Nick Wiffen faces one more hurdle as he attempts to retain the Shell Divisional Handicap trophy he won last year.

Wiffen will play James Stout at the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association courts on Middle Road this evening (7.20 p.m.) after seeing off Richard Brewer in straight games 15-13, 15-11, 15-7 yesterday.

"Richard started reasonably well but Nick's superior court coverage left him a bit wanting," said Ross Triffitt, Bermuda's director of squash. "Richard was playing a very attacking game, trying to volley as often as possible and put Nick under pressure but (Wiffen) quite easily recovered the shots and managed to counter-drop causing Richard a lot of problems."

Triffitt said Brewer visibly slowed over the course of the match and believed he may have gone out too hard, too early.

"He ran out of legs by the end," he said.

Tonight's match should prove an intriguing encounter, but the odds probably favour the current champion.

"Nick is looking pretty strong to defend his title," said Triffitt. "They played fairly recently in practise and they have been training together a little bit.

"Nick won a best of three game 2-1. With a deficit of only two points it will be pretty tough for James.

"But at the same time James is improving quickly and has certainly got the potential to play extremely well.

"It's difficult to pick a winner at this point. Nick is perhaps the slight favourite but James could come home with a strong finish."