WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Qatar Squash Classic, Doha, Qatar

Men's final:
[9] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [2] John White (SCO) 15-12, 15-5, 11-15, 12-15, 15-9 (94m)

Women's final:
[2] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [1] Carol Owens (NZL) 10-9, 9-7, 9-10, 9-4 (61m)

Beachill & Grainger Claim Qatar Titles

The richest squash championships of the year produced stunning upsets in both finals in Doha tonight (Friday) when England's ninth seed Lee Beachill beat second-seeded Scot John White to claim the men's title and Natalie Grainger, the No2 seed from the USA, overcame New Zealand favourite Carol Owens to collect the women's trophy in the $225,000 Qatar Squash Classic at the Khalifa Squash Complex.

Beachill, the 26-year-old world No9 from Pontefract in his first PSA Super Series final, raced to a 2/0 lead over White, the world No2 from Nottingham.  But the 30-year-old Scot, in his fourth final of the year, pulled back to level the match.

However, the Yorkshireman who raised his game two days earlier to trounce the world No1 and defending champion Peter Nicol in straight games, dug deep and ultimately prevailed 15-12 15-5 11-15 12-15 15-9 in 94 minutes to secure his first PSA Tour title since January 2001 - and unquestionably the biggest of his career.

"I can hardly believe it," exclaimed the jubilant champion on his personal website www.LeeBeachill.com  "This has been a great week for me - my win over Peter Nicol gave me a lot of confidence, and now this victory over John has boosted me even more, showing that I've got both physical strength as well as ability.

"I feel I've done it the hard way, with a lot of tough matches over the week.  But overall, I'm just over the moon - it's without doubt the most satisfying win of my career," added the England international.

The women's final had the audience sitting on the edge of their seats throughout.  Owens, the world No1, raced to an 8-3 lead in the first game.  An initially nervous Grainger saved the game-ball, then fought back to 8-8 in a single hand.  Moments later it was the American who had her first game-ball at 9-8, then converted the second at 9-9 to take the early advantage.

The second game was almost the reverse of the first, with a now confident Grainger quickly moving to 8-3, with Owens saving seven further game-balls before the 26-year-old from Washington DC finally went 2/0 ahead.

Owens edged the third game, but Grainger rallied back in the fourth to claim a dramatic 10-9 9-7 9-10 9-4 victory in 61 minutes..

"I can't believe it, really," said Grainger, the WISPA President afterwards.  "Six weeks ago I lost in the first round of the US Open, so I had to have time out to think - and now I'm back, loving my squash again.  It seems to be all coming together heading into the World Open next week in Hong Kong. 

"Game points against Carol are the hardest thing in the world to win - she keeps coming back.  But I was damned if I was going to have another five-gamer with her," said the world No5, referring to their matches in the World Open a year ago and in the Tournament of Champions at the beginning of the year.