(updated 7-jun-09 9:30 ) 

SEOUL OPEN   [MAIN DRAW]

Two very well-rested players, Jenny Duncalf and Nicol David, will face off for the BBQ Seoul Women's Pro trophy Sunday. Both players charged through their semi-final contests, with room to spare.

For Duncalf, it was four-straight wins over the former World Number One Rachael Grinham, bringing their series total to 6-4 all-time, still in favor of Rachael. For Nicol David, the world number one, it was yet-another dominating victory over one of her closest rivals.

Seoul Squash Federation officials looked anxiously at the leaden skies as the evening drew nearer. Would be semi finals of the BBQ Seoul Open be disrupted by outpourings from above? The court itself has a canopy, but the spectators would not be undercover.

However close to starting time the cloud colour became lighter before darkening in the dusk. Problem averted, though the forecast for the final tomorrow is less than encouraging.

Of the semi finalists, oddly it was the lower seeds who had reached the last four without dropping a game. Natalie Grinham had sailed serenely into Semis Saturday, and Jenny Duncalf had not found it easy against Madeline Perry in the quarters, but constructed a straight games win too.

Though defending champion Nicol David didn’t drop a game against Alison Waters in the quarters, she had saved five game balls to avoid doing so. Rachael Grinham had to survive a match ball against Shelley Kitchen. But a new round, a new evening, new permutations.  

Grinham senior, ankle strapping evident would have to deal with a maturing opponent in Duncalf. If the later twenties are the woman squash players prime age, then she, at 26 is following the code. Grinham at six years older proved the point by taking the World Open title only a couple of years ago.

Duncalf continued her week playing tight and efficient squash. Grinham carried on too, being just fractionally ragged.

The rallies were spirited, the variety from Grinham as fascinating as ever, but she sprinkled the mix with a few errors and loose ones; enough to allow Duncalf to get ahead in each game and close out her fourth win in a row against the Australian.

Grinham summed up what could be seen, saying, ‘My accuracy just wasn’t there. The ball didn’t go where I wanted it to go’. Of course these are just margins, but the difference was, as she added, ‘This court punishes you if your opponent can put the ball away, and I gave her too many chances’.

While she may have been a little jaded following the narrow squeak the preceding evening against Kitchen, Grinham was beaten by a player in form. ‘I am really happy. I needed to stay concentrated and focussed and I did. I was putting the ball in good places and trying to keep her on her toes’, explained Duncalf.

‘I am really pleased to be in the final, and no long matches means I will be as fresh as possible – and I will need to be if Nicol gets through! But I don’t mind who I play, I just want to enjoy it. The crowd and the court have been great, the organisers have done a great job on the setting and I like to play outside’. So, one happy finalist then!  

In what turned out to be a double dose of defeat for the Grinhams, Nicol David  beat the junior sister to reach her 52nd WISPA Tour final. Significant this, as it meant overhauling Rachael Grinham’s 51 appearances.

When the ‘N’s play eachother you can be sure of superlative scurrying. The remarkable retrieving was certainly on show tonight, but it was Nicol who was tending to control proceedings. She was regularly keeping Natalie behind her, and when the opportunity arose the ball was slotted away with an early taken drop.

Interestingly, after the match Grinham explained, ‘I haven’t played Nicol for a while so I was getting used to playing her again. I was trying to find the right game plan but in the end I took her too short too much’.  

The last time that Grinham had beaten David had been in the Seoul final two years ago, and now the Malaysian has taken eight on the reel. And if statistics are your bag, then the fact that David has an unblemished record of eleven wins against Duncalf means that the English girl has an uphill task ahead of her in the  final. She is playing well enough to have a chance of ending the run though.
   
Hopefully the showers will hold off so that the steps and seating will be packed as they were tonight for the BBQ Seoul Open denouement.

BBQ SEOUL WOMEN’S OPEN
I-Park Yongsan Mall

Semi Finals
Saturday 6th June, 2009
NICOL DAVID (MAS) (1) bt NATALIE GRINHAM (NED) (3) 11-4 11-6 11-8
JENNY DUNCALF (ENG) (4) bt RACHAEL GRINHAM (AUS) (2) 11-6 11-8 11-6

     

WISPA in the Seoul I-Park Plaza

Thursday's play in Seoul. the draw (photo: ©2009 )

 

 

Grainger, the in-form No2 seed from Greenwich, crushed England's Jenny Duncalf 11-6, 11-2, 11-3 in just 25 minutes - the fifth seed clearly feeling the effects of her marathon hour-long upset over fourth seed Natalie Grinham in the previous round.

"I'm very happy with how that went - I knew Jenny had a hard match and a good win yesterday, so I really wanted to make sure I was on my game from the start, take my time and make sure my shots were tight," explained Grainger, the reigning US and Pan American Games champions.

"I worked it well, good shot selection and once I got on top it was important to keep it going, you can't afford to let anyone back in.

"Now it's the same routine as before - good food, good sleep, breakfast, a bit of sun and ready to go for the next match!"