Nicol
David Celebrates Singapore Hat-Trick
World
number one Nicol David underlined her dominance in women’s
squash by defeating Natalie Grinham, the world No3, in
straight games in the final of the CIMB Women's Singapore Masters
to win the $53,500 WISPA World Squash Tour Gold title at
the Kallang Squash Centre in Singapore for the third
year in a row.
It was
a masterful performance by the 25-year-old from Malaysia in her
third successive final against a Grinham - beating Natalie this time
and in 2007, and elder sister Rachael Grinham in between.
Game
one was cut-and-thrust as both players tried to work each other,
with Grinham intent on keeping David at the back of the court with
lobs. The Dutch player was able to stay level with the world
champion until eight-all, when David was able to stretch ahead and
wrap up the game.
Grinham
junior came out firing in the second game, mixing up her shots with
good effect. From 6-1 in front, the Australian-born 31-year-old
stretched the lead to 8-2. And that was when David started clawing
back the points, one by one. Playing patiently, the Malaysian won
the next nine points to move 2/0 ahead.
Given a
sniff of victory, David was not about to let up in the third game.
And despite a mid-game blip when she allowed Grinham to close the
scores, the Malaysian kept her composure to complete her 11-9, 11-8,
11-9 victory in 40 minutes.
"I
thought I did quite well to put pressure on Nicol throughout all
three games," explained Grinham later. "The second game was pretty
important, but I don’t think I did much wrong, rather it was Nicol
who fought her way back.
"The
past couple of years I’ve struggled with injury, which hasn’t
helped, but now it’s all coming good and I’m becoming stronger and
stronger mentally. So I really wanted to come back and win
Singapore," added the runner-up after her 34th final appearance on
the WISPA Tour.
As for
David, it was sweet to pick up her 39th WISPA title. More than
that, she wants to keep her focus to stay ahead of the chasing pack.
"I
think it’s a matter of working on the little things, making sure I
do everything right, instead of worrying about what others are
doing. And to make sure I bring my best each time I step onto the
court," explained the champion after her fifth successive Tour title
triumph this year.
Natalie
Upsets Sister Rachael To Reach Singapore Final
Natalie
Grinham
upset her older sister Rachael Grinham in the semi-finals of
the CIMB Women's Singapore Masters to earn a clash with
title-holder Nicol David in a repeat of the 2007 final of the
$53,500 WISPA World Squash Tour Gold event at the Kallang
Squash Centre in Singapore.
It was
the siblings' 21st WISPA Tour meeting since 2000 - but the first
since last year's Hong Kong Open semi-finals when Rachael
prevailed. The latest battle took 50 minutes, and Natalie - now
ranked three in the world, ahead of Rachael - avenged her Hong Kong
defeat to win 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8.
In the
final, Grinham junior - now representing the Netherlands - hopes it
will be her turn to put her mark on the world No1: "I will go out
and do my best and run everything down and hopefully come out the
champion."
The
second semi-final, between favourite Nicol David and England's
fourth seed Alison Waters, was an outstanding affair. "Long
rallies, incredible shot-making, and superb retrieves that left the
capacity crowd ooh-ing and aah-ing in delight," said event spokesman
Joyce Poon.
Despite
an exhausting 80-minute quarter-final last night against fellow
countrywoman Jenny Duncalf, Londoner Waters gave her very
best against the world's best player.
After
dropping the first two games, Waters upped the aggression in the
third and with it her accuracy. Shooting to a 4-0 lead, she did not
relinquish her lead, winning 11-7.
The
fourth game was all David, however, as the long rallies took their
toll on Waters, with the Penangite running out an 11-5, 11-8, 7-11,
11-8 winner.
Looking
ahead to the final with Natalie Grinham, whom she beat in the 2007
title match, David said: "I played her last week in Kuala Lumpur,
and beat her in the World Games final in Kaohsiung. We have some
good matches together but knowing this is the final, I just want to
give it a good go."
Asked
if it’s important for her to land the hat-trick here in Singapore,
David replied: “For me it’s just important to play well, and if I do
play well, then the result will come."
Grinhams Line Up For Singapore Semi
There
will be a Grinham in the final of the CIMB Women's
Singapore Masters. But will it be third seed Natalie Grinham,
the world No3, or her elder sister Rachael Grinham - ranked
just one place below her, but the tournament's second seed - who
will contest the climax of the $53,500 WISPA World Squash Tour
Gold event at the Kallang Squash Centre in Singapore.
The
first quarter-final pitched Natalie Grinham against eighth seed
Madeline Perry - and the hour-long match set the scene for the
rest of the evening. The pair traded games before taking the match
into a fifth game. And in the decider, there were never any more
than two points between the two before Irish champion Perry had a
late lapse of concentration to allow Grinham to go ahead.
The
game ended on a stroke to the Dutch star and, despite initially
thinking it was a harsh decision, Perry conceded later that it was a
fair call.
