Squash Magazine

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Women’s Qatar Airways Squash Challenge
Doha, Qatar

Final Result:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [6] Natalie Grainger (USA) 2-9 10-8 9-2 9-2 (51m)

Semifinals:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [4] Nicol David (MAS) 9-3, 8-10, 2-9, 9-1, 10-8 (71m)
[6] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [14] Tania Bailey (ENG) 9-2, 1-9, 9-2, 9-6 (50m)

Quarterfinals:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [5] Linda Elriani (ENG) 9-4, 7-9, 9-7, 9-6 (61m)
[4] Nicol David (MAS) bt [11] Madeline Perry (IRL) 9-3, 9-1, 9-6 (24m)
[6] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [3] Natalie Grinham (AUS) 10-8, 7-9, 10-9, 9-2 (63m)
[14] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [7] Vicky Botwright (ENG) 9-5, 8-10, 9-5, 9-0 (76m)

Second Round:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [15] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9-1, 9-4, 9-4 (26m)
[5] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt [12] Fiona Geaves (ENG) 9-0, 9-2, 9-4 (25m)
[4] Nicol David (MAS) bt [10] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 5-9, 9-3, 9-6, 9-0 (46m)
[11] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) 9-4, 9-2, 9-4 (35m)
[6] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [13] Annelize Naude (NED) 9-3, 9-0, 9-4 (24m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [9] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-5, 9-0, 9-2 (29m)
[7] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt [16] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 6-9, 9-6, 9-2, 9-7 (52m)
[14] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) 9-1, 9-5, 9-5 (43m)

First Round:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Tegwen Malik (WAL) 9-4, 9-5, 9-3 (28m)
[15] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) bt Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) 10-9, 9-6, 10-8 (65m)
[5] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt [Q] Runa Reta (CAN) 9-3, 9-3, 9-2 (26m)
[12] Fiona Geaves (ENG) bt [Q] Rebecca Botwright (ENG) 9-1, 9-3, 9-2 (33m)
[4] Nicol David (MAS) bt Latasha Khan (USA) 6-9, 9-0, 9-4, 9-2 (34m)
[10] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt Alison Waters (ENG) 9-6, 9-2, 9-2 (42m)
Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) bt [8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 9-3, 2-9, 4-9, 10-8, 9-5 (66m)
[11] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt Pamela Nimmo (SCO) 9-2, 9-0, 9-3 (24m)
[13] Annelize Naude (NED) bt [Q] Amelia Pittock (AUS) 9-3, 5-9, 9-7, 9-2 (39m)
[6] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [Q] Melissa Martin (AUS) 9-1, 9-2, 9-0 (16m)
[9] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [Q] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 9-10, 9-5, 9-5, 9-7 (60m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt Carla Khan (PAK) w/o
[16] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt [Q] Eman El Amir (EGY) 9-6, 10-8, 10-8 (41m)
[7] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Stephanie Brind (ENG) 1-9, 9-1, 9-6, 9-6 (50m)
[14] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [Q] Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 7-9, 9-7, 10-9, 9-4 (56m)
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt Sharon Wee (MAS) 9-7, 9-3, 9-2 (28m)

Qualifying Finals:
Engy Kheirallah (EGY) bt Charlie de Rycke (BEL) 9-7, 9-1, 9-4 (27m)
Eman El Amir (EGY) bt Olga Puigdemont Sola (ESP) 9-0, 9-6, 4-9, 9-6 (44m)
Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 9-0, 9-2, 9-5 (27m)
Rebecca Botwright (ENG) bt Kasey Brown (AUS) 7-9, 3-9, 9-1, 9-5, 9-5 (77m)
Melissa Martin (AUS) bt Manuela Manetta (ITA) 3-9, 9-4, 7-9, 9-2, 10-8 (77m)
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt Karen Kronemeyer (NED) 9-1, 9-6, 9-3 (35m)
Runa Reta (CAN) bye
Tegwen Malik (WAL) bt Suzie Pierrepont (ENG) 9-7, 9-1, 9-4 (28m)

The Hyder Trophy 2005

The 36th running of the Hyder Trophy saw 148 players in 14 draws and over 180 matches played over 4 days culminating with a five game monster marathon match that went into overtime.

With a full draw of 16 for the Men’s Open headed by Graham Ryding and Shahier Razik, play started Thursday night in conjunction with the league finals night at the Yale Club. With the top eight seeds going through to the next round, the losers fed into the Men’s 6.0 draw of the amateur event.

