weekend (May 27) during a special night of sport, wine and cuisine, designed to raise funds for the Bermuda team that will travel to the World Junior Men's Championships in Milan, Italy.

Top 20 men's players John White and Joseph Kneipp will square off in the feature exhibition match, preceded by an all women's affair that will have Canada's number one player, Melanie Jans, taking on Ivy Pochoda, the United States' third ranked female.

"This event is very big. To have the type of players coming in that are potential future champions, quite young, climbing the rankings and of exceptional calibre is great,'' said Ross Triffitt, professional and director of squash at Bermuda Squash Racquets Association.

"The two female players -- while being based on this side of the world and not getting the level of competition in Europe that will probably boost their rankings to indicate their real standard -- should likely be ranked higher than they actually are. They are also very talented athletes.'' White is currently ranked eighth in the world, having won four professional titles and ending as runner-up in seven. While listed as a Scotsman he was actually born in Mt. Isa, Australia, but later switched allegiance to his parents' native Scotland.

The 27-year-old had his breakthrough year in 1998 in winning the Flanders Esso Open in Antwerp, Holland, beating the likes of Paul Johnson, David Evans and Chris Walker before crushing Martin Heath in the final. This was backed up by further impressive performances in 1999. However, this past February saw him pull an abductor muscle at the Tournament of Champions in New York.

Meanwhile, Kneipp, at 19 in the world rankings, has six titles to his credit, which the best being his seizing of the Greenwich Open in January. He can also count a victory over world champion Jonathan Power, one which hailed him as one of the tour's most exciting players.

On the women's side, Jans won a pair of Pan-American Games gold medals last year and has a litany of Canadian and North American championship triumphs on her resume.

Harvard graduate Pochoda became the first US player to go directly from college to the pro tour and has already qualified for the World Championships and is certainly a `bullet' on the rise.

Said Triffitt: "I think (the public) will see some good, athletic displays of squash. All the players are quite young and really in prime, peak physical condition, so they'll see some fantastic reflexes, speed around the court and punishing power from the guys, who are very strong.

"It will be delightful for them to actually see a very high standard and what players are actually capable of.'' However, most of all the hope is that benefits will be derived by the local youngsters coming through.

Being able to witness, talk and get advice from players not far removed from tournaments such as the junior worlds could only aid in the development of both their game and approach.

"They're certainly going to be capable of telling our guys what to expect and how best to prepare and also give them something to aim at,'' Triffitt added.

"We've just come off the back of competing in the Northern Caribbean Championships where we possibly could have done better, but were a little under-prepared and I think to have these people coming in will certainly make players realise what effort they have to go through to reach that high standard.'' The night will commence with wine tasting at 5.30 p.m., followed by the women's exhibition (6.00 p.m.), the men's match (7.00 p.m.), dinner (8.15 p.m.) and the end of season party (10.00 p.m.). Tickets for the evening are $35.