POWER without accuracy and patience was seen as a useless commodity, as demonstrated by Canadian David Critchley, during the finals of the Irish Open tennis championships at Riverview on Saturday.

Critchley insisted on pounding the hall when alternative measures were called for against the adroit Omah Rashid of Pakistan. "He lives and dies by his serve," was Rashid's summing up of Critchley's explosive game. "Once I got my racket on it, no matter how predictable the returns, I could be assured that he would create problems for himself."

The trend was set from the start as Rashid went into a 3-0 lead. Critchley took a similar advantage in the second set, but all the while the signs were ominous for him. The status quo soon returned and was best demonstrated by three Critchley double faults as he tried to reach 5-4.

Evelyn Fauth, the 19-year-old Austrian prospect and top seed in the women's Oil of Ulay $10,000 satellite event, garnished her power game with accuracy and superb placement to rebuff the challenge of American Pam Nelson 6-2, 6-3 in just over an hour.