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Kuala Lumpur Women's World Open 2004
07-11 December, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
World
Title
To Atkinson
Vanessa Atkinson, who remained in The Hague when her
British father moved on to pursue his civil engineering career
elsewhere, became the first Dutch player ever to win a world squash
title.
The sport's most surprising late developer achieved that with an
overwhelming 9-1, 9-1, 9-5 victory in the final over Natalie Grinham,
the Australian who had beaten her at the Dutch Open at her home city
six months ago.
Atkinson thus defeated on successive days the first two sisters ever
to reach the later stages of a major World Open, having crushed the
world number one, Rachael Grinham, in straight games in Friday's
semi-finals.
But
the 28-year-old third seed had become odds on favourite even before
her one-sided revenge. Natalie Grinham had left almost everything on
the court the day before, when she had recovered from 0-4 down in the
decider in an epic semi-final against the local heroine, Nicol David.
"I knew Natalie was very tired," said Atkinson. "So I went on with a
specific plan. I tried to keep her deep and play the rallies long, and
it (her oppoenent's tiredness) was showing already in the first game."
But Atkinson denied that this had made it easy. "I knew it was within
my grasp. But it was actually one of the hardest finals I have
played," she claimed. "I think I was thinking about not losing rather
than winning. I was wanting to get off the court too quickly rather
than making it hard for her."
It was this impetuousness which brought one or two errors and allowed
the younger Grinham to play out the longer rallies with a little more
hope and occasionally to score with some deft drops and wrong-footing
boasts.
But Atkinson generally hit the ball too hard and deep, had the right
game plan, and was by far the fresher player. "I was just a bit late
on the ball most of the time," said Grinham. "But I did all I could."
Despite her self-deprecation, Atkinson was many people's pick forthe
title before this surprising tournament unfolded. She hads
ignificantly improved both footwork and stamina with the help of
trainer Jan-Willem Koopman, enabling her to purvey an already
impressive array of shots with fewer errors.
This had helped her to six titles during the year - more than the rest
of her career put together. Her decision to miss the Shanghai
tournament three weeks ago may also have been a significant one,
helping her to arrive in Malaysia fresher than some of her rivals.
Atkinson may now be a candidate for the Sports Personality of the Year
awards in The Netherlands in a week's time. She certainly has the
capacity – with her better movement and potentially improved finances
– to become the undisputed leader of the women's game during 2005. |
Cassie Jackman
Reports From
World Open in Kuala
Lumpur
(Above: New Zealand's Shelley
Kitchen goes through to the quarters with win over Jackman.)
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KL Women's World Open
2004
07-11
December, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, $63k |
First Round
Tue 07 |
Last 16
Wed 08 |
Quarters
Thu 09 |
Semis
Fri 10 |
Final
Sat 11 |
[1]
Rachael Grinham (AUS)
9-0, 9-4, 9-2 (21 m)
Melissa Martin (AUS) |
Rachael Grinham
9-1, 9-0, 7-9, 9-5 (50m)
Madeline Perry |
Rachael
Grinham
9-1, 9-1, 9-7 |
Atkinson
9-0, 9-2, 9-2 |
Atkinson
9-1, 9-1, 9-5 |
[16]
Madeline
Perry (IRL)
9-4, 9-2, 9-5 (44 min)
Rebecca Chiu (HKG) |
[7] Fiona
Geaves (ENG)
9/1, 10/9, 9/4 (38 m)
Tania Bailey (ENG) |
Tania Bailey
7-9, 9-2, 9-3, 9-6 (47m)
Jenny Tranfield |
[10]
Jenny Tranfield (ENG)
9-4, 9-0, 9-0 (29M)
Kasey Brown (AUS) |
[3]
Vanessa Atkinson (NED)
9-2, 5-9, 9-2, 9-7 (30m)
Pamela Nimmo (SCO) |
Vanessa Atkinson
9-6. 9-6, 2-9, 10-8 (55m)
V.
