MUMBAI, December 6: The suspense is finally over. And, what a grand manner to bring down the curtain on a week long of excellent showing. Peter Nicol, the world No. 2 successfully defended his title at the Mahindra International Squash Challenge and that too against the world's No 1 ranked player, winning 9-15, 15-9, 9-15, 15-12, 15-5. This being his third victory over Jansher this year, the earlier two at Al-Abram, Egypt and Kuwait. Nicol has emerged a serious and worthy contender to take over the mantle of No 1 from Jamsher, who had made his slot his own from September 1993.Jansher would have liked very much to finish this match early, and looked just like doing that when he won the first game without much ado. But, against a fierce and determined competitor like Nicol, the match is not over unitil the last point is played. I knew very well, because I lost to him last year in the final.Having played the five-setter against Jonathan Power in the semifinal must have also gone against Jansher today, because Nicol still looked tremendously fit in the decider. Still the effort from the world's No 1 player was tremendous. Having just recovered from a week-long temperature due to tonsillitis and to make it to the final of an event of this kind is no mean feat. Other than this excellent game, he is a sportsman to true hilt and it is players like him that draw spectators to the game. Of course, the presence of the great Jansher Khan cannot be ignored because he is always a crowd puller.A sight to watch today was the security personnel turning away spectators as all the seats were taken. Though unfortunate for the spectators, who had to settle for lesser seats, this really augurs well for the sport in the country. Mumbai can now be called the centre of squash in India and it is the Mahindra International that is responsible for bestowing this honour to the city. One hopes that more tournaments of this kind can also be held in other metros.
