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Official Website
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Men's Event
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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.”
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1st Round Highlight
Chinappa beats 2nd seed Pallikal |
Natalie Grinham
bt Sarah Kippax in the Quarter Finals
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Official Website:
www.tocsquash.com
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Tournament
of Champions
2013
Women's Draw
16-24
Jan, New York, $25k
Grand Central Terminus, New York |
Round One
21 Jan |
Quarters
22 Jan |
Semis
23 Jan |
Final
24 Jan |
[1] Madeline Perry
(Irl)
11-9, 11-8, 11-2 (27m)
Latasha Khan (Usa) |
Madeline Perry
11-9, 11-2, 11-5
(28m)
Joey Chan |
Madeline Perry
11/6, 11/8, 8/11, 11/6
Kasey Brown |
Kasey Brown
v
Natalie Grinham |
[7] Joey Chan
(Hkg)
12-10, 11-8, 11-6 (31m)
Lauren Briggs (Eng) |
[3] Kasey Brown (Aus)
9-11, 8-11 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 (62m)
[Q] Heba El Torky |
Kasey Brown
11-8, 15-13,
12-10 (51m)
Amanda Sobhy |
[6] Amanda Sobhy
(Usa)
11-8,11-1, 11-7 (28m)
Delia Arnold (Mas) |
[Q] Sam Cornett (Can)
11-9,11-5,11-8 (33m)
[8] Sarah Kippax (Eng) |
Sarah Kippax
10-12, 11-5,
11-4, 11-6 (43m)
Natalie Grinham |
Natalie Grinham
11/9, 11/2, 11/7
Rachael Grinham |
Nour El Tayeb (Egy)
9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4 (49m)
[4] Natalie Grinham (Ned) |
[Q] Amanda Landers-Murphy (Nal)
13-11,11-4, 11-5 (26m)
[5] Rachael Grinham (Aus) |
Rachael Grinham
8-11, 11-9, 11-4,
11-8 (46m)
Joshana Chinappa |
[Q] Joshana Chinappa (Ind)
11-7,11-7, 3-11, 11-8 (43m)
[2] Dipika Pallikal (Ind) |
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.
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PLATINUM
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Silver
Bronze
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Sanctioned by
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