Jenny Duncalf celebrated her first PSA World Tour title win in five
years as she saw off top seeded compatriot Sarah-Jane Perry 3-0 to
win the 215 Monte Carlo Classic, PSA W35 tournament.
The former World No.2 has slipped to as low as 21 in the world
rankings but has enjoyed a renaissance in recent months, having
looked back to some of her best form at the World Series events at
the U.S. Open and Qatar Classics, and she continued to build on her
improving form to secure an impressive victory over the powerful
Perry.
It brings about the 10th title of the Englishwoman’s career.
Perry
Pounces On Monte Carlo Semis Spot
#PSAWorldTour
Top
seed Sarah-Jane Perry (right) progressed to the semi-final of the
Monte Carlo Classic, PSA W35 event with a confident 3-1 victory over
Guyana’s Nicolette Fernandes – keeping alive her hopes of lifting a
second PSA World Tour title of the year.
World No.12 Perry edged a tight opening game before pressing on to
double her lead in the second as she began to establish a rhythm.
Fernandes fought back in the third with a typical all-action display
and excellent court coverage enabling her to work some openings for
herself in a bid to get back into the game. However, Perry hit
consistent length in the fourth to close out the encounter with a
13-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-1 victory, seeing her through to the last
four.
She will face Line Hansen for a place in the showpiece event after
the Dane progressed courtesy of an injury to her quarter-final
opponent, Emily Whitlock.
Rachael Grinham and Jenny Duncalf will line up against each other in
the other semi-final fixture with Grinham seeing off Tesni Evans and
Duncalf preventing Natalie Grinham from facing her sister in the
next round.
Grinham Sisters Down El Torky Sisters
The
opening round of the Monte Carlo Classic, PSA W35 tournament saw
siblings Natalie (right) and Rachael Grinham come out on top in
their respective encounters against sisters Heba and Nouran El Torky.
Natalie eased through qualification without dropping a game and
continued her fine form into her encounter with number five seed
Heba, defeating the Egyptian World No.20 with a 7-11, 11-9, 13-11,
11-7 victory to reach the quarter-final stage.
She will meet England’s Jenny Duncalf in the next round after she
recovered from a first game wobble against wildcard Coline Aumard to
progress.
Former World Champion Rachael meanwhile scythed through Nouran in
straight games and her reward is a quarter-final clash with Tesni
Evans who downed Samantha Teran in four.
Number one seed Sarah-Jane Perry progressed against Olivia
Blatchford despite dropping the second game and will line up against
Nicolette Fernandes, who beat Siyoli Waters 3-0.
Emily Whitlock overcame Misaki Kobayashi in a hard-fought encounter
and she faces Line Hansen for a place in the semi-final with the
Dane relatively fresh after her match against Mariam Metwally was
cut short after just one game due to the latter suffering from an
injury.
Majestic
Matches On Show In Monte Carlo
#PSAWorldTour
The main draw of the Monte Carlo Classic, PSA W35 tournament begins
on Tuesday November 10 with a number of big names on show in Monaco.
England No.3 Sarah-Jane Perry is seeded first for the event and is
looking for her second PSA World Tour title of 2015 having already
lifted silverware at the Granite Open back in February.
The World No.12 has been in decent form over the past few months and
reached the final of September’s NetSuite Open before losing to
Amanda Sobhy.
Perry, whose last PSA World Tour appearance yielded a second round
finish at the Qatar Classic, will meet Olivia Blatchford in round
one.
Former World Champion Rachael Grinham is also among the forerunners
for the crown but is yet to taste success so far this year. The
38-year-old started 2015 in fine form and made it to the final of
the Calgary CFO Consulting Services WSA Women’s Squash Week in March
but has only made it out of the first round of a PSA World Tour
event once since August, where she reached round two of last week’s
Qatar Classic.
Egypt’s Nouran El Torky is her opponent in the opening round with
the World No.54 out to cause an upset.
Jenny Duncalf also made it to the second round of action at the
Qatar Classic before losing to Annie Au and has finished in the last
16 in her last PSA World Tour appearances.
The experienced World No.21, who turns 33 today, will be hoping for
a win to kickstart her birthday celebrations and lines up against
wildcard Coline Aumard for a place in the quarter-final.
Emily Whitlock is also in with a shout of taking honours in Monte
Carlo after a strong 2015 that has seen her capture three PSA World
Tour titles and rise up the World Rankings to her current
career-high World.18 spot. Macclesfield-born Whitlock goes
head-to-head with Japan’s Misaki Kobayashi in the first round.
Monte Carlo Classic Qualifying Gets Under Way
The first qualifying round of the Monte Carlo Classic, PSA W35
tournament saw promising 19-year-old Belgian Nele Gilis overcome
Deon Saffery in the round’s standout tie.
Saffery dropped just a solitary point en-route to claiming the
opening game but Gilis fought back to take the next two games on the
tie-break. Despite a brief reprieve which saw Saffery level things
up in the fourth, Gilis kept up her onslaught to record a 1-11,
12-10, 13-11, 2-11, 11-4 victory and seal her spot in the final
round of qualifying.
She will do battle with former World No.2 Natalie Grinham there
after the Dutchwoman claimed a 3-0 win over Laura Gamblin.
France’s Enora Villard overcame compatriot Cyrielle Peltier in
straight games after a dominant performance and she has set up a
next round clash with Mariam Metwally, the top qualifying seed who
flirted with elimination against Chloe Mesic before earning the win
in five.
United States player Olivia Blatchford advanced to the final
qualifying round after she beat Nadia Pfister and Fiona Moverley
will go head-to-head with her after securing a 3-1 victory over
Victoria Temple-Murray.
Meanwhile, Nouran El Torky and Millie Tomlinson will line up against
each other in the next round after they rose to respective wins over
Marija Shpakova and Elise Romba.
