also [World semis report]

Tania Bailey defeated Vanessa Atkinson to lead England into the finals. Photo © 2006 Kyle Clapham

Spurred by Tania Bailey's five-game victory over Dutch star Vanessa Atkinson, top-seeded England defeated the Netherlands 3-0 in the semifinal round of the 2006 World Women's Team championships in Edmonton. The British women will now face No. 2 seed Egypt, whose depth enabled them to reach their first-ever final in this biennial event by conquering Malaysia 2-1 despite recently crowned Nicol David's win for Malaysia over Omneya Abdel Kawy at No. 1. Bailey showed her resilience in a 9-3 fifth game over the former world champion despite her inability to convert the two match-balls she held in the fourth game. England has now reached seven consecutive finals dating back to 1992 in this tournament, while the bottom-half semi pitted two teams neither of which had ever reached the final round.

It was disappointment for the American team as they suffered a 2-1 loss to Hong Kong, whose team triumph was largely due to Christina Mak's rally from two games to love down against Meredeth Quick in the No. 2 match, the first to be played of the meet. Quick eked out a close 9-7 second game but faded during the 9-5, 0 and 4 remainder. Rebecca Chiu followed with a 3-0 win at No. 1 over Latasha Khan, who never fully recovered after dropping the opening game in a 10-9 tiebreaker, reducing the No. 3 match (which Louisa Hall won over Annie Au) to a best-of-three dead rubber.

The U. S., which proved unable to carry any momentum from their recent Pan Am Fed Cup win earlier this month in Medellin, will now face Germany in the 11th-place playoff to conclude their somewhat disappointing tournament.

In the only other 2-1 match of the day, South Africa continued their surprisingly strong showing with a win over higher-seeded France. The remaining outcomes---New Zealand over Ireland, Australia over Germany, Japan over Spain and host Canada over Austria---were all by a 3-0 tally.

 

COMPLETE RESULTS:                Lexus of Edmonton WSF Women's World Team Squash Championship, Edmonton, Canada

Semi-finals:
[1] ENGLAND bt [4] NETHERLANDS 3-0
Vicky Botwright bt Annelize Naude 10-8, 9-2, 9-4 (48m)
Tania Bailey bt Vanessa Atkinson 7-9, 9-2, 9-0, 9-10, 9-3 (71m)
Alison Waters bt Orla Noom 9-2, 9-3 (17m)

[2] EGYPT bt [3] MALAYSIA 2-1
Engy Kheirallah bt Sharon Wee 9-0, 9-5, 9-0 (26m)
Omneya Abdel Kawy lost to Nicol David 8-9, 0-9, 0-9 (34m)
Raneem El Weleily bt Tricia Chuah 9-7, 9-2, 10-8 (35m)

5th - 8th place play-offs:
[6] NEW ZEALAND bt [9] IRELAND 3-0
Jaclyn Hawkes bt Aisling Blake 9-0, 7-9, 9-0, 9-3 (47m)
Shelley Kitchen bt Madeline Perry 9-1, 9-3, 9-3 (27m)
Louise Crome bt Laura Mylotte 9-5, 9-4 (16m)

[12] SOUTH AFRICA bt [10] FRANCE 2-1
Diana Argyle bt Celia Allamargot 9-1, 9-0, 9-4 (19m)
Tenille Swartz bt Camille Serme 9-3, 9-3, 9-6 (39m)
Karen van der Westhuizen lost to Soraya Renai 4-9, 9-7, 8-10 (20m)

9th - 12th place play-offs:
[8] HONG KONG bt [11] USA 2-1
Christina Mak bt Meredeth Quick 5-9, 7-9, 9-5, 9-0, 9-4 (62m)
Rebecca Chiu bt Latasha Khan 10-9, 9-4, 9-3 (41m)
Annie Au lost to Louisa Hall 6-9, 10-8, 5-9 (31m)

[5] AUSTRALIA bt [13] GERMANY 3-0
Melissa Martin bt Katharina Witt 9-2, 4-9, 5-9, 9-3, 9-4 (54m)
Kasey Brown bt Daniela Schumann 9-0, 9-1, 9-1 (21m)
Amelia Pittock bt Carola Weiss 9-6, 10-9 (29m)

13th - 16th place play-offs:
[14] JAPAN bt [15] SPAIN 3-0
Chinatsu Matsui bt Chantal Moros-Pitarch 9-3, 9-2, 9-3 (36m)
Mami Nishio bt Elisabet Sado 9-2, 9-4, 9-5 (31m)
Sachiko Shinta bt Laura Alonso 9-4, 9-0

[7] CANADA bt [16] AUSTRIA 3-0
Carolyn Russell bt Birgit Coufal 9-3, 9-10, 9-1, 9-3 (41m)
Runa Reta bt Pamela Pancis 9-2, 9-3, 9-6 (39m)
Alana Miller bt Theresa Gradnitzer 9-0, 9-5