Burning River Classic

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Grainger & Brown To Contest Burning River Final
National City Burning River Classic 2008
18-12 Feb, Cleveland Racquet Club, $27k
Round One
20 Feb
Quarters
21 Feb
Semis
22 Feb
Final
23 Beb
[1] Natalie Grainger (Usa)
9/2, 9/2, 9/1
Emma Beddoes (Eng)
Natalie Grainger
9-3, 9-0, 9-1
Latasha Khan
Natalie Grainger
 9-0, 9-1, 9-1
 Dominique
Lloyd-Walter
Natalie Grainger
9-1, 9-4, 9-0
Kasey Brown
[5] Latasha Khan (Usa)
9/1, 9/2, 9/0
[Q] Joelle King (Nzl)
[4] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng)
9/4, 9/3, 9/3
Tara Mullins (Can)
 Dominique
Lloyd-Walter

9-1, 9-6, 9-0
Aisling Blake
[6] Louise Crome (Nzl)
2/9, 9/1, 9/7, 0/9, 9/4
Aisling Blake (Irl)
[Q] Kirsty Mcphee (Eng)
9/4, 9/0, 9/6
[7] Lauren Briggs (Eng)
 Lauren Briggs
9-4, 9-2, 9-5
Suzie Pierrepont
Lauren Briggs
9-1, 9-7, 9-6 (65m)

Kasey Brown
Suzie Pierrepont (Eng)
5/9, 9/5, 9/2, 9/2
[3] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra)
Alana Miller (Can)
10/8, 7/9, 9/0, 9/1
[8] Line Hansen (Den)
Line Hansen
9-4, 9-5, 9-2
Kasey Brown
Laura Mylotte (Irl)
9/2, 9/4, 9/6
[2] Kasey Brown (Aus)

Grainger Coasts To Burning River Title

 

Top seed Natalie Grainger produced a ruthless performance to beat second seed Kasey Brown in the final of the Women's National City Burning River Classic to successfully defend the $27,300 WISPA World Tour squash title at Cleveland Racquet Club in Cleveland in the US state of Ohio.

 

The US National champion from Washington DC had only lost 11 points coming into the final and had been in impressive form - as too had her Australian opponent, who had also yet to drop a game.  The pair had never crossed paths before the Cleveland clash - and it was Grainger who was the first to impose herself on the match.

 

Grainger comfortably took the opening game and, at 8-0 up in the second game, made a couple of casual errors to give Brown four straight points and a small glimmer of hope.  However, they were to be the last points that the 22-year-old from New South Wales was allowed as Grainger showed no mercy, winning 9-1, 9-4, 9-0 in just over 20 minutes.

 

The total points accumulated by all four of Grainger’s opponents over the course of the week amounted to just 16 - exactly the same as the world No4 conceded in last year's final!

 

The Cleveland success brings Grainger's WISPA World Tour title tally to 17 - six of which have been won on 'home soil' since the former English player became a US citizen just a year ago.

 

David Fulton, Chief Executive of Sterling, a National City Company, was on site to present both players with their cheques.  The 2008 champion was also presented with a diamond Oris watch from Piccione’s jewellers.

 

Grainger & Brown To Contest Burning River Final

 

Top seeds Natalie Grainger and Kasey Brown will contest the final of the Women's National City Burning River Classic after securing straight games wins in the semi-finals of the $27,300 WISPA World Tour squash event at Cleveland Racquet Club in Cleveland in the US state of Ohio.

 

Favourite Grainger, the US National champion from Washington DC, progressed to the final for a second straight year by defeating world number 20 Dominique Lloyd-Walter in devastating fashion.  At 9-0 and 7-0 in the second game, the fourth seed from England looked mightily relieved when she scored her first point. Grainger was playing with accuracy, power and more importantly with an aggressive use of the volley.

 

"Any time you are just thinking about winning a point, it is never a good sign," conceded Lloyd-Walter after the 9-0, 9-1, 9-1 drubbing which took Grainger into the 35th WISPA Tour final of her career.

 

Australian Kasey Brown was the first to make it into the final after a third successive straight games victory.  However, the scoreline didn’t do the match justice as there were a number of times during the match that the world number 15 seemed to be just hanging in. 

 

The second seed raced off to a 7-0 lead in the first before English opponent Lauren Briggs, seeded seven, was able to score a point.  The second produced an incredibly physical battle with both girls retrieving some great pick ups.  The score was tied at 4-4 for several rallies with Briggs working her opponent around the court but unable to find the finishing ball.  A lucky bounce off the serve gave Briggs a 7-5 lead and it looked as though Brown was tiring.  Even so Brown's retrieving was relentless as she chased down winner after winner in multiple court sprints.  Finally the effort paid off as Briggs made two errors to the tie the game.  A dying length and a volley winner later, Brown held a valuable 2/0 lead in what was surely the pivotal point of the match.

 

Briggs came out undaunted in the third and moved into a 3-0 lead.  The resilient Brown kept running down shot after shot though not allowing her opponent any cheap points.  Ten minutes later, after a lot of hard earned points from both players the score was once again tied at 6-6.  The crowd could sense if Briggs could just edge one game the outcome could be very unpredictable, as Brown looked visibly to be slowing.   It was not to be, however, as Brown progressed to match ball.

 

The Australian eventually ended the match with a wrong-footing straight forehand drive to win 9-1, 9-7, 9-6 in 65 minutes - which means that Brown, now in her 14th Tour final, has averaged almost an hour a match despite not dropping a game thus far!


Suzie Stops Stoehr In Cleveland Upset
England's Suzie Pierrepont pulled off one of the best wins of her life when she beat third seed Isabelle Stoehr in the opening round of the Women's National City Burning River Classic to reach the quarter-finals of the $27,300 WISPA World Tour squash event at Cleveland Racquet Club in Cleveland in the US state of Ohio.

Stoehr, the 11 times French National champion, started well to win the first game.  But the usually fluent world No19, runner-up twelve months ago, became increasingly unsettled as the match progressed.  Unseeded Pierrepont, by far the tallest player in the draw, was the benefactor and put in a solid performance with very few errors. 

The 23-year-old from Sussex - still fighting back to recover the ranking loss since injuring her heel late in 2006 - ran away with the third and fourth games to record her impressive 5-9, 9-5, 9-2, 9-2 upset.

Ireland's Aisling Blake also upset the form book.  The 26-year-old from Sligo fought back from a game down to beat New Zealand's sixth seed Louise Crome - a practice partner at the Amsterdam club where they are both based - 2-9, 9-1, 9-7, 0-9, 9-4.

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