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Forexx Dutch
Open Squash Championships, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Women's final:
[1] Nicol David
(MAS) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 9-4, 9-1, 9-6
(35m)
Men's Final:
[1] David Palmer
(AUS) bt [3] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-10 (5-3), 1-11,
10-11 (3-5), 11-1, 11-6 (97m)
Top Seeds Take Dutch Open Titles
 Top
seeds Nicol David and David Palmer claimed the
titles in the Forexx Dutch Open Squash Championships
after two highly contrasting finals at the Frans Otten
Stadion in the Netherlands capital city Amsterdam.
A devastating
display by defending champion Nicol David in the climax
of the eighth WISPA Gold event of the year saw the
world number one from Malaysia defeat Australian rival
Rachael Grinham, the No3 seed, 9-4, 9-1, 9-6 in just 35
minutes.
It was David's 14th
successive win over the former world number one from
Queensland who upset her higher-ranked sister Natalie
Grinham in the semi-finals to reach her 41st
Tour final.
David, the
24-year-old from Penang who is based in Amsterdam, was
competing in her 16th successive WISPA World
Tour final after a similarly decisive straight games win
over Natalie Grainger, the world No5 from the USA, in
the semi-finals.
The triumph
extends David's WISPA title haul to six this year, and to 22
over her career since February 2000.
In the men's
final, world champion David Palmer needed 97 minutes to
overcome surprise opponent Laurens Jan Anjema, the
in-form local hero from The Hague who has been training with
Palmer for the past six months.
It was only the
pair's second ever meeting on the PSA Tour, but
24-year-old Dutch National champion Anjema - the third seed
and winner of the Open title in 2004 - delighted the packed
and partisan crowd when he established a 2/1 lead over the
experienced world number three after two dramatic tie-break
games.
But 31-year-old
Palmer fought back to level the match - then maintained the
upper hand in the fifth to grind out an 11-10 (5-3), 1-11,
10-11 (3-5), 11-1, 11-6 victory.
The success marks
the 21st PSA Tour title of Palmer's career - and
extends his lead ahead of Frenchman Thierry Lincou,
with 18 titles, as the current player with the most Tour
trophies to his name.
Women's semi-finals:
[1] Nicol David
(MAS) bt [4] Natalie Grainger (USA) 9-2,
9-4, 9-2 (32m)
[3] Rachael
Grinham (AUS) bt [2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) 9-4,
6-9, 9-6, 9-2 (72m)
Men's semi-finals:
[1] David Palmer
(AUS) bt [4] Alister Walker (ENG) 11-7,
11-5, 11-5 (43m)
[3] Laurens Jan
Anjema (NED) bt [7] Omar Elborolossy (EGY) 11-4, 11-2,
11-8 (42m)
LJ Makes Forexx Final
€Netherlands
capital city Amsterdam when he secured an unexpected
place in the men's final of the Forexx Dutch Open Squash
Championships after beating Egypt's Omar Elborolossy
in straight games.
The Dutchman will
face Australia's top seed David Palmer, while the final
of the women's WISPA Gold event will also see the top
seed take on the No3 seed when Malaysia's Nicol David
meets Australia's Rachael Grinham.
Anjema, winner of
the Dutch National title for the first time this year, faced
an opponent who 24 hours earlier had battled to a 74-minute
shock win over No2 seed Olli Tuominen. The fresher
24-year-old from The Hague romped to a 11-4, 11-2, 11-8 win
over the seventh-seeded Elborolossy in 42 minutes, to secure
his 15th appearance in a PSA Tour final - and his
third this year.
The other men's
semi-final followed a remarkably similar path, with Palmer
taking just a minute longer to despatch England's Alister
Walker, the fourth seed, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5. The
Antwerp-based world champion is now celebrating his 45th
time in a Tour final.
After being
stretched to four games by Irish opponent Madeline Perry
in the quarter-finals, Nicol David was in devastating form in
the semi-finals - crushing fourth seed Natalie Grainger,
the in-form USA champion who won the Pan American Games
gold medal in July, 9-2, 9-4, 9-2 in 32 minutes.