The
Irish girl felt she had her chances to win: "I really felt I could
win. We were at 8-all in the final game and then I played a weak
volley boast there and just dropped off for a couple of points and
gave her the match point," said Perry after her 11-7, 8-11, 11-6,
8-11, 11-9 defeat. "Still on match ball, I felt I could win, but I
couldn’t quite do it."
For
Grinham, it was a different kind of struggle: "I played well in
some points, other points I felt I was mistiming the ball. I played
on the back courts yesterday, and the show court’s a little bit
different. So my timing was a little bit off sometimes. It was a
patchy match, and I’m happy to get through it."
Rachael’s match against Egyptian enigma Omneya Abdel Kawy was
more straightforward. Except for a second game blip, the
32-year-old from Toowoomba, Australia, was always ahead despite
playing with a sore ankle.
"The
night before I had my first round, I just went over on my ankle,
crossing the street unbelievably," explained Rachael Grinham after
her 11-5, 13-15, 11-2, 11-4 win. "And I’ve already done my ankle a
couple of times this year, so it’s already quite weak. So I wasn’t
really sure I was going to be able to move alright.
"I
thought tonight against Omneya, I was really going to struggle
because she’s usually quite good in the front. So I went out there
with a plan to just try and keep her in the back so that I probably
wouldn’t have to move much and hopefully she would make some
errors."
About
playing her sister in the semis, Rachael continued: “Natalie and I
don’t play each other that much these days, because we’re both
struggling a bit to make it through the rounds. It’s always good
because we always know that one of us is getting through to the
final."
The
third quarter-final - an all-English affair between fifth seed
Jenny Duncalf and fourth seed Alison Waters - was nip and
tuck all the way. But it was Londoner Waters who prevailed 9-11,
11-9, 11-13, 11-6, 11-9 in the 81-minute tussle to set up a second
meeting in a week with favourite Nicol David, the world
number one from Malaysia who beat her in the CIMB Malaysia Open
final last Saturday.
For
Duncalf, it was disappointing to be edged out: "There wasn’t a lot
in it, Alison nicked it in the end. I’m disappointed to lose but I
didn’t think I played too badly. I probably should have capitalised
on my lead in the fifth, but Ali came back strong and took it in the
end."
The
crowd stayed to see top seed Nicol David in action and for a while
there, it seemed they were going to witness an upset. England's
world No9 Laura Lengthorn-Massaro played like the rising star
she has been for the past two years, running Nicol close before
losing the first game 12-10.
Laura
then won the second 11-7 but that was when Nicol found the extra
gear that she often does, taking the third 11-7. Nicol shot to a 6-0
lead in the fourth and despite a mini-comeback from Laura, the
Malaysian stayed focused to wrap up the match in 61 minutes.
Laura
took heart from her defeat: “I thought I played OK. My game plan was
good but it was the execution that let me down. I was confident
because the last we met was 3/2, so I know that I can get games,
it’s just turning the games into wins, so next time, I learnt a lot
from this."
Now one
win away from her third successive final, David agreed she was not
at her best: "I was not having the best focus today but Laura
played really well today and worked the court well. I got sucked
into her game but then I managed to find my own game and bring it to
her at the end."
David
Despatches Teran In Pursuit Of Singapore Hat-Trick Bid
It took
top seed Nicol David just 27 minutes to overcome Mexican
opponent Samantha Teran at the Kallang Squash Centre
in Singapore as the world number one from Malaysia began her
bid to win a successive hat-trick of titles in the CIMB Women's
Singapore Masters, the $53,500 Gold event on the WISPA World
Squash Tour.
The
25-year-old from Penang shot off like a rocket, taking the first
game 11-5, before taking the next two 11-8 and 11-7.
The
favourite was pleased to get over the first hurdle: "Samantha has
been playing well lately, she keeps going and going. So I wanted to
start off strong and keep the mistakes to the minimum."
Second
seed Rachael Grinham was equally clinical in despatching
Malaysia’s Sharon Wee 11-9, 11-3, 11-3 to stay on course for
a repeat of last year’s final. The Australian next meets Omneya
Abdel Kawy, the sixth seed from Egypt who downed Isabelle
Stoehr 11-7, 11-3, 11-3.
Madeline Perry
attended a radio recording in the morning, alongside WISPA Chief
Executive Andrew Shelley, and Singapore players Mao Shi
Hui and Pamela Chua.
The
Irish number one not only put up a good performance during at the
938LIVE radio studios in the morning, but in the evening took just
17 minutes to brush aside Singapore hope Pamela Chua.
Perry,
the world No8, now lines up against 3rd-ranked Natalie Grinham,
while her Singaporean opponent, ranked 137 in the world, heads next
to the United States for tertiary studies. And while Madeline will
continue as a touring pro to study the angles of a squash court,
Pamela will be doing undergraduate studies in Mathematical and
Computational Science!
England’s Laura Lengthorn-Massaro defeated Malaysia’s
Delia Arnold 11-8, 11-6, 12-10 to earn a meeting with favourite
Nicol David.
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