Former World No. 1, John White, has re-signed to Prince Sports! In his first tournament playing with the latest racquet in the brand’s revolutionary new O3 series, White exceeded his seeding to reach the final of the 5-star Dayton Open PSA Tour event in the USA. A member of the Prince Pro Squash Team for more than 10 years, White has signed a new two-year agreement with the brand and has switched to the new O3 Black racquet.
Seeded four in Dayton, the US-based Scot made his O3 Black debut and burst through to the final, where he faced Ramy Ashour—the second seed from Egypt. An inspired White took the opening two games, and forced the fourth into a tie-break; but, it was the young World No. 5 who ultimately prevailed in the 72-minute marathon. And, this February, in the British National Championships in England, White captivated the crowds at the National Squash Centre in Manchester as he scythed his way through the world-class field to reach the men’s final.
White’s success mirrors that of fellow O3 squash players Peter Nicol and Nicol David. Peter Nicol, a Prince player for 15 years who topped the world rankings for 60 months, ended a six-month title drought when he picked up the O3 Tour, winning two major titles—the World Games and English Open—within a month. The Englishman went on to win two gold medals in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia, bringing his Games haul since 1998 to four gold medals! Within days of first moving to the O3 Tour, Malaysia’s Nicol David won her maiden British Open title and went on to reach No. 1 in the women’s world rankings, a position she has now held for ten months. In the 16 months since adopting the O3 Tour, the Asian sensation has won 11 major titles, including both the British Open and World Open twice.
The O3 Black racquet joins the O3 Tour and the O3 Silver in the Prince squash range this year. Boasting the same 470 sq cm head-size as the O3 Tour, the O3 Black weighs only 135 gm, and retails at 199 U.S.D. Australian-born John White, widely known as the hardest-hitter of the ball, has enjoyed a highly successful career on the international squash circuit. Runner-up in the British Open and World Open in 2002, White went on to top the world rankings in March 2004. Since relocating to the USA in March 2005, he has reached seven PSA Tour finals in his newly adopted home country—winning four of them! He currently boasts 12 titles from 29 career final appearances. Within moments of picking up the O3 Black for the first time, White knew it was the racquet he’d been looking for. “The 03 Black is a lovely racquet. It gives me even more power and the balance and aerodynamics really suit my game,” said White. “The weight is spot on. I have not felt this comfy with a racquet for a while! The 03 Black has that something special about it—it’s definitely my favorite racquet!”
Prince Sports, Inc., based in New Jersey, USA, is a recognized leader in game-improvement technologies and engineering-based high-performance sports equipment. Since 1970, Prince and Ektelon have revolutionized tennis, squash and racquetball with innovations including “Oversize,” “Longbody” and “Extender” racquet technologies; Natural Foot Shape footwear technology; Synthetic Gut String; and Electronic Ball Machines. In 2005, Prince introduced O3, another breakthrough that features an expanded sweet spot (up to 54 percent) and increased racquet speed, a combination only possible with O3 technology. Prince Sports has operations on three continents and distribution in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.princesports.com
