English Hopefuls Create Upsets
Dec 7, 2004, by Colin McQuillan Reporting from Kuala Lumpur; SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004;

Atkinson, Grinhams, Jackman, David Advance  [draw]

Vanessa Atkinson was tested by Pam Nimmo photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

The top women's squash players, viewed to have a realistic change at the world open title, all advanced in first round action in Kuala Lumpur today. These include Rachael Grinham, Vanessa Atkinson, Cassie Jackman, Natalie Grinham, and NIcol David.

Latasha Khan of The USA and Runa Reta of Canada were among the first round fallers as Rachael Grinham and Cassie Jackman led most of the seeded players into the second round of the KL Women’s World Open Squash Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Khan fell fairly straightforwardly 9-3 9-6 9-3 in 27 minutes to England’s 13th seeded Jenny Duncalf, but Reta, compact and industrious, kept Stephanie Brind, the 15th seed, fully occupied for more than an hour before losing 9-4 2-9 7-9 9-5 9-4.

Duncalf and Brind were among 10 English players who made it through to the last 16, with three of the youngest blowing significant holes in the established seedings.

Bailey stops Geaves photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

Tania Bailey celebrated the 37th birthday of Fiona Geaves, the seventh seeded British Open Over-35 Champion, with a 35 minute 9-1 10-8 9-4 first round win that the Lincolonshire 25-year-old declared the real start of her climb back into the rankings after more than a year struggling with viral infection.

Alison Waters, a 20-year-old from Southgate in North London, took a look at the ninth seeded World Junior Champion, Omneya Abdel Kawy of Egypt, moving poorly and breathing heavily in their opening games and decided all she had to do was stay calm and play disciplined squash to win 2-9 6-9 9-4 9-3 9-5 in 50 minutes.

Laura Jane Lengthorn, a tall smoothly moving 21-year-old from Lancashire, played with genuine authority to remove the 14th seeded French champion, Isabelle Stoehr, 6-9 9-4 9-7 9-7 in 58 minutes.

Natalie Grinham beat Annelize Naude photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

Behind the apparent easy return after brief hospitalisation last week of the second seeded British National Champion, Cassie Jackman of Norfolk, with a 26 minute 9-1 9-1 9-5 win over Dominique Lloyd-Walter, England are assured of at least three quarter-finalists from second round matches between Bailey and Jenny Tranfield, Lengthorn and Rebecca Macree, Linda Elriani and Jenny Duncalf.

Jackman next takes on a very tough customer in New Zealand’s Shelley Kitchen, who defeated Australia’s Amelia Pittock 9-4 6-9 9-1 9-5 in the last match of the day, and England have further quarter-final chances with Waters meeting Nicol David of Malaysia, Vicky Botwright meeting Vanessa Atkinson of The Netherlands, and Stephanie Brind meeting Natalie Grinham of Australia.

The top seeded World No1, Rachael Grinham of Australia, eased past her compatriot Melissa Martin 9-0 9-4 9-2 in 18 minutes and will meet Madeline Perry in the second round after the Irish No1 defeated Hong Kong champion Rebecca Chiu 9-4 9-2 9-5 in 39 minutes.

Bailey Back In Business
Bailey, a 25-year-old from Stamford in Lincolnshire who rose from winning the 1997 World Junior Championship to reach a ranking of fourth of the senior world list before viral problems took her out of the game for more than a year, feels she is free of her illness at last and can begin building back towards the level of fitness that took on that early success trail.

“I think I felt completely free of problems for the first time in Shanghai last month and then played quite well against Natalie Grainger in the Qatar Classic last week only to lose in the first round. So it is great to actually get a win in such an important event and to beat Fiona the first time in tournament play.”

It was Bailey’s strength, speed and unrelenting pressure that brought her early rise and perhaps led to her illness, although she regards it as an infection that just took a very long time to cure. “I had every sort of test imaginable and I spoke to experts and to other athletes who had similar problems, but it was different for me because I wasn’t tired, like Peter Marshall when he developed chronic fatigue syndrome, I just felt ill all the time. I had a headache non-stop for most of a year. Then I would recover a bit and start playing again so it would start up again.

“Like a lot of people I thought I could probably train and play my way through it. But I have learnt now how to judge what my body is doing and I step back whenever I feel I am risk again. I withdrew from the British open because I developed a slight sinus problem. It wasn’t the viral infection returning but in my new careful attitude I judged it best not to play that tournament.”

She goes next to Jenny Tranfield, the 10th seed looking to prove here that the England selectors were wrong to sideline her from the squad that was beaten by Australia in the World team Final a couple of month back, and who today defeated Australia’s Kasey Brown 9-4 9-0 9-0 in 26 minutes.

