By RJ Mitchell
Former World No.1 Jonathon Power has warned the rest of the PSA World Tour that Diego Elias is still “20% away from being the finished article.”
In the wake of the South American’s breakthrough PSA World Tour Platinum title triumph at the Qatar QTerminals Classic, the super coach, who has been masterminding Elias’ progress from his Toronto base for 10 years, reckons his charge is finally ready to become the game’s big beast.
Yet Power, the former British Open and World Champion is also adamant that there are still areas in Elias’ game that require some extra fine tuning if he is to make the leap from young pretender to undisputed ruler of our game.
While he accepts that his protégé’s triumph in Qatar parallels one of the most famous moments of his own career, Power reckons that is where the similarities end.
Speaking from his Toronto base, Power perhaps the greatest maverick champion of them all, said: “In terms of the finished article I would say that Diego is a good 20% away from that. There is a lot left to develop. There are still so many glaring errors that we can fix.
“Now he has a winning game, and he just needs to round the edges and smooth things out but there are numerous things where guys are taking points from him because he hasn’t got certain aspects quite how we want them.
“So, there are things to work and on and a 10-20% improvement in Diego’s level is what I am aiming for. We are all bout level and process.
“It is about being the dominant player on the tour and not just being No.1 for a month because you had one good win, it is more about Diego wanting to be there and wanting to be the big beast. No.1 will come if you are No.1, so it is just about staying the course and working on the little things Diego needs to improve on.”
Power has no doubt that Elias’ victory in Qatar had a lot to do with some extra fitness and strengthening work the Peruvian has undertaken to combat and sort a hip issue that had been undermining his challenge until recently.
“I think there has been a change in Diego’s fitness and strength and that has leant itself to a change in his attitude,” said the 1998 World Champion.
“For me you only get angry when you know that you’re not 100% there, not ready for the fight and then you get upset with yourself.
“Now Diego has finally got his body, which is a big frame, right up to the level of fitness where he can endure multiple matches at the top level.
“So that lends to a …….