Botwright |
Atkinson
7-9, 9-1, 9-3 (35m) |
[11]
Vicky Botwright (ENG)
9-7, 10-8, 8-10, 9-3 (55m)
Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) |
[5]
Linda
Elriani (ENG)
9-3, 9-4, 9-1
Engy Kheirallah (EGY) |
Elriani
9-5, 9-7, 8-10, 9-2 (79m)
Duncalf |
[13]
Jenny Duncalf (ENG)
9-3, 9-6, 9-3 (30m)
Latasha Khan (USA) |
Laura
Lengthorn (ENG)
6-9, 9-4, 9-7, 9-7 (63m)
[14] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) |
Lengthorn
9-5, 9-7, 9-5 (48m)
Macree |
Natalie
Grinham
9-6, 9-3, 9-0 |
Grinham
9-3 9-7, 2-9,
9-10, 9-7 |
Carla Khan (PAK)
9-7, 9-3, 7-9, 9-7 (83m)
[8]
Rebecca Macree (ENG) |
Runa
Reta (CAN)
9-4. 2-9, 7-9, 9-5, 9-4 (67m)
[15] Stephanie Brind (ENG) |
Stephanie Brind
9-7, 9-4, 9-1 (42m)
Natalie Grinham |
Annelize Naude (NED)
10-8, 9-1, 9-4 (44m)
[4] Natalie Grinham (AUS) |
Alison Waters (ENG)
2-9, 6-9, 9-4, 9-3, 9-5 (56m)
[9] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) |
Alison Waters
10-8, 7-9, 9-2, 10-8 (55m)
Nicol David |
David
9-7, 9-3, 9-4 (29m). |
Tegwen
Malik (WAL)
9-3, 9-0, 9-3 (21m)
[6] Nicol David (MAS) |
Amelia Pittock (AUS)
9-4, 6-9, 9-1, 9-5 (51m)
[12] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) |
Kitchen
9-5, 9-4, 9-7 (43m)
Cassie Jackman |
Dominque Lloyd-Walter
9-1, 9-1, 9-5 (29m)
[2] Cassie Jackman (ENG) |
Qualifying
(05/06 Dec):
First Round:
Engy Kheirallah (EGY)
bye
Suzie Pierrepont (ENG) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 10/8, 9/10, 2/9,
9/4, 9/6 (74m)
Melissa Martin (AUS) bt Lim Yok Wah (MAS) 9/4, 9/1, 9/5 (23m)
Becky Botwright (ENG) bt Jemma Saxby (AUS) 9/3, 9/1, 9/1 (18m)
Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt Triciah Chuah (MAS) 9/2, 9/6, 9/5
Diane Desira (AUS) bt Delia Arnold (MAS) 9/6, 9/6, 9/5 (27m)
Heidi Mather (AUS) bt Nur Adawiyah (SIN) 9/1, 9/0, 9/1 (20m)
Runa Reta (CAN) by Sally Looi (MAS) 9/4, 9/4, 9/4 (28m)
Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Amnah El Trabolsy (EGY) 9/0, 9/4, 9/6
(28m)
Nicolette Fernandes (GUY) bt Eman El Amir (EGY) 9/3, 10/8,
9/10, 9/0 (45m)
Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Sarah Kippax (ENG) 8/10, 6/9, 9/7,
9/3, 9/6 (51m)
Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) bt Elise Ng (HKG) 9/2, 9/4, 9/0 (20m)
Lauren Briggs (ENG) bye
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt Manuela Manetta (ITA) 9/2,
9/7, 9/0 (30m)
Karen Kronemeyer (NED) bye
Tegwen Malik (WAL) bye
Qualifying finals:
Engy
Kheirallah (Egy) bt S. Pierrepont (Eng) 9/7, 9/3, 9/2 (35m)
Melissa Martin (Aus) bt R. Botwright (Eng) 3/9, 8/10, 9/2, 9/5, 9/7
(47m)
Amelia Pittock (Aus) bt D. Desira (Aus) 9/7, 9/0, 9/7 (46m)
Runa Reta (Can) bt H. Mather (Aus) 9/5, 9/5, 9/4 (31m)
Kasey Brown (Aus) bt N. Fernandes (Guy) 8/10, 9/7, 9/2, 9/6 (73m)
Tamsyn Leevey (Nzl) bt R. El Weleily (Egy) 9/5, 9/3, 9/6 (31m)
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng) bt Lauren Briggs (Eng) 9/6, 9/6, 9/3
(57m)
Tegwen Malik (Wal) bt Karen Kronemeyer (Ned) 9/0, 6/9, 9/7, 9/2 (43m)
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Atkinson
moves to favourites position
Vanessa
Atkinson made herself odds on favourite to become the first Dutch
winner of a world squash title when she overwhelmed the top seed,
Rachael Grinham, by 9-2, 9-2, 9-0 in only 23 minutes.