Play moved to the Sports Club/LA and NYSC Uptown on Friday as the amateur draws began. The matches were fast and furious as players were not giving an inch. Christian Solgaard, a new addition to the NY scene from Denmark, fought back from two games down to win his first round match in five in the men’s 6.0, and in the men’s 5.0, we saw juniors giving their senior counterparts everything they could handle. And in the 60+ draw there was a real battle between Simon Hayson and Lior Grinberg which after five hard games ended in Simon’s favor. In the men’s open, the quarter-finals saw some interesting match-ups. We had a battle between two doubles players – Damian Mudge and Clive Leach – with Damian coming out victorious with his hard hitting prowess. Next up was Harvard alum Daniel Ezra taking on top seed Graham Ryding and after a close first game that went into a tiebreaker, Graham took the next two comfortably. The match between Shahier Razik and Joe Russell was a straightforward 3-0 win as Shahier’s feathery drops and tight drives took prominence. The match of the night was between two Egyptians – Karim Yehia and Ahmed Hamza. A real see-saw battle that ended with Ahmed earning himself a spot in the semi-finals. In the Women’s Open, the first match pitted Dana Betts against Louisa Hall whose dominance of the T sealed the victory.

A full day of play started early Saturday morning with several of the men’s 5.0 matches going the full distance of five games. In the women’s B event four juniors made it into the semi-finals, outplaying their senior counterparts and in the women’s A, Victoria Chishimba’s power was too strong for number two seed Emily Park while Ileana Novelo dispatched number one seed Lee Lionetti. We also had a John Power in the tournament, John Power Snr., who was simply too fast and accurate with his shots in the M50+ draw. The Women’s Open kicked off the evening’s schedule as Meredeth Quick took on Dana Betts. Having just watched her brother and father in a nail biting five game doubles match, Meredeth soon settled down and claimed a 3-0 victory. Next up was the match of the night – Graham Ryding and Damian Mudge. Over 100 spectators witnessed a match that had it all, shots in the nick, feathery drops, hard drives, full court rallies, bodies being thrown around the court, and all the drama that goes with it. With the games tied at 2-2, the final game went point for point with Graham reaching match ball. But Damian wasn’t giving up easily and he literally threw himself around the court in the ensuing rally to win the point and force a tiebreaker. After a couple of lets and some fine rallies, it was Graham that was victorious and the first player into the final. Following the presentation of the MSRA Annual Awards Shahier Razik took on Ahmed Hamza. It was a perfunctory 3-0 win to Shahier as Ahmed’s five game win over Karim the previous night and full day of coaching finally took their toll on his legs.

And so it was onto the final day starting with the semi-finals for the amateur draws. In the men’s 4.5 there was a tight match between Thijs Beuming and Trevor Stow that ended 9-7 in Thijs’s favor in the fifth. Neil Helman also forced a five game match against Vivek Nayar in the men’s 5.5, but found his legs gave up in the fifth game as Vivek earned a place in the final. The Women’s Open kicked off finals play with Meredeth Quick taking on fellow US teammate Louisa Hall. Suffering with a cold it appeared that Louisa was always one step behind Meredeth who was quick to take control and dominate the match, winning 3-0. Next up was the match people were looking forward to – the Men’s Open. Would Graham avenge his loss to Shahier at the Canadian Nationals? Despite his marathon five game match the night before, Graham was sharp and moving well. His shots were millimeters above the tin and Shahier had trouble scraping them off the floor and side wall. An entertaining match ended with Graham winning the Hyder Trophy in four games. Following the presentation of the trophy by Dr Hyder, play resumed for the amateur draw finals. Two juniors displayed their potential by outplaying and outlasting their opponents taking the men’s 4.0 and 5.0 titles - Jamal Callendar only dropped two games on the way to the 4.0 title and Simon Culver won all his matches 3-0, claiming the 5.0 title. In the men’s 6.0 Ben Oliner put up a fight against David Heath, but David was just too strong on the day. Match of the day though goes to final match of the tournament – the Men’s 6.0 Consolations. Adam Walker and Rahul Nayar last met at the Nationals in the quarter-finals where Rahul came back from 2-0 down to take Adam to five games, so we knew we were in for a fight. Once again Rahul came back from 2-0 down winning the fourth game in the tiebreak to force a fifth game. It was a battle to the end as both players pushed themselves to the limit hoping to get that final point. As tiredness started to seep into the match, the fifth game headed towards a tiebreaker. With the crowd looking for a set-1 call, Adam called set-2 and went on to win the match 10-8 in the fifth.

