WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Credit Suisse Privilege Women's World Open Squash Championship, Hong Kong

2nd round:
[1] Carol Owens (NZL) bt [11] Vicky Botwright (ENG) 9-5, 9-2, 9-3 (33m)
[7] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [12] Stephanie Brind (ENG) 9-2, 9-3, 9-2 (24m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [10] Jenny Tranfield (ENG) 9-3, 9-1, 9-3 (37m)
[6] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [9] Rebecca Macree (ENG) 9-0, 3-9, 9-2, 4-9, 5-0 ret. (44m)
[5] Linda Charman (ENG) bt Madeline Perry (IRL) 10-8, 9-1, 9-0 (22m)
[4] Cassie Jackman (ENG) bt [15] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 9-2, 9-0, 9-6 (32m)
[13] Fiona Geaves (ENG) bt Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 9-10, 9-4, 9-5, 9-3 (34m)
Nicol David (MAS) bt [2] Natalie Grainger (USA) 4-9, 9-3, 9-5, 9-7 (47m)

David Despatches Qatar Classic Champion Grainger In Hong Kong

Unseeded Malaysian Nicol David not only pulled off the biggest upset of the event so far, but also claimed the biggest scalp of her short career, when she beat second seed Natalie Grainger in today's (Wednesday) second round of the Credit Suisse Privilege Women's World Open Squash Championship in Hong Kong.

The shock result comes only five days after Grainger lifted the Qatar Classic title in Doha, triumphing over world No1 Carol Owens in the final.  David, the 20-year-old former world junior champion from Penang, clinically removed the in-form American 4-9 9-3 9-5 9-7 in 47 minutes, the longest match of the day.

Grainger, the 26-year-old former South African No1 who last year came close to the title, losing to Sarah Fitz-Gerald 8-10 in the fourth game, was expected to seriously challenge for the world title made vacant by Fitz-Gerald's retirement at the start of 2003.

A delighted David said:  "My plan was to stop Natalie playing the short game with which she can be so strong.  In the early part of the match I was not entirely successful but as I managed to lengthen the game and keep her in the back court more later on, I was able to force her into more errors than usual.

"This is absolutely my best win to date. I am so pleased that I stayed with the game plan and kept my discipline."

The performance takes the youngest player in the tournament to a quarter-final against Fiona Geaves, at 36 the oldest player on the world circuit.  One of three Englishwomen dominating the lower half of the draw, Geaves came back from a game down to defeat France's lone competitor Isabelle Stoehr 9-10 9-4 9-5 9-3.

The adjacent all-English quarter-final pitches the fourth-seeded British national champion Cassie Jackman against fifth seed Linda Charman.  Jackman dismissed New Zealand's Shelley Kitchen 9-2 9-0 9-6 in 32 minutes today, while Charman beat Ireland's Madeline Perry 10-8 9-1 9-0 in 22 minutes.

By contrast, the top half of the draw rid itself of all English interest.  Ninth seed Rebecca Macree was forced to stop against the sixth-seeded Dutch champion Vanessa Atkinson with the scoreline reading 9-0 3-9 9-2 4-9 5-0.  The Essex player retired after 44 minutes and was taken by ambulance to the nearby Adventist Hospital with an ankle ligament injury that required overnight restriction in a cast and more investigation tomorrow.

The 32-year-old world No8 seemed ill at ease when she took to the glass showcourt - and Atkinson looked the likely winner from the start, through her ability to occasionally disguise her shot direction both to the front court and the deep corners.

Macree was trailing 0-5 in the fifth game, after fighting hard to level the match at 2-2.  Chasing a deceptive but poor length delivery towards the top right-hand corner, Macree fell into the wall as she scooped the ball back into play with her foot angled unnaturally into the nick and, as she tried to spring upright again, sharply pressured the joint against itself.

Within seconds she was crying out in pain and immediate attention from England's travelling physiotherapist, Pauline Newton, could only provide superficial cooling until the ambulance men arrived on the scene.

Atkinson will now meet the third seeded Rachael Grinham, the British Open champion from Australia, who took 37 minutes to relinquish seven points to England's Jenny Tranfield - compared to the 24 minutes her younger sister Natalie allowed for the same consolidated points score in her straight games victory over Stephanie Brind in the adjacent quarter.

Natalie Grinham goes to the top-seeded Carol Owens in the quarter-finals.  The world No1 from New Zealand dismissed the remaining English player in the half with a 9-5 9-2 9-3 win over 11th seed Vicky Botwright.

Official website: www.worldsquashopen.com/