Bermuda?s two pro squash players will go head-to-head next February in the biggest match of either of their young careers.

The winner of the contest between Nick Kyme and James Stout, ranked 85 and 115 respectively, will win a wildcard for the $120,000 PSA Masters, which will earn one of them enough ranking points to be propelled up the international standings and nearly $2,000 guaranteed prize money.

The two players are likely to play each other in the final of the national championship, with the winner earning the right to mix it with the world?s top 31 players when Bermuda hosts the second biggest tournament on the professional circuit next April.

Kyme, the leading pro at the moment, was given a standing ovation after his defeat to former world number one Peter Nicol during this year?s $55,000 Bermuda Open, and is desperate for another appearance in the limelight.

?Obviously it is going to be a very important game for both of our careers,? said Kyme, who shot into the world?s top 90 courtesy of the ranking points he earned in this year?s event.

?We are friends off the court but for 90 minutes or whatever it is, that is going to have to go out the window.

?It is going to be no holds barred squash because there is so much at stake. This is a massive game for both of us ? neither of us are going to want to lose.

?James is a really good young player so it is far from set in stone that I will be taking that wildcard.?

With the Professional Squash Association basing their rankings on average points earned in a tournament over a calendar year ? and with Kyme earning a lot of points this year with his Bermuda Open wildcard ? if he doesn?t get the wildcard he will drop out of the top 100, while Stout would likely rise to around 75.

The event, being held in the West for the first time after stints in Pakistan and Qatar, has never offered a wildcard place before but the Bermudian tournament organisers insisted it be included in the package ? something the Professional Squash Association agreed to after watching the partisan crowd backing Kyme earlier this year.

And next year?s event, the Virtual Spectator Bermuda Masters, will be a far larger affair than this year?s offering with only the world?s top 31 players ? plus the Bermudian wildcard ? eligible to compete.

The event, part of squash?s largest ever deal, is the first of three to take place in Bermuda culminating in the World Championships in 2007, an event likely to be held on an outdoor court overlooking one of the Island?s idyllic shorelines.

?I?m very excited about this tournament,? said Sports Minister Dale Butler, an avid player himself, at a press conference to announce the title sponsor, a New Zealand-based company who specialise in 3-D sports animation.

?To have the top 31 players in the world competing in Bermuda will make it a very special event.

?People will witness the very best squash being played on the Island and to see a Bermudian competing among them is worthy of a celebration in itself.

?This Government is very keen on promoting healthy living and battling obesity and it has been proved that squash is the number one healthy sport and this event will go along way to boosting squash on the Island and the Island itself.?

Cleon Scotland, sports manager at the Bermuda Tourism Department, added that sports tourism was vital for the Island and this event, which his department is co-sponsoring, would do much to promote Bermuda around the world.