The 24-year-old
Malaysian superstar from Penang is now in the 35th
WISPA World Tour final of her brief career - but it is
also her 16th in a row since winning the World
Open in Hong Kong in December 2005!
By contrast, it
took David's opponent 72 minutes to reach the climax. It was
the Grinham sisters' 15th international meeting
since February 2001, but this time it was the older sibling
Rachael who prevailed - for the first time for more than a
year - when she upset Amsterdam-based second seed Natalie
Grinham 9-4, 6-9, 9-6, 9-2 after a hard-fought 72-minute
encounter.
Rachael, the
Cairo-based former world number one from Queensland, will be
making her 41st Tour final appearance - and looking
to end a 13-match losing sequence to Nicol David since the
pair met in the Qatar Airways Challenge in April 2005.
Women's quarter-finals:
[1] Nicol David
(MAS) bt [7] Madeline Perry (IRL) 8-10,
9-6, 9-3, 9-7 (64m)
[4] Natalie
Grainger (USA) bt [6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 6-9, 9-4,
9-4, 9-0 (41m)
[3] Rachael
Grinham (AUS) bt [8] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) 2-9, 9-5,
9-1, 9-3 (50m)
[2] Natalie
Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 9-7,
9-6, 9-0 (47m)
Men's quarter-finals:
[1] David Palmer
(AUS) bt [6] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-6, 11-6,
11-7 (49m)
[4] Alister
Walker (ENG) bt [8] Dylan Bennett (NED) 10-11
(0-2), 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 (71m)
[3] Laurens Jan
Anjema (NED) bt [5] Bradley Ball (ENG) 11-6, 11-3, 11-8
(52m)
[7] Omar
Elborolossy (EGY) bt [2] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-9,
11-8, 4-11, 6-11, 11-8 (74m)
Omar Ousts Olli In Dutch Open Upset
Egypt's
Omar Elborolossy claimed his first top twenty scalp
since making his PSA Tour comeback after a an 18-month
injury lay-off when he upset No2 seed Olli Tuominen in
a 74-minute marathon men's quarter-final in the Forexx
Dutch Open Squash Championships at Frans Otten Stadion
in the Netherlands capital city Amsterdam.
In the women's
WISPA Gold event, Malaysia's defending champion Nicol
David secured her anticipated place in the semi-finals -
but the top seed was fully stretched by Ireland's Madeline
Perry before winning in 64 minutes.
Elborolossy, a
former world No14, started at 306 in the world rankings when
he stepped back on court in July last year - but has since
leapt to 39 as he re-establishes himself amongst the Tour's
elite. The 31-year-old from Cairo took a two game lead
against Tuominen before the world No18 from Finland fought
back to draw level.
But seventh seed
Elborolossy regained the upper hand to record an impressive
11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 6-11, 11-8 victory after 74 minutes - and an
unexpected berth in the semi-finals.
His opponent will
be local hero Laurens Jan Anjema, the No3 seed from The
Hague who beat England's defending champion Bradley Ball,
the fifth seed, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 in 52 minutes.
Top seed David
Palmer will face fourth seed Alister Walker in the
other semi-final. Palmer, the reigning world champion from
Australia, beat Italy's sixth seed Davide Bianchetti
11-6, 11-6, 11-7 while Englishman Walker dispatched Dutchman
Dylan Bennett, the No8 seed, 10-11 (0-2), 11-8, 11-6,
11-7.
Women's
title-holder Nicol David is one match away from her 16th
successive WISPA World Tour final since winning the
World Open in Hong Kong in December 2005. But her Irish
opponent Madeline Perry, the No7 seed, was in inspired
form as she took the opening game and led in the fourth -
heading for a fifth game decider.
But top-seeded
Malaysian was in no mood to end her incredible Tour run in her
adopted home town of Amsterdam. David upped the pressure to
regain the fourth game lead and close out an 8-10, 9-6, 9-3,
9-7 win after 64 minutes.
Nicol will now
meet US and Pan American Games champion Natalie
Grainger, the No4 seed who also had to recover from a game
down to beat Egypt's sixth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy 6-9,
9-4, 9-4, 9-0.
