Tournament of Champions Women

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JANUARY
18-24, 2013

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Men's Event

Grinham Retains Tournament Of Champions

 TitleNatalie Grinham retained her Tournament of Champions title in Grand Central Terminal, New York City last night. 

The 34-year-old, seeded fourth for the WSA World Tour Silver 25 event, made a troubled start to the tournament, scraping a five-game battle against Nour El Tayeb.  But the Dutchwoman’s form improved as she progressed, closing out Sarah Kippax in four games before adding older sister Rachael Grinham to the list of defeats in an assured three-game display.

In the final she faced an Australian against whom she had never lost a WSA match.  Kasey Brown has seen a similarly tough five-game effort in her first round match, in which she came from two games behind to snatch victory against Heba El Torky. 

The No.3 seed then saw off the challenge of local hope Amanda Sobhy, before dismissing top seeded player Madeline Perry in the semi’s with a commanding 3-1 win to reach the final. 

Boasting a 6-0 lead over Brown in previous competitions, Grinham set about the early exchanges with lightning-quick attacks and energetic movement.  The opening points were spread evenly between the pair, but it was the Australian-born Dutchwoman who began to vary the pace to disrupt Brown’s rhythm and take the first game. 

A similar story unfolded in the second, with Brown unable to establish a foothold in the contest.  Grinham’s game-plan was executed perfectly, and she worked winning shots into her game to take a two-love lead against the higher seed. 

There was little Brown could do to combat the strategies of her opponent, and again at the half-way stage of the game, Grinham extended her lead.  She proved too quick, patient and lethal in the front corners on this occasion, and closed out her 19th WSA World Tour title in impressive fashion. 

Speaking after the match, Grinham spoke of her delight at retaining the Tournament of Champions title.  She said: “I wanted to get good length and width on the ball to take away any opportunities for Kasey to volley.  When I am moving well, I feel I should be able to get every ball back.”

“I am feeling a bit more tired than usual because looking after Kieran [Natalie’s son] takes a fair amount of energy. But that has turned out to be a good thing because I don’t have that extra energy that causes nervousness.”

“At the beginning of the week, I wouldn’t have thought I would win again,” Grinham reflected after the match, acknowledging the three higher ranking players in the draw. “It still hasn’t quite sunk in that I have won the Tournament of Champions again.”

Official Website: www.tocsquash.com

Tournament of Champions 2013
Women's Draw
16-24 Jan, New York, $25k
Grand Central Terminus, New York 

Reports

Grinham Sisters To Clash in TOC Semi's
 

Family rivalry will take over when Natalie and Rachael Grinham face each other in the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions semi-finals later today. 

Older sister Rachael, seeded fifth for the event, dispatched qualifier Joshana Chinappa after coming from a game down to progress to the next round of the WSA Tour Silver 25 event, held at Grand Central Station in New York City.  Chinappa had shocked crowds by defeating her compatriot and second seed Dipika Pallikal in round one, but was unable to sustain her good form to another upset.

Seeded just one place higher than her sibling, Natalie Grinham saw a tricky first round tie against Egyptian Nour El Tayeb.  The Dutch international won a close encounter in five-games, before also coming from a game behind to defeat No.8 seed Sarah Kippax of England. 

Tournament favourite Madeline Perry has been untroubled so far in the event, beating home interest Latasha Khan in three-games, before seeing off the challenge of No.7 seed Joey Chan of Hong Kong in last night’s quarter-finals.  The experienced Irishwoman will now face third seed Kasey Brown who was forced to two tiebreak games by local hope Amanda Sobhy yesterday.  Brown narrowly made it through the first round of the event after coming from two games down against qualifier Heba El Torky, to win in 62-minutes.