Natalie Prevails In US Grinham Battle

Australia's three-times Commonwealth Games gold medallist Natalie Grinham upset her top-seeded sister Rachael Grinham in the semi-finals of The Marsh Apawamis Open to reach her third successive WISPA World Tour final in the first major women's squash event of the year in Rye, USA.

Now in the 18th WISPA final of her career, Grinham junior will face England's Vicky Botwright, who beat unseeded compatriot Laura-Jane Lengthorn to reach her 14th final.

The Grinhams had faced each other ten times before on the WISPA Tour, with Rachael triumphant in all but two occasions. But Natalie is on a roll, after extending world No1 Nicol David for more than 90 minutes in November's World Open final in Belfast, then lifting the Monte Carlo Classic crown last month in Monaco.

Third seed Natalie failed to convert two game-balls in the first game before Rachael snatched the advantage by a slender 10-9 margin.

Seemingly stung by this, Natalie moved to dominate and force errors from the favourite - and succeeded on both counts to win the second and third games comfortably.

The fourth followed a similar pattern with Natalie taking a 6-2 lead, but Rachael climbed back to move 7-6 up. However, the Commonwealth Games champion reclaimed her advantage and went on the record her 9-10, 9-1, 9-1, 10-8 victory in 57 minutes.

"I don't know what happened in the middle two games," said Rachael afterwards. "I gave it a bit of a push in the fourth and we had some good rallies again but Natalie held it together better in the end."

The successful sibling added: "Even when we try to trick each other, we tend to read it. It can get confusing! Still, I am very happy to get to the final as it is not easy starting back after a bit of break over Christmas."

The second match between Lancashire county team-mates saw Lengthorn starting steadily - but No7 seed Botwright began to find her length and range on the drop shots and took the first game.

Botwright, the 29-year-old Mancunian who suffered her first loss to Lengthorn in November's Wolverhampton Open final, went 6-2 ahead in the second game. Lengthorn, the 23-year-old from Preston, closed the gap but her higher-ranked opponent went on to extend her lead.

In the third, Laura saved two match balls at 8-7 to level the game. But again Botwright bounced back and, after 56 minutes, clinched her 9-5, 9-5, 10-8 win.

"Considering I had four weeks out with my damaged ankle and have only been back on court for two weeks, it has been a great tournament for me," said Lengthorn. "I didn't expect to make the semis but the draw opened up nicely!"

Botwright explained: "Last year was good with the Commonwealth Games and World Teams - but not on an individual level. Doing badly in Belfast (at the World Open) was a wake up call. I tried to change some things and am really pleased to make a WISPA Gold final as my ranking is only eight.

"It is also a good thing for English squash that we had two English girls in the semis."

Semi-finals:
[3] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 9-10, 9-1, 9-1, 10-8 (57m)
[7] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) 9-5, 9-5, 10-8 (56m)