The other
semi-final will be an all-Grinham affair between Australian
sisters Rachael Grinham and Natalie Grinham.
Third seed Rachael, the older of the pair, disappointed the
local crowd by defeating 10-times Dutch champion Vanessa
Atkinson 2-9, 9-5, 9-1, 9-3.
Second seed
Natalie Grinham scored the only straight games win in the
women's event, beating French qualifier Isabelle Stoehr
9-7, 9-6, 9-0.
Women's 1st round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Margriet
Huisman (NED) 9-2, 9-3, 9-3 (40m)
[7] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [Q] Aisling
Blake (IRL) 9-7, 9-2, 9-7 (45m)
[4] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt Engy
Kheirallah (EGY) 9-3, 9-1, 9-4 (31m)
[6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [Q]
Latasha Khan (USA) 9-4, 9-7, 9-5 (30m)
[8] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [Q]
Annelize Naude (NED) 9-0, 9-4, 9-5 (29m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Jenny
Duncalf (ENG) 9-4, 9-2, 9-7 (44m)
[Q] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt [5] Vicky
Botwright (ENG) 10-8, 0-9, 6-9, 9-7, 9-3 (98m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt Alison
Waters (ENG) 9-1, 9-3, 3-9, 9-5 (43m)
Men's 1st round:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Badr Abdel
Aziz (SWE) 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (32m)
[6] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt [Q]
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 10-11 (0-2), 10-11 (0-2), 11-9,
11-5, 11-1 (87m)
[4] Alister Walker (ENG) bt Amr Mansi (EGY)
11-6, 11-7, 11-8 (45m)
[8] Dylan Bennett (NED) bt [Q] Bradley
Hindle (AUS) 10-11 (2-4), 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (80m)
[5] Bradley Ball (ENG) bt Tarek Momen (EGY)
11-8, 11-7, 1-11, 11-9 (47m)
[3] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt Tom
Hoevenaars (NED) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (28m)
[7] Omar Elborolossy (EGY) bt Jan Koukal
(CZE) 6-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-2 (45m)
[2] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [Q] Julien
Balbo (FRA) 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 (35m)
Stoehr Stuns Botwright
In Dutch Open Marathon
In a match which
was both players' longest ever, French qualifier Isabelle
Stoehr clinched a magnificent five-game upset over fifth
seed
Vicky Botwright
in the women's first round of the Forexx
Dutch Open Squash Championships at Frans Otten Stadion
in the Netherlands capital city Amsterdam.
All eight seeds
progressed through to the quarter-finals of the men's event -
but two were stretched in matches lasting more than 80 minutes
before overcoming qualifiers in the 2-star
PSA Tour
event.
Stoehr fought
back from 2/1 down - losing the second game in a whitewash -
before finally claiming her 10-8, 0-9, 6-9, 9-7, 9-3 victory
over England's Botwright after 98 minutes.
The 28-year-old
French national champion from Chambery now faces second seed
Natalie Grinham, the Amsterdam-based two-times Dutch
Open champion from Australia who was taken to four games
before defeating England's Alison Waters 9-1, 9-3, 3-9,
9-5.
Dutch star
Vanessa Atkinson, winner of the title in 2002, claimed the
quickest win of the day, overcoming compatriot Annelize
Naude 9-0, 9-4, 9-5 in just 29 minutes. The number eight
seed from The Hague now faces Australia's Rachael Grinham,
the No3 seed who beat England's
Jenny Duncalf
9-4, 9-2, 9-7.
Rising French
star Mathieu Castagnet took a two-game lead over sixth
seed Davide Bianchetti in the first round of the men's
event. But the Italian had to call upon all his experience to
grind out a 10-11 (0-2), 10-11 (0-2), 11-9, 11-5, 11-1 victory
over the 20-year-old qualifier in 87 minutes.
Dylan Bennett
doubled the Dutch interest in the last
eight - but it took 22-year-old from Eindhoven 80 minutes to
quash Australian qualifier Bradley Hindle 10-11 (2-4),
11-8, 11-5, 11-7 to earn a quarter-final clash with England's
No4 seed Alister Walker. |