The
third-seeded British-born Atkinson's outstanding performance was her
second victory over the Australian within a week and confirmed her as
the most dangerously improved player on the circuit this year.
Her chances of a bit of sporting history for The Netherlands were
increased by the even more surprising semi-final which followed, in
which the lesser known of the Grinham sisters won one of the finest
and most exhausting matches the World Open has ever seen.
Natalie Grinham's 9-3,9-7,2-9,9-10,9-7 win over Nicol
David lasted almost an hour and a half and contained rallies of such
athletic brilliance that there were times when both players seemed
close to collapse.
David,
the former world junior champion and local heroine, seemed certain to
triumph when she recovered from two games down, saved a match point at
8-9 in the fourth game and advanced rapidly to 4-0 in the fifth game.
But most people reckoned without the guts, the brains, and the desire
of the younger sibling, who clung resiliently to the chance of
escaping her sister's shadow.
"At 0-4 I realised that I was being over-cautious," Natalie said. "I
thought that if I'm going to lose, I'm not going to lose like this.
"So I played a couple of high tempo rallies again and won a few
points. I didn't know if I had enough left to keep doing that, but I
decided to pretend that I had."
Near the end the players dropped their rackets simultaneously at the
conclusion of an immense rally, and both struggled to continue.
Grinham then had to wait agonisingly to convert her match point
because David had almost performed an astounding behind-the-back
interception, only to see her volley sail over the front wall and on
to a disatnt balcony.
When at last the ball was retrieved Natalie finished it with a
nerveless dropshot-drive combination and the two players embraced
emotionally. "Although my body hurt I thought I could push through,"
said David. "But she played truly great rallies to get those points
back."
Atkinson watched with other, more self-interested feelings as both
semi-finals unfolded in a manner which could hardly have helped her
more. Her victory always seemed probable after she won a long rally at
1-0, after which Rachael Grinham subsided disappointingly.
"I didn't have much left at the end of a long season,"she explained.
Atkinson seemed as surprised as anyone at the devastation which her
varied and consistent attack created. "I was expecting it to be
difficult," she said. "But I feel like I played my best game."
David
Sinks
Kitchen's Hopes
Nicol David, the best known sports woman in Malaysia,
increased her chances of becoming one of the better known sports women
in the world by reaching the semi-final of the World Open squash
championships.
The 21-year-old former world junior champion moved to within two wins
of a piece of history when she overcame giantkiller Shelley Kitchen
9-7 9-3 9-4 before an adoring home crowd at the Malaysian national
squash centre."
Everything came together at the right time," said David. "I was seing
it really well, and anything is possible now. I hope the home crowd
can cheer me all the way now."
David's performance was characterised by great speed, deftness and
disguise in the front court, and an impressive calm, and it earned her
a surprisingly emphatic triumph over the 12th seeded New Zealander.
Only
the day before Kitchen had ousted Cassie Jackman, the second-seeded
former world champion from England, but now, after leading 7-6 in the
first game, she was outplayed by the fleet-footed Malay.
The rally by which David reached 7-7, when Kitchen played a
good-looking drop shot only to find David instantly there to drive it
for a winner, made an important statement - that there were no places
where Kitchen could put the ball and make it safe.
When David won the first two points of the second game, each with lob
service winners taking awkward bounces in the back corner, Kitchen
tossed her racket high in the air in disgust. Her mood was frayed
after that and her game lacking consistency.
David raced to 6-0 in the second game and to 4-0 in the third, and her
confidence appeared to mount even more quickly than the score, leaving
little chance of a Kitchen recovery.
David next plays the fourth seeded Australian, Natalie Grinham, who
won 9-6,9-3,9-0 against Rebecca Macree, a member of England's world
team title winning squad in Sheffield in 2000.
Grinham made surprisingly one-sided progress after her opponent was
rather harshly denied a let at 6-6 in the first game, and Macree
slipped dispiritedly away to defeat amidst an increasing ratio of
errors.
The entertainment highlight was simultaneous falls in which Grinham
almost did the splits as she went down while the tall Macree toppled
head first over her, providing the cameramen with unusual images like
a couple of acrobats forming a human wheel.
If David fails to go further, the World Open could have two sisters in
the final for the first time. Natalie's elder sister Rachael Grinham,
the top seed, also won, convincingly beating Jenny Tranfield, the
tenth-seeded English player 9-1,9-1, 9-7.
