Edmonton squash professional Matthew Giuffre has been cast as a giant killer before, but don't expect organizers of the Pace Canadian Squash Classic to be cheering for his underdog act in the opening round in Toronto Wednesday night.
If Giuffre, 25, wins the opening match at the John Bassett Theatre, he'd be taking down the event's marquee attraction. Amr Shabana of Egypt is ranked No. 1 in the world and Giuffre No. 58.
What the Canadian likely will get out of this mismatch is exposure and the experience of measuring himself against the best. It would take some climbing for Giuffre to be Canada's next Jonathon Power on the world stage, though he is earning some respect at the domestic level.
He was ranked as high as No. 38 in 2006. That was the year he reached the quarter-finals of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, before losing to eventual gold medalist Peter Nicol of England. Giuffre also won the Talisman Energy Banker's Hall Open in Calgary that season. He was the runner-up in the Canadian championship last year and a finalist in November in the $20,000 Coastal Contacts Open, where Giuffre lost to Shahier Razik of Toronto. To get to that final, Giuffre upstaged two international players ranked higher than him, Rafael Alarcon of Brazil (42nd) and Daryl Selby of England (34th).
After Shabana, the next four seeds in the Pace tournament are also from Egypt. World No. 2 Ramy Ashour, 20, should have a comfortable opener against the winner of a qualifying match. Third seed David Palmer of Australia, No. 4 in the world, will begin against countryman Cameron Pilley (23rd). A third Egyptian, world No. 8 Karim Darwish, also will take on a qualifier in his opening match at the Badminton and Racquet Club of Toronto, as does the No. 5 seed and world No. 9, Wael El Hindi, who will play his match at the Toronto Athletic Club.
Canada's other hope in the draw, world No. 22 Razik, will take on Miguel Rodriguez of Colombia at the Bassett Theatre.
Charismatic Power, known as much for his on-court tantrums and for his record three Pace championships, will be around as the honorary players chairman and a TSN colour commentator.
“My role is to mainly be around the tournament, introduce and talk a little about the players before each match,” said Power, 32, who retired after a 15-year career, much of it spent with a No. 1 ranking.
“I certainly can't give it up,” he said in a statement. “I'm still playing regularly with Shahier Razik and some of the other up-and-coming Canadian players to keep in shape. I find I can't get as good a workout doing anything other than squash.”
The Pace Canadian Squash Classic will runs from tomorrow through Saturday.
