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Seeds
Secure in Secunderabad
Steve
Cubbins reports from Hyderabad
In contrast to a topsy-turvy day two, the third and final day's play at the Secunderab Club saw all the top
eight seeds safely through to the quarter-finals, which will be held on
the all-glass court in front of the spectacular Falaknumah Palace ...
[2] Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt
[13] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg)
9/10, 9/5, 9/2, 9/7 (68m)
[7] Tania Bailey (Eng) bt
[Q] Nicolette Fernandes (Guy)
9/4, 9/0, 9/0 (35m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt
[16] Dom. Lloyd-Walter (Eng)
9/6, 9/2, 9/0 (40m)
[6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) bt
[9] Laura Lengthorn (Eng)
3/9, 9/4, 9/4, 9/4 (44m)
[5] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt [14] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra)
9/2, 6/9, 9/6, 9/3 (55m)
[4] Vicky Botwright (Eng) bt Lauren Briggs (Eng)
9/7, 9/1, 9/7 (44m)
[8] Alison Waters (Eng) bt [Q] Kasey Brown (Aus)
5/9, 9/6, 9/3, 9/4 (56m)
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt
[10] Shelley Kitchen (Nzl)
9/6, 4/9, 9/6, 9/5 (60m)
Quarters start at 19.00 Friday
(14.30 UK) |
En Bref, Issue 4
Photo Galleries |
[5] Jenny Duncalf
(Eng) bt [14] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra)
9/2, 6/9, 9/6, 9/3 (55m) |
Jenny pulls through
 Jenny
Duncalf started this second round match well enough, controlling the
early stages of the match well enough, but played enough loose shots
and errors in the second to let Isabelle Stoehr back into the match,
and the French girl seized the chance eagerly.
The third game was crucial, predominantly long rallies (the basic
theme of another hot evening in the Secunderabad Club). Duncalf
started it with two tins, rallied to parity at 3-all and eased ahead
from 5-6 down to finish with two sweet dropshots.
The English girl raced to a 6-0 lead in the fourth, and although
Stoehr stages a mini-revival it was too late.
 "It
felt a bit scrappy, too many crosscourts. She's very skilful, and
if she gets the bit between her teeth it's very tough.
"I got a bit complacent at 1-0 and 6-2 up, I tried to get my focus
back and play straighter, since she anticipates well and was
picking off my crosscourts. Once I took the third I was always
confident of winning.
"I'm looking forward to playing in front of the Palace, the girls
who went there today say it looks great."
Jenny Duncalf |
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 "The
first game wasn't good, I was surprised by her pace and length.
"I managed to change the game and win the second, the third was
close.
The refereeing wasn't great, I lost three close points at the end
of the third and that led to me losing my concentration at the
start of the fourth.
"My legs started feeling a bit heavy and I couldn't get it back."
Isabelle Stoehr |
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Omneya more up than down
 As
if often the case with Omneya's matches, this was more about the
Egyptian than her opponent.
Laura played good, controlled squash in the early stages, and reaped
the reward. Omneya then started going for her shots much more, and
when the come off they're ungettable.
Enough went down to keep Laura interested, but for the most part she
was retrieving what she could, attacking when she could, but most of
the rallies were decided by an Egyptian winner or tin.
The rallies lengthened towards the end, but by now Omneya was
comfortable with her all-court game and ran out a consistent winner,
score-wise at least.
 "I
was so tense in the first, I wanted to win very much and when you
want it so bad it's sometimes a negative thing. I always have
close matches with Laura so I was nervous.
"In the second and third my killing shots were not going where I
wanted, I was so frustrated. Sometimes they work, sometimes they
don't.
"I got control in the end by putting her at the back, not going
for the kill to early."
Omneya Abdel Kawy |
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"She played very well. It's so
important not to give her anything at the front, to deny her the
chance to use her shots, but it's very hard to do that for the
whole match."
