Kitchen Sinks Welsh Hopes

Hopes of an all-British semi-final line-up in the Women's Monte Carlo Classic were hastily eliminated by New Zealand's Shelley Kitchen who took just 21 minutes to quash Welsh champion Tegwen Malik in straight games in the quarter-finals in Monaco.

Malik, the No7 seed, had admitted to being a little up and down in recent months but had battled well to beat Dominique Lloyd-Walter in the first round, suggesting that it was the best she had played for a while. The 29-year-old from Swansea was unable to keep up the momentum on the Cote D'Azur, however, whilst Kitchen has been steadily improving her game in recent months and has every reason to look forward to upcoming events.

In addition to her strength, the fourth seed from Auckland has honed her short game skills and beat Malik 9-3 9-1 9-0 to earn a semi-final clash with England's top seed Cassie Jackman.

Runner-up to Sarah Fitz-Gerald in the first Classic, played in 1996, and champion twice since, Jackman remained on course for her hat-trick after extinguishing the challenge presented by 20-year-old compatriot Alison Waters. The eighth seed is knocking on the door of the WISPA top twenty, but was given a demonstration of the power and placement to which she still aspires.

Jackman took the ball so early and was so relentless that the only times Waters could use her own deftness to effect were during Jackman's occasional lapses of concentration. There was one such chink in the third which allowed Waters to move to 7-4 and 8-6 before Jackman refocused and drove home 9-4 9-4 10-8 in 40 minutes.

"I tried to play side to side rather than in straight lines and I nearly got a game so I'm pretty pleased," said Waters later.

Third seed Jenny Tranfield found herself up against an obdurate opponent in fellow Englishwoman Laura-Jane Lengthorn, who, like Waters, is moving closer to the top twenty. In a closely-contested first game which saw Lengthorn well in front initially, the variety and tenaciousness of Tranfield just edged out the crisp hitting of her opponent.

But from this point Tranfield seemed to have just too many ways to end a rally. However, at 6-3 up in the third, she produced a cluster of unforced errors that lost her that game. Composure restored, Tranfield eventually came home 9-6 9-0 6-9 9-4 in 54 minutes.

Afterwards she was quick to praise Lengthorn, saying: "She holds the ball well and is a determined character. Every time I play her she gets stronger."

After her five-game upset over fifth seed Carla Khan in the previous round, Malaysia's Sharon Wee was unable to stretch England's No2 seed Fiona Geaves. But at five-all in the second game, Geaves stumbled and hit the side wall with her knee. At first it appeared that she may have turned it, but, tentatively at first and with a little more confidence later, she continued. Wee moved her around, causing Geaves to take some shots off balance, but the Englishwoman was able to maintain the upper hand as she strode to her 9-2 7-9 9-7 9-5 victory.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Cassie Jackman (ENG) bt [8] Alison Waters (ENG) 9-4, 9-4, 10-8 (40m)
[4] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [7] Tegwen Malik (WAL) 9-3, 9-1, 9-0 (21m)
[3] Jenny Tranfield (ENG) bt [6] Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) 9-6, 9-0, 6-9, 9-4 (54m)
[2] Fiona Geaves (ENG) bt Sharon Wee (MAS) 9-2, 7-9, 9-7, 9-5 (41m)