian Jonathon Power in his semi-final, before finally ousting the fifth seed in 81 minutes.

It was a remarkable outcome for White, the former world No1 and the game's hardest-hitter, who had to overcome a straight games drubbing by Beachill in the first pool round before winning the next two matches to earn a place in the play-offs for the final.

"It was an outstanding performance by John," said Prince International Player Promotions Manager Andy Bunting. "At 2/0 down, he looked dead and buried – but he came back for the third game and simply blitzed his opponent off court. On that form, John would have beaten anyone in the world – he was simply sensational."

It was White's second title triumph with his new Prince M+ Pro racquet, which will be launched worldwide later this year.

But it was the first since also adopting the new Prince NFS Tour Pro squash shoes which, like the M+ Pro racquet, boast a striking yellow cosmetic.