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Grainger Clinches Cleveland Hat-Trick
Natalie Grainger
secured a hat-trick of WISPA World Tour squash titles in Cleveland
when she beat unexpected English opponent Alison Waters in the final
of the $39,000 Women's National City Burning River Classic in front
of a capacity crowd at the Cleveland Racquet Club in the US state of
Ohio.
The event, which first ran in 2007, has known no other winner
than Grainger – the second seed from the USA who put on a masterful display
against Waters, the world number six from London who shocked top seed Rachael
Grinham to reach the final.
It was by no means a one-sided affair, however, as Waters made
her intent for the crown felt in the first game, taking it 11-9 after an
electric display of squash.
Grainger came out in the second game looking like a player on a
mission: It was not through the underdog’s careless play that the USA star
romped to a 10-0 lead, more an aggressive accuracy that the Cleveland crowd had
yet to experience.
The third game was more of the same as Natalie moved 2/1 up.
Waters started the fourth in good spirits leading 3-1. But Grainger came back
to set up another run of eight straight points as she headed to the 9-11, 11-1,
11-6, 11-4 victory which marked her 12th successive match win in the
event.
The Burning River Classic title gives Grainger the 21st
WISPA World Tour title of her career – and the 10th on home soil
since the England-born 31-year-old became a US citizen in February 2007.
Waters Stuns Top
Seed Grinham In Cleveland
England's Alison Waters delivered one of the standout
performances of her career when she crushed top seed Rachael Grinham in
the semi-finals of the Women's National City Burning River Classic to
secure an unexpected place in the final of the $39,000 WISPA World Tour
squash event at Cleveland Racquet Club in Pepper Pike in the US
state of Ohio.
"Alison put on a display of the highest calibre as she kept the
former world number one on the defensive then finished rallies with some
decisive shot-making," said tournament organiser Nathan Dugan.
"Rachael was only able to put two points on the board in the
first game but it was not through errors that she found herself in the position
- Alison took advantage of any loose ball by burying the next shot in a straight
nick!
"What the packed crowd witnessed stunned them into almost a
breathless silence as the disbelief of what they were seeing sunk in," added
Dugan after the 11-2, 11-4, 11-5 victory which takes the 24-year-old world No6
into her sixth Tour final.
Waters now faces defending champion Natalie Grainger, the
second seed from the USA who is looking to win a hat-trick of successive
Cleveland crowns. While Waters has, in fact, won three out of her last four
encounters with Grinham, the Londoner will be hoping to end a run of five
defeats in a row by the US number one.
Grainger, the world No4 from Greenwich, extended her unbeaten run
at the Cleveland Racquet Club to 11 matches with an 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 win over
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro, the fifth seed from England.
After winning the opening game, Grainger raised her game another
notch as she jumped on anything that could be volleyed. The Lancashire lass did
not have the response to the assault and despite playing some excellent squash
herself was always chasing rather than being out in front.
"If both finalists produce the quality of play they brought to
the court this evening then the Cleveland Racquet Club crowd will be in for a
treat tomorrow," concluded Dugan.
Laura Leaps Into
Cleveland Semis
Laura
Lengthorn-Massaro
ensured surprise English interest in both semi-finals of the Women's National
City Burning River Classic after upsetting Egypt's fourth seed Omneya
Abdel Kawy in the quarter-finals of the $39,000 WISPA World Tour
squash event at Cleveland Racquet Club in Pepper Pike in the US
state of Ohio.
The 25-year-old world No8 from Lancashire battled for four games
to topple Abdel Kawy, ranked one place higher in the world list, 11-4, 9-11,
11-6, 11-4.
Lengthorn-Massaro, the fifth seed, will now face US star
Natalie Grainger for a place in the final. Second seed Grainger - twice
winner of the event, in 2007 and 2008 - secured her tenth successive win in the
Cleveland championship by beating Rebecca Chiu, the No7 seed from Hong
Kong, 11-2, 11-8, 11-8.
"Natalie took early leads in every game and never really looked
threatened throughout the match despite some determined retrieving from the 2002
Asian Games gold medallist," said tournament organiser Nathan Dugan.
Alison Waters
will carry English hopes into the other semi-final: The third seed from London
ended Jaclyn Hawkes's run in the event when she beat the unseeded New
Zealander 11-6, 11-8, 13-11.
Waters will take on top-seeded Australian Rachael Grinham,
a straight games winner over surprise opponent Tania Bailey. The
unseeded English player was unable to reproduce the form which saw her upset
Ireland's sixth seed Madeline Perry 24 hours earlier, and went down 11-5,
11-5, 11-8 to the former world number one from Queensland.
Tania Takes Out
Perry In Cleveland Upset
England's unseeded Tania Bailey claimed a significant
scalp in her comeback campaign after almost a year out with injury when she beat
sixth seed Madeline Perry in the opening round of the Women's National
City Burning River Classic, the $39,000 WISPA World Tour squash event
at Cleveland Racquet Club in Pepper Pike in the US state of Ohio.
Bailey, the former world No4 now languishing at 18 after
undergoing knee surgery last April, took control of the match from the start,
working the Irish number one up and down the backhand side of the court. With
the exception of a lapse in the second game where Perry was able to take
advantage of seven errors from her opponent, Bailey always seemed to be heading
to victory.
It took four games, but Bailey won 11-3, 7-11, 11-4, 11-3 in the
pair's first Tour meeting for over six years!
The 29-year-old from Lincolnshire now goes on to face top seed
Rachael Grinham, the world No3 from Australia who also needed four games to
overcome Danish qualifier Line Hansen 11-5, 11-13, 11-4, 11-2.
There was further notable English success when third seed
Alison Waters beat Egypt's Engy Kheirallah to avenge the Londoner's
defeat in the deciding match of last year's Women's World Team Championship
final in Cairo which led to Egypt claiming the title for the first time.
Waters will now face Jaclyn Hawkes after the unseeded New
Zealander battled for one hour and 41 minutes to beat eighth seed Samantha
Teran.
"This is certainly longer than anything we have seen in the
previous two years and amazingly this is with the new scoring system that was
questioned for making matches too short!" commented tournament organiser
Nathan Dugan.
There was little between the players throughout the whole match.
The Mexican had her chances to win the match, holding a 9-7 lead in the deciding
game but Hawkes put four consecutive points on the board to end a marathon
encounter 14-12, 13-15, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9.
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