Final Results

Men’s Open: Graham Ryding beat Shahier Razik 11-5,(9-11),11-5,11-9
Men’s 6.0: David Heath beat Ben Oliner 7,6,6
Men’s 6.0 Cons: Adam Walker beat Rahul Nayar 8,6,(5),(8),8
Men’s 5.5: Terence Li beat Vivek Nayar 0,0,2
Men’s 5.5 Cons: Kip Gould beat Craig Appel 3,1(3),7
Men’s 5.0: Simon Culver beat Paul Marotta 2,3,9
Men’s 5.0 Cons: Pierre Bastien beat Chetan Vig 3-0
Men’s 4.5: Ben Pierson beat Thijs Beuming 5,4,4
Men’s 4.5 Cons: Nick Phillips beat Daniel Entwistle 7,4,5
Mens 4.0: Jamal Callender beat Peter Siegel 5,7,5
Men’s 4.0 Cons: Yousef Lasi beat Paul Balmer (2),3,6,(0),8
Men’s 3.5: Sinan Aktar beat Chris Kao 0,8,(7),2
Men’s 3.5 Cons: Paul Ranieri beat James Green 1,6,2
Men’s 3.0: Kamran Ali beat David Justus 3,6,0
Men’s 3.0 Cons: Federic Abraham beat Matt Casey def.
Men’s 50+: John Power beat Andrew Strasfogel 3,1,0
Men’s 60+ RR: Winner Simon Hayson, Finalist Lior Grinberg
Men’s 70+ RR: Winner Ken Cuecel, Finalist Norman Hugo
Women’s Open: Meredeth Quick beat Louisa Hall 1,5,8
Women’s A: Victoria Chishimba beat Ileana Novelo 0,0,1
Women’s A Cons: Emily Park beat Katherine Yaphe 3,3,2
Women’s B: Ceceilia Haig beat Katherine Ettinger 5,1,1
Women’s C: Donna Sharpe beat Ana Guerrero 5,1,(5),3

WISPA Qatar Airways Challenge
April 17-23, 2005

Australia’s Rachael Grinham retained her status as the World No1 squash player beating Natalie Grainger of the USA 2-9 10-8 9-2 9-2 in the 51 minute final of the Women’s Qatar Airways Challenge in Doha, Qatar, but she would have been out of both the ranking and the final had Malaysia’s fourth seeded Nicol David been able to convert the matchball she held at 8-7 in the fifth game of their 71 minute semifinal.

The 28-year-old Cairo-based Queenslander overcame a first game deficit in the final to guarantee moving into her tenth successive month at the top of the WISPA World Rankings in May, but that was child’s play compared to the effort needed to get past David in the previous round. “It’s more and more difficult to win a tournament,” said the delighted new champion. “Everyone else is pretty hungry, and it gets harder and harder. Very often, winning or losing a tournament depends on the draw you get, and it comes down to who is feeling the stronger on the day.

“I was not that surprised by Natalie’s excellent start in the final. It is typical of her to come out firing and win the first game. Even in the second, she seemed like she was going to win it, but then I changed my tactics totally,” explained top seed Grinham, who was within a point of going two games down when Grainger reached 8-4 in the second game.

“I suddenly remembered that, every time I have won against Natalie, it was when I played defensively. She loves the pace, she feeds on it! But today, I was so busy trying to win that I was not thinking of what I was doing really. So I just stopped trying to beat her, I slowed down the pace, and played as many floaters as I could. I played slow and high,” added Grinham after winning her first title of the year and her 18th WISPA title in seven years.

“In the semifinal I pushed myself so hard in the fifth, I thought I was going to die,” said Grinham. “I don’t normally push myself that hard and I think I would have been extremely upset if I hadn’t won.

“In my head, I was praying, ‘ please, please, let me win!’ When you are so close at the end, what else can you do? But I was lucky because she had some easy shots, and she tinned them, and that’s all due to the pressure of the match.”

Grainger admitted that she “blew’ the final. “After winning the first game rather easily, I just stepped off the gas, and let her in. It’s so difficult to deal with the floating shots she throws at you,” explained the sixth seed.

“But overall this year, I’m happy with my season and especially happy with my health, after the trouble I had last year. I’m getting better and better, and stronger and stronger,” said the Washington-based US No1 who earlier ended the brave run of England’s Tania Bailey, the 14th seed who reached the last four after shock victories over second seeded World Open Champion, Vanessa Atkinson, and seventh seed Vicky Botwright.

“I felt good, I was really moving well, and I was also volleying well,” said Bailey, who has also been struggling with sustained fitness for the past two seasons. “I’m really happy with my fitness, I’ve put a lot of work into it, but it’s been a long time since I played three games in a row and really felt fine. That’s a great feeling.”

Atkinson arrived in Qatar’s capital city having suffered only one defeat so far this year. Her victory earlier this month in the Texas Open took the 29-year-old from The Hague momentarily to the top of the provisional world rankings; requiring only a reasonable performance in the Qatar Airways Challenge certain to seal her status.

“I think I put too much pressure on myself for this tournament,” said the Dutch star after her shock 9-1 9-5 9-5 defeat. “I went on quite relaxed, but as soon as we started playing, I started panicking. I was not thinking about the game enough, I was too busy panicking... I was concentrating too much on the result, and not enough on the game. I needed a rest I think,” conceded the beaten champion.

New Zealand’s unseeded Tamsyn Leevey caused the notable upset on the opening day’s play when she defeated Egypt’s eighth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy in a dramatic five-game battle in the Qatar capital Doha.

After taking the first game, Leevey fell two games behind as Kawy, the 19-year-old world junior champion fought back. But the 27-year-old from Wellington still had her sights on victory, and clinched her unexpected place in the second round of the WISPA Grand Prix event with a 9-3 2-9 4-9 10-8 9-5 win in 66 minutes.
-Courtesy Zoe Brunson