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Wed 5th July, day TWO:

Kasey Brown

En Bref

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Rachael reaps Carla reward ...

Having gone through all her travails to get here (see day one and En Bref), Carla Khan's reward for qualifying was a match against defending champion Rachael Grinham.

It was a tough task, but Carla held her own in the early stages, with some long, punishing rallies. Carla was always working the harder though, as Rachael's flicks, pushes and drops worked her opponent all over the court, but the extra workload had to take its toll and sure enough it did as Carle tired towards the end.

"She played well at the start, but then got tired, which was good for me." Rachael Grinham

Dominique holds her nerve ...

It was a nervy end to a match where England's Dominique Lloyd-Walter got off to a flyer and appeared to have weathered a comeback attempt from Latasha Khan, before almost throwing away a winning lead.

The first was over quickly, Latasha - who later admitted to not feeling 100% - looking out of sorts, but the American made the start of the second a much closer contest. But from the mid-point of the game Dominique took control again to double her lead, and quickly went 7-0 and 8-2 up in the third.

Then the nerves set in as Latasha took advantage of some loose play to claw her way back to 7-8. A relieved Dominique finally closed out the match with a stroke to get another match-ball and a volley into the nick to finish.

Briggs hangs in there…

Her game plan was to be patient and hang in there. That’s exactly what Lauren Briggs did today to claim one of seven England’s places in the last 16.

In the first, Kheirallah was controlling most of the game and had Briggs wrong footed several times with her crosscourt volleys.

In the next two games, Briggs had huge leads. In the second, she was up 7-1 before a mini comeback saw the Egyptian pull back at 4-7. That’s all she managed as Briggs clinched the next two points to draw level. In the third, Kheirallah, who usually hits some great winners, was finding the tin way too often, allowing Briggs to pull way ahead 8-0. Again, the Egyptian attempted a comeback, further encouraged by her fellow Egyptians watching, pulling back to 4-8, but that was it.

The fourth had Briggs in full control yet again. At 6-2 up, Kheirallah hit an amazing backhand cross court drop shot into the nick to gain serve but Briggs did not allow that to take her match away.

A great win for Briggs, who at 26 in the latest WISPA rankings, had beaten a player 10 places above her.

"I’m happy obviously and while I do not think I played particularly well, I did well enough to win. "My plan was to be patient and wait for her to make the errors. I knew I had to keep working hard. "Tomorrow I will just want to play well again and it’s going to be tough whether I play Vicky or Sarah." Lauren Briggs

Kawy outclasses Wee

From the word “play”, Omneya Abdel Kawy was hitting the ball as hard as ever and Sharon Wee, the Malaysian number two, never had a chance to get into the game.

One of the shots that worked best for the Egyptian was the volley slam off the serve. It must have been frustrating for Wee, having worked so hard to win serve only to see Kawy take it away so often, so easily.

In the second, Wee came to her senses and started to slow things down. Somehow, Kawy was sucked into Wee’s game and started to make mistakes. Wee had more time to hit her shots and playing some beautiful volleys led 4-1, but slowly Kawy came back and eventually sneaked in to win 9-7.

The third was a quick affair as Kawy played her usual fast game once again. The Egyptian dropped just three points, before booking her place in tomorrow’s round of 16 against Laura Lengthorn.

Kasey's run continues

Anyone who has won their last five tournaments is going to be determined to keep that run going, as Pamela Nimmo found out today.

Nimmo, a top twenty regular, may have been a step up in class compared to the opposition Kasey has faced in those tournaments down under, but she was definitely not out of place in this company, and looked keen and on her toes from the start.

Two tall players with good reach, both hitting the ball consistently hard but throwing in enough boasts to keep the other working, it made for a close contest all the way through.

A few errors cost Pam the first game but she steadied to claim the second. The third and the fourth saw the same relentless pace, but in both Kasey took early leads that proved conclusive as she completed the best win of her career.
  

Another upset ... almost

We had three upsets today, and so nearly a fourth as Laura Lengthorn recovered from 2/1 down to beat Jaclyn Hawkes, but it was a tense affair, and the outcome was uncertain until the end.

"I won the first quite easily, then let the mental sid of my game, my concentration, go. As soon as she got back into it I knew I had a battle on my hands. I picked up the pace at the end of the third. I was already 8-2 down so it was too late for that game, but I got mad with myself and won the fourth quite easily. "It's so important to keep the ball straight and once I started doing that I felt in control again." Laura Lengthorn

Botwright impressive

Having not been able to watch as much top level squash as I’d like to, the last time I got to see Vicky Botwright in action was at the World Open in Hong Kong, where she didn’t look too impressive. It is well known to the Malaysian public, however, that she is a big threat to Nicol David. The leggy beauty is definitely a step above how she played n Hong Kong tonight.

Both players started the match aggressively, striking the ball hard and the pace was just electric. Experience definitely showed tonight, with Botwright changing the pace at times when she needed to. The fast court coupled by the bouncy ball meant they were both everywhere in court as well.

In the second, Botwright was in total control and she started to vary her shots more, moving Kippax all over. Kippax had quite a few problems with her drops and after just under half an hour, the world number five booked her place in the next round, where she’ll play yet another English lass in Lauren Briggs.

If all goes according to ranking, she is due to play yet another English, Jenny Duncalf!

"I played OK. I started well actually but got dead after that. I feel I made too many errors in the first still and should have done better. In the second and third, Vicky changed her game and started to drop, something she does very well. "I go on a summer break after this, a holiday first and then back to more training to prepare for the British Open." Sarah Kippax

"The court was very bouncy, and it's the first time I've played Runa so we were both feeling each other out to start with.

She's got a lovely length which made it hard to attack.

"I'm hoping to play my best tomorrow against Rachael, but there's no pressure on me, I'm just going to do my best and enjoy it."

Rebecca Chiu

Another marathon for Nicolette

The biggest upset of the day in seeding terms came when Guyana's Nicolette Fernandes won a see-saw match to depose the eleventh seed.

As we saw yesterday, Fernandes is a determined character, and she needed all that determination tonight to turn the match around after it looked as though a good start might be squandered.

Nicolette started confidently, moving to 8-2 in the first, but Annelize cut out the errors and started clawing her way back. Gruelling rally after gruelling rally, slowly but surely the Dutch girl came closer. But after 32 minutes a drop that just clipped the tin gave Fernandes the lead.

Naude was on a roll though, taking the second 9-0 and going 5-0 up in the third before Fernandes found the length that had deserted her and started a comeback of her own which saw her take the final two games 9-7 for the best win of her career.

Having featured in the longest match for two consecutive days it remains to be seen what Nicolette has left in the energy tank ... the determination one if full to the brim, no question.

Joshna does India proud

One of the last matches on, the biggest crowd so far was in attendance to see India's queen of squash Joshna Chinappa make her appearance in the main draw.

New Zealand's Shelley Kitchen quietened the crowd by taking a hard-fought first game and cruising through the second. Joshna had looked beaten in the second, but come the third found the energy and the game to match Shelley all the way.

The Indian stormed to a 6/1 lead and just held on as Shelly clawed her way back. The opening to the fourth was just as tight, but once the Kiwi had opened a lead she quickly extended it and carried on to take the match, ending Indian representation in the tournament.