Hailed as a clash of squash titans, yesterday?s Virtual Spectator Bermuda Masters quarter-final between world number one Thierry Lincou and Jonathon Power almost took that billing to unanticipated extremes.

So aggressive and physical was the 95-minute encounter at Bermuda High School for Girls that the referee was moved to deliver an early admonition.

?Will both of you stop hitting each other!? he declared, both players staring at him like he was from Mars.

However, when the dust had settled and the body blows were over, the two top guns threw the blame squarely at the other. Despite Power?s bruised wrist and split lip ? the results of the dogged combat ? Lincou, on the losing end of the five-game drama, felt harder done by.

Frustratedly bowing out 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, the top seed all but branded his opponent a cheat.

?He is not a fair player. I don?t think so. He is not fair when it gets very close. Sometimes he is not very honest on court ? and he knows it. He plays with the rules, with everything he can (in order) to win.

?So you have to be prepared for that, you know. Sometimes he is blocking the way. It?s really tough to play him. He is very experienced and very clever on court,? said the Frenchman candidly.

Power would have none of it though, charging it was Lincou who initiated the rough behaviour and that he had as much cause for complaint about the top seed?s tactics.

?That?s what I was screaming about at the beginning. He started all this pushing and shoving in the second game and I got upset with him and started telling the ref,? explained the Canadian.

?I was just prepared to do whatever he was doing, to do it back to him. It got really physical and that?s what needed to be done.

?If one player is going to get physical, the other player is going to get physical back. I?m not going to let him just walk over me. You?ve got to do what you can.?

Far from a walkover, the showdown was a bitter tug-of-war from the outset with neither player ever able to gain complete command. In fact, it was not until the conclusion of the second game ? when Power seized the last five points to level the score 1-1 ? that anyone got more than two points consecutively.

Dreams of advancing to the semi-finals dancing in their heads, both delighted the enthralled crowd with racquet wizardry and constant, near-suicidal flirtation with the tin in a quest for the perfect drop shot to outwit the other. Split-second changes of pace and tempo saw stunning speed and deep shots instantly transformed into soft, short, pinpoint caresses of the ball, usually angled or off the side panels.

Utilising his trademark wrist flicks to telling effect along with deadly changes of direction, Power ? for all his guttural outbursts at the officiating ? got the better of Lincou in the third game. Desperate to force a fifth game, the latter held the lead 3-0 and then 7-4 in the fourth before Power rallied to within a point of him at 9-10 but Lincou clung on.

The decisive game was virtually point for point until 7-7. Then Power claimed the next two points, one thanks to a peerless drop shot, to move within sight of match ball. Lincou pulled back to 8-9 but then hit the tin to leave Power a point from victory which he duly achieved with an overhead kill.

Annoyed with himself for being lured into playing Power?s type of match, Lincou noted ?I gave everything I had?.

?Maybe he wanted it more than me today. I was very hungry as well but the difference was he played a few good shots at the end. We had some really tough, close games and this time it was his,? said the 29-year-old who had only beaten Power in three of their 12 previous meetings.

?I?m obviously disappointed. I didn?t expect him to play so rough, so physical. He likes to break the pace, stop the rallies, to talk to the ref. It?s really hard to play him. He is very tricky and he got me into his game, especially in the second (game). Then I started to relax and focus but it took too much mental energy.?

Having earlier this week announced naked ambitions of conquering in Bermuda, Power acknowledged the task was proving most taxing.

?It was definitely one of the toughest games I?ve had physically in the last couple years. I hung in there and it worked out. But it was close ? a little too close for comfort,? assessed the 30-year-old, soothing his burst lip with ice.

Expressing concern about his performance, he noted his ball striking and control of the middle must improve significantly if he is to progress past John White today.

The latter eked by England?s Nick Matthew 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8 in another nail-biting thriller which saw the slimmest error or miscalculation punished.

Squash?s hardest hitter had his hands full with the rising Matthew and needed every ounce of experience and guile to squeeze out a positive result against the 2004 Bermuda Open semi-finalist. Matthew took the first game and White the second and third. The winner could well have polished things off in four games but committed some critical unforced errors late in that game to gift his rival a lifeline.

However, the 31-year-old wrested four of the final five points in the deciding game to book his semi-final berth.

?We both played well. The match could have gone either way. Looking at the scores, every game was close. He just played the last three rallies better than me. I left a couple of loose ones. Sometimes John makes mistakes but he didn?t make many today,? said Matthew of his first match against the Scotsman.

White noted it was tough to know how to approach an opponent you had never faced.

?You can watch him play and see what he does but until you get out there, it?s very difficult to decide how to play him. He was volleying extremely well and I wasn?t expecting it.

?You?ve got to change your game plan to mess his game plan up which I had to do. At the end, he made a few unforced errors to give me the match.?

Looking ahead he predicted fireworks against Power, stating ?it?s always a battle and it goes to five (games) . . . and there?s a bit of pushing and shoving?.