Nicol David almost breaks through
April 23, 2005, by Howard Harding
SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2005 all Rights Reserved;

Grainger and Grinham (R) in Doha Final [Complete draw]

Doha will stage a repeat of last year's British Open final when Australia's top seed Rachael Grinham and USA's Natalie Grainger, the sixth seed, meet in Sunday's final of the Women's Qatar Airways Squash Challenge. In a rapidly-becoming-familiar scenario, Natalie Grainger, the reinvented star based in Washington D.C., will have to defeat both Natalie and Rachael Grinham in the same event to get to the winner's podium.

It is a slimmed-down and highly fit version of Natalie Grainger who takes to the court these days. Ordinarily, Grainger would have a big advantage after Rachael Grinham's marathon semi final win over Nicol David. But due to the built-in Saturday rest day between the semis and finals, Rachael has ample recovery time to get back to full form for her final encounter.

Nicol David forced Rachael Grinham to the verge of exhaustion, photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert

In a dramatic semi-final against fourth seed Nicol David, Grinham saved a crucial match ball at 8-7 in the fifth game decider which would otherwise have put the Malaysian into the final and Dutch rival Vanessa Atkinson at the top of the world rankings.

However, the plucky Queenslander maintained her focus to clinch the game and the match 9-3 8-10 2-9 9-1 10-8 in 71 minutes to reach her 29th WISPA World Tour final.

Nicol David got to the edge of victory against Rachael Grinham in Doha. photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert

"I pushed myself so hard in the fifth, I thought I was going to die," said Grinham to the press. "I don't normally push myself that hard and I think I would have been extremely upset if I hadn't won.

"In my head, I was praying, 'please please, let me win'! When you are so close at the end, what else can you do? But I was lucky, because she had some easy shots, and she tinned them, and that's all due to the pressure of the match," added the Australian who is still seeking her first title win of the year.

Natalie Grainger ended the brave run of England's Tania Bailey, the 14th seed who reached the last four after shock victories over second seed Vanessa Atkinson and seventh seed Vicky Botwright. Grainger needed 50 minutes to overcome the Englishwoman 9-2 1-9 9-2 9-6 to reach her 24th WISPA final.

Tania Bailey had a great tournament but it ended against Natalie Grainger in Doha. photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert

"After the first game, I relaxed a little bit, I wasn't as aggressive, as concentrated, and as focused on the ball as I was during the first. Then I lost my length, and Tania got in front of me, dictated the pace and imposed her game," said Washington-based Grainger afterwards.

"Her backhand volleys and her backhand volley drops are really dangerous, she holds the volley very well up there. So, if you're not in front, you get in real trouble. So I had to get on top of her and get there first."

RESULTS: Women's Qatar Airways Squash Challenge, Doha, Qatar

Semi-finals:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [4] Nicol David (MAS) 9-3, 8-10, 2-9, 9-1, 10-8 (71m)
[6] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [14] Tania Bailey (ENG) 9-2, 1-9, 9-2, 9-6 (50m)

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