12 Sep 07 - James Willstrop Claims Immediate Title Success With O3

James Willstrop became the latest in a growing roster of global racquetsports stars who have tasted immediate success on switching to the pioneering Prince O3 racquet technology when he lifted the Prince English Grand Prix title at the weekend in a dream outcome for the 5-star PSA Tour squash event which was sponsored by the brand's UK distributors Solo Sports.

Just 24 hours after being feted at a special reception in Birmingham to celebrate the England number one's signing to Prince Sports Europe Ltd, Willstrop upset Australia's world champion David Palmer to secure an unexpected place in the final of the event which had attracted the world's top players.

It was a dramatic 77-minute five-game match which brought the new event to a climax the following day - with fourth seed Willstrop prevailing 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 11-3 in a further upset over France's former world number one Thierry Lincou to lift the prestigious title against the odds.

"It was an unbelievable climax to the event - with James proving without doubt that he is a perfect ambassador for the brand worldwide," said Prince Sports Europe's Vice President and Managing Director Mike Ballardie.

On receipt of his trophy, Willstrop told the Birmingham crowd: "It's a real honour to win this one, especially as it's my first Prince tournament. It's absolutely brilliant."

It was only two days earlier, at the reception held in Willstrop's honour, that Ballardie had told guests from the world of squash: "We believe that James's skills combined with our technology will help him become world number one!"

Willstrop, the former world junior champion who failed to win a single Tour title in 2006, has signed a three-year worldwide agreement with Prince Sports Europe which includes racquets, bags, grips, strings and clothing. The 24-year-old Englishman made his ranking event debut in Birmingham using the revolutionary new Prince O3 Black racquet.

Willstrop's remarkable maiden O3 achievement has echoes both in squash and tennis: Russian tennis player Nikolay Davydenko was ranked 20 in the world in May 2005 before moving to the O3 Tour - since when he has leapt to a career-high number three!

Since 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova switched to the O3 White - with which she won the US Open title in dazzling style last year - the racquet has become the single best-selling O3 model.

Ranked 48 before switching to the O3 Ozone Seven, Jelena Jankovic has won three WTA titles with the pioneering racquet - and is now No3 in the world!

France's Marion Bartoli achieved the most recent stunning breakthrough - reaching the first Grand Slam final of her career at Wimbledon after also switching to the O3 Ozone Seven.

In squash, England's world number one Peter Nicol won two successive titles following his switch to O3 - and went on to claim two gold medals in the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Nicol David clinched her first British Open title within a week of the switch, and went on build up a 50-match unbeaten run which included two World Open titles. Since moving to the O3 Tour, the 23-year-old Malaysian has competed in 19 WISPA World Tour events - reaching the finals on all but one occasion!

Malaysian Mohd Azlan Iskandar switched to the O3 Black in May, and - in neither case seeded to reach the final - immediately picked up both the North American Open title in San Francisco and the Malaysian Open crown in his home country.

About Prince Sports
Prince Sports, Inc., based in New Jersey, is a recognised leader in game-improvement technologies and engineering-based high-performance sports equipment. Since 1970, Prince and Ektelon have revolutionised tennis, squash and racquetball with innovations including “Oversize,” “Longbody” and “Extender” racquet technologies, Natural Foot Shape footwear technology, Synthetic Gut String and Electronic Ball Machines. Prince gives players speed, stability and a larger sweet spot with O3 racquet technology, building the brand with O3 Original Series (2005), O3 Hybrid (2006), O3 Speedport and Ozone (2007). In 2006, Prince introduced M Series footwear with Precision Tube Technology, an innovation that gives players maximum cushioning, stability and ventilation. Prince Sports has operations on three continents and distribution in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.princetennis.com


Howard Harding
Tel: +44 1737-243333
Email: Howard@hhpr.co.uk