The winner of that is likely to meet the top seeded World No1, Rachael Grinham of Australia, who today brushed aside Melissa Martin of Australia 9-0 9-4 9-2 in 18 minutes and will play the Irish No1, Madeline Perry, in the second round. Perry defeated Rebecca Chiu of Hong Kong 9-4 9-2 9-5 in 39 minutes.

Atkinson Tested
In the adjacent quarter third seeded Vanessa Atkinson of The Netherlands, the outstanding winner of last week’s Qatar Classic in Doha, emerged from a testing 35 minute examination at the hands of the tall and long-limbed Scottish No1 Pamela Nimmo to win 9-2 5-9 9-2 9-7 after trailing 0-5 and 6-7 in the fourth game.

Atkinson goes to England’s 11th seeded Vicky Botwright, who today defeated the New Zealand champion, Tamsyn Leevey, 9-7 10-8 8-10 9-3 in 50 minutes, while the other side of the quarter has evolved to an all-England clash between Jenny Duncalf and Linda Elriani, who was overturned by Botwright in Qatar last week and declared then that she was worried about losing so often lately to players she was expected to defeat. Duncalf, the 13th seed, defeated Latasha Khan of The USA today

In the third quarter of the field Laura Jane Lengthorn took another bite out of the seedings by defeating Isabelle Stoehr, the 14th seeded French Champion, 6-9 9-4 9-7 9-7 in 58 minutes with some authority to reach a second round match with Rebecca Macree, the eighth seeded profoundly deaf player from Essex, who today survived a mutually bruising 78 minute encounter with Pakistan’s Carla Khan 9-7 9-3 7-9 9-6. Macree and Khan are good friends who often share rooms on the circuit, but it didn’t show on court today.

Brind came past Canada’s Runa Reta 9-4 2-9 7-9 9-5 9-4 in 61 minutes in what was just about the toughest match of the round, although Macree and Khan were on for 17 minutes longer. She will meet the fourth seeded Natalie Grinham, who defeated Annelize Naude of The Netherlands 10-8 9-1 9-4 in 41 minutes.

Waters, who with Lengthorne and Duncalf was in the England junior squad that took the world team title in Penang when Nicol David won her second World Junior Individual title in her home town, has another chance for a close look at the diminutive Malaysian in the second round. David pleased her local supporters with an 18 minute 9-3 9-0 9-3 dismissal of Tegwen Malik, the Welsh champion.

The winner will be rewarded with a quarter-final place against either Jackman or Kitchen.

The second seed moved easily and showed none of the breathing problems that took from the court to the hospital in Qatar when playing a semi-final against Atkinson. “I had a few twinges in the side but I am used to that. I don’t often play without some sort olf back pain,” said the 31-year-old who has twice had spinal surgery in recent years. “The important thing was that I was breathing easily, so I can go into the next round assuming things have sorted themselves out.”

Malaysia's in-form Nicol David, the sixth seed, and wrapped up her first round victory in just 21 minutes, the quickest match of the evening - David beating Welsh qualifier Tegwen Malik 9-3 9-0 9-3.

RESULTS: Women's KL World Open Squash Championship, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

1st round:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Melissa Martin (AUS) 9-0, 9-4, 9-2 (21m)
[16] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9-4, 9-2, 9-5 (44m)
Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [7] Fiona Geaves (ENG) 9-1, 10-9, 9-4 (38m)
[10] Jenny Tranfield (ENG) bt [Q] Kasey Brown (AUS) 9-4, 9-0, 9-0 (29m)
[3] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt Pamela Nimmo (SCO) 9-2, 5-9, 9-2, 9-7 (35m)
[11] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt [Q] Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) 9-7, 10-8, 8-10, 9-3 (55m)
[5] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt [Q] Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 9-3, 9-4, 9-1 (33m)
[13] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Latasha Khan (USA) 9-3, 9-6, 9-3 (30m)
Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) bt [14] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 6-9, 9-4, 9-7, 9-7 (63m)
[8] Rebecca Macree (ENG) bt Carla Khan (PAK) 9-7, 9-3, 7-9, 9-7 (83m)
[15] Stephanie Brind (ENG) bt [Q] Runa Reta (CAN) 9-4, 2-9, 7-9, 9-5, 9-4 (67m)
[4] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt Annelize Naude (NED) 10-8, 9-1, 9-4 (44m)
Alison Waters (ENG) bt [9] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 2-9, 6-9, 9-4, 9-3, 9-5 (56m)
[6] Nicol David (MAS) bt [Q] Tegwen Malik (WAL) 9-3, 9-0, 9-3 (21m)
[12] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [Q] Amelia Pittock (AUS) 9-4, 6-9, 9-1, 9-5 (51m)
[2] Cassie Jackman (ENG) bt [Q] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 9-1, 9-1, 9-5 (28m)

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