WORLD SQUASH NEWS
RESULTS: Women's Texas Open Squash Championship, Dallas, USA
1st round:
[1] Carol Owens (NZL) bt Fiona Geaves (ENG) 9-4, 9-0, 9-5 (30m)
[8] Rebecca Macree (ENG) bt [Q] Vicky Botwright (ENG) 9-6, 9-5, 6-9, 5-9,
9-1 (65m)
[4] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9-2, 9-1, 9-6 (19m)
Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [6] Tania Bailey (ENG) w/o
[5] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt Stephanie Brind (ENG) 9-1, 9-7, 9-5 (32m)
[3] Linda Charman (ENG) bt [Q] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 9-5, 9-7, 10-8 (37m)
[7] Cassie Jackman (ENG) bt Jenny Tranfield (ENG) 10-8, 9-1, 9-4 (35m)
[2] Natalie Pohrer (USA) bt [Q] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 9-4, 9-1, 9-5 (23m)
President Pohrer In Powerful Plaza Opener
Natalie Pohrer led domestic interest in the opening round of the Women's
Texas Open Squash Championship in Dallas, USA, in powerful style as she
crushed Egyptian qualifier Omneya Abdel Kawy in straight games 24 hours after
being elected the first US President of the Women's International Squash
Players' Association (WISPA).
Office workers and shoppers looked down from the balconies and windows of the
levels on all four sides of the Plaza of the Americas in downtown Dallas,
where the first WISPA Grand Prix event of the year is being staged on WISPA's
all-glass showcourt on the atrium ice rink - a highly innovative and public
setting for the high-level competition between the world's top women squash
players.
Second seed Pohrer, the 25-year-old world No2 from St Louis, took just 23
minutes to beat 17-year-old Kawy, the world No13, 9-4 9-1 9-5 to earn a place
in the quarter-finals.
Pohrer, raised in South Africa but born in England, next faces former
compatriot Cassie Jackman, the seventh seed who survived an all-English first
round clash with unseeded Jenny Tranfield. Tranfield, who boasts a PhD in
Sports Psychology, scurried to an 8-3 lead in the opening game, but Jackman -
winner of the Las Vegas Open four days earlier - fought back to claim a 10-8
9-1 9-4 victory in 35 minutes.
Another all-English battle went the full distance when qualifier Vicky
Botwright pulled back from 2-0 down to level the match against 8th seed
Rebecca Macree. The Lancastrian had little left in reserve at this point,
and Macree stormed to a 9-6 9-5 6-9 5-9 9-1 win in 65 minutes to move into
the last eight where she faces top-seeded New Zealander Carol Owens.
Title-holder Owens, playing in her first event since becoming world No1, beat
England's Fiona Geaves 9-4 9-0 9-5 in 30 minutes. "I've come over here
feeling good after having some good hits at home and getting to a few local
men's event finals," said the confident favourite afterwards.
The most disheartened competitor was undoubtedly England's sixth seed Tania
Bailey, hoping to resume her playing career after resting completely for more
than two weeks trying to shake off a mystery virus. The world No4 from
Lincolnshire withdrew after practice in the morning, feeling "sick and shaky"
again after the workout. "I thought it had cleared my body as my practice
went okay yesterday and my heart rate was fine. Now I feel bad again so need
to get some more tests done," said the disconsolate 23-year-old.
Australia's unseeded Natalie Grinham was the beneficiary of the walkover and
will now face her sister Rachael Grinham in the quarter-finals.
Fourth-seeded Rachael took just 19 minutes to conquer Hong Kong qualifier
Rebecca Chiu 9-2 9-1 9-6 to set up the siblings' first WISPA World Tour clash
since the British Open last April, when the older Rachael won in straight
games.