SQUASH history was made last week as Peter Nicol became the first player ever to win three consecutive Halifax Equitable Super Series titles.

And it was a momentous occasion for 28-year-old Nicol, who is based at the Connaught club in Chingford, as he captured his first major championship since his controversial defection from Scottish nationality to English in April.

He recovered from the disappointment of a quarter-final defeat at the British Open earlier this month to take the Super Series crown and a cheque for £20,000 at Londons Broadgate Arena, beating Australian David Palmer in the final in four games.

It was a fitting match for the final as the new British Open champion took on the world champion.

In the earlier pool stages, Nicol and Palmer, who stand respectively at two and three in the world rankings, had played the match of the tournament in the Fleet group.

The Englishman eventually won 3-2 after a gruelling 93 minutes on court, which helped him to a perfect start in the pool stages as he also beat Paul Johnson and David Evans.

The semi-finals saw a relatively comfortable win for Nicol against Martin Heath of Scotland,

15-7, 15-9, 11-15, 15-11.

The real drama came in the other semi in which Palmer edged out world no.1 Jonathon Power.

The two men repeatedly wrestled each other to the floor in controversial style as they fought to gain control of the front of the court.

Referee Jill Wood struggled to keep control as the two players ran into each other or grabbed the other's shirt in an attempt to win a let or penalty point.

The Aussie eventually came through and recovered his stamina to play an exciting final against Nicol.

The Londoner took the first two games then Palmer won the third and took the fourth to 14-14.

But Nicol produced some stunning stroke-play to take the game and the match in 82-minutes, 15-7, 15-11, 13-15, 17-14.

Both players received a three-minute standing ovation from the capacity crowd.

Nicol said: "I was wondering when David would collapse after all his effort this week. He was dead tired all the way through, but somehow just kept going."

By.Ivan Hirschowitz