earned his money this year, predicts defending champion and second seed Gary Waite of Canada.

Waite, who scored a stunning victory over this year's top seed and hot favourite Brett Martin of Australia in the final a year ago, said that the formidable field of players will make it hard for anyone to run away with the championship.

The Canadian, who is ranked 12th in the world, had to fully extend himself against Martin in the final and Waite believes that the quality field assembled will make the event even more competitive this time around.

"The field has many better players than last year and the road to the final is going to be tough,'' said Waite yesterday.

"I won last year because I was quite fit and Brett tired a bit and the shots just went my way. Although I had beaten him before it was simply a good day for me against him,'' said Waite of the match-up in last year's final.

The champion goes into the event on a high after arriving here fresh from a sparkling victory two weeks ago at the Hard Ball squash tournament in New York. He says he expects to be in good form during his second appearance in Bermuda.

Martin, a two-time winner of the tournament and ranked fourth in the world, is one of a number of prominent players brought in for the tournament and it is no surprise to see him and Waite ranked one and two respectively. Martin is hopeful of picking himself up after "bombing'' out of the Canadian Open (Waite did not compete because the dates clashed with the Hard Ball tournament).

Martin reached the quarter-finals but was eventually knocked out by Englishman Danny Meddings, who is ranked around 25th in the world.

"The higher altitude affected me somewhat. It was quite different playing there with the ball bouncing altogether different. I didn't play that well that particular week at all, it was really a struggle to fight my way through the tournament,'' he said.

Looking back to last year when he failed to win the local title for a third successive time, Martin recalled having had a tough match the previous day in the semi-finals and found the going tough physically against a formidable opponent like Waite. But he was looking ahead to a match-up this time with justified optimism.

"I'm feeling pretty good right now and I am looking forward to this tournament, there are some good players here. I been here for a few days and have really trained for this one,'' he noted.

In addition to Waite, another Canadian capable of making an impact this year is 18-year-old Jonathan Power who reached the final of the World Junior Squash Championships in Hong Kong in September.

But Power, a flamboyant player, will get a tough baptism when he takes on Martin in the first round.

"Jonathan has a lot of ability and is now at the make-or-break stage, but the potential is definitely there,'' said Waite of his compatriot.

The tournament gets under way at the Devonshire Courts tomorrow at 11 a.m.

SCHEDULE (Seeding in parentheses) Saturday, 11 a.m.

Match A -- Jamie Crombie (7) v John Williams, Match B -- Anders Wahlstedt (5) v Michael Puertas, Match C -- Somin Frenz (6) v Craig Rowland, Match D -- Zubair Khan (4) v Michael Vertogen.

Saturday, 5 p.m.

Match E -- Simon Baker (8) v Julian Rose, Match F -- Adam Schreiber (3) v Jamie Hickox, Match G -- Brett Martin (1) v Jonathan Power, Match H -- Gary Waite (2) v Damian Walker.

Sunday, 2 p.m. Winner F v C; D v B; H v A; G v E Monday, 7 p.m. Semi-finals. Tuesday, 6.30 p.m. Final HOT SHOTS -- Top Open seeds Gary Waite (left) and Brett Martin.