WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Swiss Open Squash Championships, Geneva, Switzerland

Men's semi-finals:
[1] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt [4] Liam Kenny (IRL) 15-11, 15-6, 13-15, 15-9
[2] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [7] Christian Drakenberg (SWE) 15-10, 15-14, 15-6
Final:
[1] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt [2] Jan Koukal (CZE) 15-13, 15-4, 15-8

Women's semi-finals:
[1] Annelize Naude (NED) bt [6] Lauren Briggs (ENG) 9-5, 9-3, 9-5
[2] Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) bt [Q] Charlie De Rycke (BEL) 9-3, 9-2, 5-9, 9-6
Final:
[1] Annelize Naude (NED) bt [2] Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) 9-6, 9-5, 9-7

Favourites Bianchetti & Naude Swoop To Swiss Success

Favourites Davide Bianchetti and Annelize Naude, from Italy and the Netherlands, respectively, claimed the titles in the 31st Swiss Open Squash Championships after straight games wins over the No2 seeds in the finals in Geneva.

Although Bianchetti celebrated his 27th birthday last week, it is almost six years since the Italian last celebrated a PSA Tour title success - in July 1998 when he recorded his first two international wins in Mexico within a week of each other!  The Brescia-based world No32 made headline news last December when he despatched favourite Peter Nicol - from 0/2 down - in the second round of the World Open in Pakistan.

Bianchetti dropped a game against Irishman Liam Kenny in the semi-finals, but after a close first game in the final, swept to a 15-13 15-4 15-8 victory over fast-improving young Czech player Jan Koukal to lift the title for the first time. 

The battle marked the world No47 from Prague's third appearance in a PSA Tour final this year.

The women's event saw England's Laura-Jane Lengthorn reach the final for the second successive year running, but Naude brushed aside the challenge of the twice former British junior national champion to win 9-6 9-5 9-7. 

The victory marked the 27-year-old world No25 from Amsterdam's second title on the WISPA World Tour - almost exactly two years after claiming her first in the Danish Open in March 2002. 

The second successive runners-up berth for Lengthorn also repeated an achievement the 20-year-old from Lancashire would probably prefer to forget:  The world No26 secured a place in the final of the European Junior Championships in March 2002, but for the second consecutive year failed to reach the winner's podium!