WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Women's Squashworks Open, Salt Lake City, USA

Final:
[5] Jenny Tranfield (ENG) bt [4] Stephanie Brind (ENG) 9-4, 9-2, 9-1

Tranfield Takes Salt Lake City Title

Jenny Tranfield notched up her third successive upset in the Women's Squashworks Open in Salt Lake City, USA, to defeat English compatriot Stephanie Brind in the final and claim the biggest of her nine titles on the WISPA World Tour.

Clearly the hard work that the 29-year-old fifth seed has recently put in with her coach Sue Wright paid off for her in the third Squashworks Open.  After dismissing third seed Shelley Kitchen in the quarter-finals, then the No1 seed Fiona Geaves in the semi-finals, Tranfield sailed through the final against fourth seed Stephanie Brind 9-4 9-2 9-1 in 28 minutes.

The final started competitively, with Tranfield taking an early 3-0 lead only to see Brind battle back to go ahead 4-3 on a beautiful forehand drop for a winner. That small one point advantage in the first game would prove to be Brind's only lead of the match.

The trademark feature of Tranfield's Squashworks success was her court coverage and ability to get out of trouble with amazing retrievals and then end the rallies with aggressive attacking shots.  In a memorable rally in the first game, Brind had Tranfield on the run and had executed what appeared to be a winning forehand drop to the right corner. Tranfield, on full run, stretched for the ball and flicked it across the tin to the left corner.  Brind got to the ball easily, and noting that Tranfield was scrambling back to the middle from her earlier forehand get, tried to hit a hard crosscourt drive behind the moving Tranfield.  Somehow, Tranfield forced her racquet up and just got her strings on the ball to hit a winner into the vacant court.

This point catapulted Tranfield to a first game triumph as she won the next four points to go up 8-4 and then closed the game after a few hand-outs 9-4. The momentum of her first game win, coupled with Brind's obvious fatigue propelled Tranfield to a 5-0 lead in the second game. Tranfield used deceptive backhand drops from the backcourt to further discourage Brind.

The final game once again started with an insurmountable lead for Tranfield as she pushed ahead 7-0. To her credit, Brind tried desperately to regain the form that saw her beat Tania Bailey in the quarters.  She forced four hand-outs and did claim one point.  But in the end, Tranfield's superior fitness came into play and the world No17 clinched the match in straight games.