Doctor To The Rescue For England
Jenny Tranfield, the world No10 squash player from Yorkshire who has a PhD
in 'Sports Psychology', has been called into the England squad for this
week's European Team Championships in Nottingham following today's
last-minute withdrawal of world No4 Tania Bailey.
Bailey, 23, from Stamford in Lincolnshire, has been suffering with a virus
(recently identified as 'Epstein Barrs') and was advised by doctors not to
compete. "Thankfully Tania is getting better, but we felt she needed more
time to completely recover and fully regain her strength," said England
National Coach David Pearson.
Dr Tranfield, 28, originally from Sheffield but now based in Milton Keynes,
was delighted to hear the news of her first senior English cap: "I'm so
happy - I've been desperate to play for my country for the last five years
so I can hardly believe it's now about to happen.
"But my heart goes out to Tania, and I hope she gets better real soon,"
added Tranfield, who heard the news during a coaching session she was giving
to youngsters at the Sue Wright Squash Academy in Oxfordshire.
Since gaining her PhD at Loughborough University just over a year ago,
Tranfield has been able to focus fully on her squash career - and broke into
the world top ten only this month.
It is a mark of England's strength in international women's squash that only
one player (Vanessa Atkinson of the Netherlands) in all the other 15
national teams in the European Championships is ranked higher than Tranfield! |
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Jenny Tranfield
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