ENGLAND'S SCOTT HANDLEY WINS FIRST PSA TOUR TITLE

An unexpected all-English men's final of the 1999 Swiss Open Squash Championships in Geneva resulted in the first PSA Tour title win for Oxfordshire's Scott Handley, the event's fifth seed, and the first appearance in a PSA final by 18-year-old Yorkshire qualifier Nick Matthew. In the women's final, Australian top seed Rachael Grinham beat Scotland's 7th seed Claire Waddell.

It was in the quarter-finals that Handley, 24, from Wallingford, removed top seed and fellow Englishman Iain Higgins in straight games to reach the last four - where he overcame Welsh 4th seed Matthew Benjamin in four games, before beating Matthew 15/11 15/5 15/8.

Meanwhile it was in the first round that Sheffield-based Matthew began his giant-killing exploits - dismissing Finland's 2nd seed Timo Tuominen 3-0 before going on to overcome fellow English qualifier Eric McAlpine, from London, in the semi-finals. Rapidly-improving Matthew, who led England to victory in last summer's World Junior Championships, caused a major upset in last month's British National Championships when he beat world No9 Welshman Alex Gough.

Rachael Grinham secured her second WISPA World Tour title without conceding a game. The 22-year-old world No18 from Queensland conceded just two points in her semi-final victory over England's 3rd seed Clare Cogan, before defeating 23-year-old Claire Waddell 9/2 9/6 9/3 in the final. Waddell, from Aberdeen, reached the final after dismissing South Africa's second seed Annelize Naude 9/3 9/10 9/3 9/4 in the semi-finals.

WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Swiss Open, Geneva, Switzerland

Men's Final:

[5] Scott Handley (ENG) bt [Q] Nick Matthew (ENG) 15/11 15/5 15/8

Men's semi-finals:

[5] Scott Handley (ENG) bt [4] Matthew Benjamin (WAL) 15/8 5/15 15/5 15/8
[Q] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Eric McAlpine (ENG) 13/15 15/6 15/12 15/11

Women's Final:

[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [7] Claire Waddell (SCO) 9/2 9/6 9/3

Women's semi-finals:

[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [3] Clare Cogan (ENG) 9/1 9/0 9/1
[7] Claire Waddell (SCO) bt [2] Annelize Naude (RSA) 9/3 9/10 9/3 9/4

Saturday's results:

Men's 2nd round:

[1] Iain Higgins (ENG) bt [Q] Ben Garner (ENG) 15/8 15/12 15/6
[5] Scott Handley (ENG) bt [Q] Laurent Elriani (FRA) 15/5 15/7 15/10
[4] Matthew Benjamin (WAL) bt Wim van Asten (NED) 15/12 15/13 15/9
[Q] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [7] Oriol Salvia (SPA) 15/13 15/4 11/15 17/15
Adam Stevenson (ENG) bt Andre Holderegger (SWI) 15/7 15/8 15/5
[Q] Eric McAlpine (ENG) bt [Q] Phillip Barker (ENG) 15/11 12/15 15/11 15/10
Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) bt [Q] Patrick Foster (IRL) 15/6 15/12 15/9
[Q] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 15/3 15/6 15/4

Men's Quarter-finals:

[5] Scott Handley (ENG) bt [1] Iain Higgins (ENG) 15/10 15/10 15/6
[4] Matthew Benjamin (WAL) bt [Q] Karim Darwish (EGY) 14/17 15/17 17/15 15/215/3
[Q] Eric McAlpine (ENG) bt Adam Stevenson (ENG) 12/15 15/5 15/7 15/7
[Q] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Jean Michel Arcucci (FRA) 15/12 17/14 3/15 15/12

Women's 1st round:

[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Rachel Haigh (ENG) 9/2 9/6 9/4
[8] Wendy Maitland (SCO) bt Laurence Bruniera (FRA) 9/0 9/5 9/7
[3] Clare Cogan (ENG) bt Zeta Tzamalouka (GRE) 9/0 9/3 9/1
[Q] Elena Cambi (SWI) bt Donna Cruickshank (SCO) 10/8 10/9 9/6
[7] Claire Waddell (SCO) bt Astrid Gamory (FRA) 9/4 9/0 9/7
[4] Didi Harris (AUS) bt Chiara Ferrari (ITA) 9/1 9/2 9/1
Corrine Castets (FRA) bt Ivy Pochoda (USA) 9/2 9/1 9/0
[2] Annelize Naude (RSA) bt Adriana Moura (BRA) 9/4 9/2 9/5

Women's Quarter-finals:

[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [8] Wendy Maitland (SCO) 9/3 9/3 9/1
[3] Clare Cogan (ENG) bt [Q] Elena Cambi (SWI) 9/2 9/2 9/3
[7] Claire Waddell (SCO) bt [4] Didi Harris (AUS) 9/6 9/5 9/1
[2] Annelize Naude (RSA) bt Corrine Castets (FRA) 9/3 9/3 9/5

Issued on behalf of PSA and WISPA by Howard Harding

For further information: Howard Harding Email: HowHard@aol.com

5-8 March, 1999