Now however the favourite's real test comes. Rachael's semi-final is
against Vanessa Atkinson, the third-seeded Newcastle-born Dutch number
one who is many people's tip for the title. Atkinson overcame Rachael
in the final of the Qatar Classi in Doha six days ago and earned her
chance to do it again when she was leading Linda Elriani by 7-9
9-1,9-3 and the red-faced 'flu-ridden English player retired.
Jackman's
Performance Leaves Numb Feeling
Former world champion Cassie Jackman's career may be in
danger after she collapsed to a 40-minute straight games defeat in the
women's World Open squash championships.
Jackman
suffered numbness in her left leg early on during her 9-5,
9-4,
9-7 loss
to the 12th-seeded New Zealander, Shelley Kitchen, and by the end of
the match she was having difficulty pushing off with it.
The symptoms are similar to those which the English
player experienced at last month's British Open in Nottingham and
before the two major back operations she has had in the last four
years.
The setback has also occurred only six days after Jackman withdrew
from the Qatar Classic with rib pains and difficulty breathing. Then
she was kept in hospital in Doha overnight and although tests revealed
nothing, doctors were worried her symptoms might indicate deep vein
thrombosis caused by long haul travel.
This brought rumours that Jackman, winner of the world title in
Seattle in 2000, might pull out of this year's World Open, but after
flying to Kuala Lumpur she decided to take a chance on playing.
"Maybe that wasn't the right decision," she admitted. "I now know
there is something going on and I'm going home immediately to find out
what it is."
England's physio Pauline Newton tried to dispel fears that Jackman
might still have a DVT problem. "My first reaction is that this isn't
the same," Newton said. "What happened last week was totally different
and Cassie has always had some symptoms in her left leg. But it will
have to be assessed."
Kitchen took her chance well, volleying confidently against the lobs
which Jackman tossed up during a a revival which carried her to 7-4 in
the third game, and now plays Nicol David, Malaysian's best known
sportswoman.
David,
the 21-year-old sixth-seeded former world junior champion from Penang,
halted a comeback from 1-8 to 8-8 in the fourth game by England's
unseeded Alison Waters before winning 10-8, 7-9,9-2,10-8.
Kitchen is good enough to become the second Kiwi finalist in
succession - titleholder Carol Owens has retired since winning it in
Hong Kong last year - but Jackman's departure has increased the
possibility of Australians making a piece of history on Saturday.
The favourite to come through in the bottom half is now Natalie
Grinham, the fourth seeded Australian, who won 9-7,9-4,9-1 against
another English woman, Stephanie Brind, the winner of the deciding
match in the world team final at Sheffield in 2000.
If Grinham does reach the final it opens up the possibility of the
first pair of sisters ever to contest a World open final. Elder sister
Rachael Grinham is the top seed and reached the quarter-final with a
9-1, 9-0, 7-9, 9-5 win over Madeline Perry, the Irish number one.
England
Cause Upsets on Day 1
Cassie Jackman, the former world squash champion who considered
quitting her bid to win the world title back because of fears of deep
vein thrombosis from long haul flights, overcame her anxieties to
survive her first round match in the World Open.
The 31-year-old English woman had endured prolonged testing and a
sleepless night in a Doha hospital but had recovered well enough to
avoid any first round stumbles as she overcame her compatriot
Dominique Lloyd-Water in less then half an hour.
"I was quite pleased with that," said Jackman after her 9-1,9-1,9-5
win. "It's nice to get it over and done with. I feel fine, but it will
get harder from now on."
The second-seeded Jackman realises she should know far better afterher
next match against New Zealand number one Shelley Kitchen whether
there is any risk of a return of the pains and breathlessness which
caused her to retire in the semi-finals of last week's Qatar Classic.
Kitchen has been in the best form of her life this year although she
wasn't quite in top form as she reached the second round with a 9-4,
6-9,
9-1,
9-5 victory over Amelia Pittock, a member of Australia's world
title winning team in Amsterdam last month.
Three seeds fell at the first hurdle. They were Fiona Geaves, the
number seven from England, Omneya Abdel Kawy, the number nine from
Egypt, and Isabelle Stoehr, the number 14 from France, and the most
surprising of them was Kawy.
The
19-year-old from Cairo let slip a two-game lead as her stamina proved
unequal to the task of containing the hard-working 20-year-old Alison
Waters, from England, who thus repeated the win she had over Kawy in
Monte Carlo last year.
