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Tania Bailey, British
Prodigy, climbing back up after injury
Profiled by Rob Dinerman, Feb 2002
copyright © 2002, Squashtalk. Reproduction prohibited.
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Tania Bailey.
Stamford, England
Resides: Stamford, England
Age:
22.
WISPA ranking: 17.
Highest ranking: 5
This sandy-haired 22-year-old native of England has been considered the heiress apparent to the great tradition of British squash stand-outs ever since 1997, when at age 17 she won the European, British and World under-19 championships.
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| Bailey and Grinham in San Francisco |
Bailey is a refreshing presence on the WISPA tour. Her agility, speed and effortless endurance make her an opponent to be feared by her fellow tour members. Add to that her totally unflappable demeanor on court, and she should be able to mount a serious challenge to the top four.
Introduced to the game during her childhood by squash-playing parents, she progressed quickly and began winning junior tournaments by the time she was 11 years old.
She had risen to No. 5 in the world by early 2001 when her rapid upward climb was derailed by a multi-vehicle car accident that caused both a diagnosed case of whiplash and, more ominously, a long-undiagnosed bone chip off her right kneecap that didn't show up on a medical scan but became lodged in her patellar tendon, causing problems that only worsened as the spring months progressed.
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| Bailey with an effortless volley |
Though Bailey missed only one event-the British Nationals, in which she had been seeded No. 1---the pain progressed to the point where last June she had to withdraw from the quarter-finals of a WISPA event in Hong Kong and limped home, where in a subsequent operation the chip was finally discovered and its inflammatory presence removed.
Her ranking dropped to No. 13 during her enforced six-month lay-off, and the Tournament of Champions was her first post-surgery tournament. She led Egyptian qualifier Engy Abdul Kawy two games to one and had a total of five match-balls in the fifth game but at this point her understandable "ring rust" caught up with her, as she lacked the match toughness to close it out and eventually lost in a tiebreaker.
Notwithstanding this slight setback, both Bailey and English National Women's Team Coach Paul Carter are confident that she will regain her winning form once she has a few tournaments under her belt ("She definitely belongs back in the top five," Carter asserted) and re-establish herself as a major force near the top echelon of the game.
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| Tania Bailey versus Natalie Grainger in Edinburgh |
You can reach Rob Dinerman by email at Email: rob@squashtalk.com
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