Laura Lengthorn |
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[3] Natalie Grinham
(Aus) bt
[16] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng)
9/6, 9/2, 9/0 (40m) |
A
good game from Dominique
In a best of one Dominique Lloyd-Walter would have had a good chance
of winning, but the English girl had to put so much effort into
competing with triple commonwealth gold medallist Natalie Grinham that
she had nothing left for the next two games.
 "I put so much into the first
game it felt like I'd played a whole match.
"I played as well as I can in that game but after that I just
couldn't keep up the pace. I started playing too many crosscourts
and boasts, and even when you think you've hit a winner she's so
quick she gets to it and puts you in trouble.
"I only got one point off her last time, so I'm not too unhappy
with that.
Dominique Lloyd-Walter |
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 "She started off well, very
fresh, but got tired in the end.
"It's so hard to find a good length on these courts, hard to find
the balance between attack and defence. It wasn't good in the
first but I managed to pick up the pace.
"She's improved a lot and beat Latasha 3/0 so I was expecting it
to be tough.
"I'm very curious about this glass floor, to see how it behaves. A
bit worried and interested at the same time ..."
Natalie Grinham |
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[7] Tania Bailey (Eng) bt
[Q] Nicolette Fernandes (Guy)
9/4, 9/0, 9/0 (35m) |
Tania too good
After two marathon wins to reach this stage it would have been
understandable if Nicolette Fernandes had come up empty tonight.
But it was far from that in the first, where she competed well with
Tania Bailey, ranked some 30 places above her and much fresher.
Bailey started taking the ball earlier from the start of the second,
and while Fernandes was still willing to chase she ended up chasing
more lost causes.
The scoreline was a harsh reflection on the performance, but Nicolette
can be proud of her week in Hyderabad.
 "I'd never played her before, only ever seen her play a few rallies,
so I didn't know what to expect early on. I knew she'd had two hard
matches, so keeping it going a bit was in my mind.
"I was rallying in the first game and she was in there, so I tried to
step up the pace after that. It's nice to have a bit of a game, not
too tough but a good workout before the quarters."
Tania Bailey |
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 "She was just better than me today. The scorecard might not be
completely fair, but she was too good. Her pace is so much higher than
I faced in the previous two matches.
"My legs felt fine today, I don't think the earlier matches made a
difference, she just controlled me very well."
Nicolette Fernandes |
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[8] Alison Waters
(Eng) bt
[Q] Kasey Brown (Aus)
5/9, 9/6, 9/3, 9/4 (56m) |
 "I
played Kasey when we were juniors and lost most times then, and it felt a bit like
that again in the first game.
"I found I was just
hitting the ball hard, and she was comfortable with that,
we had some long rallies and I made a few errors.
"I started mixing it up from the second, and she tired a little and
made a few more errors which was good for me and enough to make the
difference."
Alison Waters |
 "It
was so hot on there. Lauren was picking up some amazing stuff - when
she's moving well, which she was today, she's one of the quickest
players on the tour.
"After taking the first I won the second quite easily, but the third
became a bit of a battle. Luckily I got 2 or 3 quick points at the end
to finish it off."
Vicky Botwright |
[2] Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt
[13] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg)
9/10, 9/5, 9/2, 9/7 (68m) |
 "That was my best performance against her, I lost 3/0 in the world
open last year and have never got that close. Today we had a lot of
long rallies, and I learned a lot from the match.
"My next tournament is in Hong Kong where I'm defending champion, but
I'm only seeded three this time so it will be tough."
Rebecca Chiu |
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt
[10] Shelley Kitchen (Nzl)
9/6, 4/9, 9/6, 9/5 (60m) |
 "I didn't know what to expect when I went on, sometimes she can beat
me really easily, other times it's a good match.
"I definitely had my chances, but I didn't play the points well enough
in the third. If I'd made her play one or two hard rallies instead of
going for it I might have been able to take the game.
"In the fourth I was just trying to take it one point at a time, but I
was never quite there and it was too late."
Shelley Kitchen |
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