Waters' 2-9,6-9,9-,9-3,9-5 win earned her a meeting with the woman
whose image is superimposed ominously upon the Petronas Towers in the
tournament's citty-wide poster, Nicol David, the former world junior
champion.
David, labelled the most famous woman in Malaysian sport, who carried
the Olympic torch on its final journey to Athens, and who summarily
dismissed Tegwen Malik, the best Welsh player for the loss of only six
points and appeared to be revelling in the attention she received.
Geaves, who celebrated her 37th birthday the day before the
tournament and is the oldest woman on the tour, was unlucky to draw a
first
round with the most danbgerous come-back player on the tour, Tania
Bailey,
a member of England's world title winning side at Sheffield in 2000.
Bailey, who is surely heading back to the top ten after eight
months on the side line with a mystery virus, always looked the
probable
winner, despite needing to save three game balls in the second game of
her
9-4, 10-9, 9-4 success.
Stoehr, who had hoped to produce a good performance to follow the
triumph of her French compatriot, Thierry Lincou, who won the men's
World
Open only four days ago, was also confronted by an in-form English
woman.
This was the 21-year-old Laura Lengthorn, whose long reach, calm
demeanour, and willingness to volley have carried her to the verge of
the
world's top 20 for the first time, and who came from 1-3 down in the
third
game and from 3-7 down in the fourth game to win 6-9,
9-4,
9-7,
9-7.
Qualifying 1st Round:
EL AMIR FALLS
Nicolette Fernandes, Guyana's only full-time squash player, caused a significant upset in the first qualifying round of the Women's KL World Open Championship today (Sunday) in Malaysia when she defeated Egypt's world No32 Eman El Amir 9-3 10-8 9-10 9-0 in 45 minutes at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
The 21-year-old world No75, who is based in Manchester in England, will now face Australia's Kasey Brown for a place in the main draw. Brown also beat an Egyptian, Amnah El Trabolsy, 9-0 9-4 9-6.
Qualifying Finals:
Aussies Excel In KL World Open Qualifiers
The Australian representation in tomorrow's (Tuesday) first round of
the Women's KL World Open Championship in Malaysia has been boosted to
five following the success of Melissa Martin, Kasey Brown and Amelia
Pittock in today's qualifying finals at the National Squash Centre in
Bukit Jalil on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
Martin, from Adelaide but now based in the USA, fought from two games
down to overcome England's European Champion Rebecca Botwright 3-9
8-10 9-2 9-5 9-7 in 47 minutes - and is now paired up with compatriot
and top seed Rachael Grinham in the first round.
Kasey Brown, 19, from Port Maquarie in NSW, ended the brave run of
Guyana's Nicolette Fernandes, but needed 73 minutes to quash the
country's only professional squash player 8-10 9-7 9-2 9-6 to earn a
place in the main draw against England's tenth seed Jenny Tranfield.
Amelia Pittock, from Dromana, won an all-Australian clash against
Dianne Desira, beating the 23-year-old from Victoria 9-7 9-0 9-7 to
set up a first round meeting with New Zealand's 12th seed Shelley
Kitchen.
England's sole survivor in the qualifiers was Dominique Lloyd-Walter,
the Middlesex 23-year-old who beat compatriot Lauren Briggs 9-6 9-6
9-3 in 57 minutes and will now meet another English opponent Cassie
Jackman in the first round.
Jackman, the No2 seed and World Open champion in 1999, is making her
first appearance on court since withdrawing from last week's Qatar
Classic suffering with breathing difficulties. The world No2 from
Norfolk spent a night in hospital in Doha - undergoing various tests,
all of which were negative - but now looks forward to resuming her
squash career in KL.
"I feel fine and I will be playing tomorrow and beyond if I win, just
as long as I continue to feel good," said Jackman.
All eyes will be on the predicted semi-final meeting between top seed
Rachael Grinham and the third seed Vanessa Atkinson, the seven-times
Dutch champion who beat the Australian in straight games in last
week's Qatar Classic final.
Local interest in the KL World Open will be led by Nicol David, the
21-year-old from Penang who has been promoted to sixth seed following
the last-minute withdrawal of USA's fourth seed Natalie Grainger.
Twice a winner of the Women's World Junior title, David has yet to
claim the senior title - but is currently enjoying the best form of
her career and would relish the chance to claim the KL world trophy on
home soil!
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