?This has got to be the best place to come on the Tour,? said Englishman Peter Barker, albeit before his angry defeat in the final qualifying round.

?I?ve not been here before and this is such a beautiful place. We do get to go to some nice places but this place is fantastic.

?Everyone is so friendly, we are being looked after so well and the scooters are great fun ? and the beaches aren?t bad.?

Almost as soon as Nick Matthew finished beating top seed Thierry Lincou in the opening game on the main stage, it was clear squash in Bermuda was a winner.

The tournament has been an unprecedented success thus far with amazing players doing amazing things in an amazing venue in front of an amazed crowd.

A fact that is even the more impressive considering this is the first time the Bermuda Open has been run on these proportions.

?For a first time tournament this has to rank as the best in the world,? said the Voice of Squash Robert Edwards, who described his pre-match introductions and compering as ?the cream, with the players being the cake?.

?They really have done a marvellous job of putting this on. I have to take my hat off the organisers, they have done so well.

?Things can only get bigger and better from here on.?

And such is the Voice of Squash?s passion for both the tournament and its venue, he is only too happy to make a bold commitment.

?I am thinking of retiring pretty soon,? said Edwards, who met on stage with the Voive of Summer C.V. Jim Woolridge on Thursday night during one of the tournaments more popular moments so far.

?But if Bermuda hosts the World Championships on a beach somewhere in 2007, then I promise I will come out of retirement for one final time.

?I couldn?t think of a better place to do it.?

Edwards is not the only one to fall in love with the Island, with our players desperately keen to return here ? particularly the qualifiers who can often make the most of their trips.

?With a lot of places, you just turn up play and then jump on the first plane out of there,? said Mark Chaloner, Professional Squash Association president, who was defeated in the first round of the main draw by Jonathan Power.

?But here it is different. This is the sort of place where you want to hang around for as long as possible.?

Each night Docksiders, run by Anthony White, a keen player himself who has been having lessons all week with Shaun Moxham, coach to David Palmer and James Stout, has become increasingly full of squash stars ? all testing out the dark ?n? stormies after their respective tournament exits.

Bike rentals have been booming with Horseshoe Bay the destination for many of the European-based players desperate for a tan ?to prove we have been somewhere hot?.

Every player who has spoken to throughout the tournament has expressed a desire to return here for next year?s tournament, with

the dates already being jotted into their busy diaries.

?I?m ecstatic,? said a flustered tournament director Ross Triffitt, who along with a huge number of volunteers has barely slept for the best part of a week.

?I?m ecstatic that we have received such a great response from players and fans alike.

?The people of Bermuda have witnessed the delights of some of the world?s greatest players playing some incredible matches.

?We are delighted with the way things are going and would like to thank so many people for their contributions and coming down to support this event.?

Tickets for tonight?s final and women?s exhibition are all but sold-out and if the week?s events are anything to go by, there are going to be a lot of enthused, excited, impressed and satisfied people wandering out of the Bermuda High School gym tonight.