Qualifiers Survive Marathons To Strike Gold In Rye

Efforts to qualify for the first WISPA World Tour Gold squash event of the year produced four marathon clashes in the qualifying finals of the Women's Marsh Apawamis Open at the Apawamis Club in Rye in the US state of New York.

Latasha Khan, the seven times US national champion from Seattle, battled back from two games down to beat New Zealander Jaclyn Hawkes 6-9, 8-10, 9-2, 9-3, 9-6 in 77 minutes. The reward for Khan's endeavours is a first round meeting with second seed Natalie Grinham, the world No2 from Australia.

It took 70 minutes for Samantha Teran to earn her right to face eighth seed Vanessa Atkinson in the main draw. The highest-ranked Mexican also had to recover from a two-game deficit before beating England's Dominique Lloyd-Walter 5-9, 6-9, 9-5, 9-2, 9-0.

An all-Egyptian battle resulted in Engy Kheirallah beating Raneem El Weleily 5-9, 9-3, 9-3, 10-9 in 53 minutes - the winner going on to face Nicol David, the world No1 from Malaysia who is beginning her 2008 campaign in Rye.

A 68-minute workout saw the demise of Dutch player Annelize Naude as Australian Kasey Brown prevailed in a 9-4, 8-10, 9-4, 9-2 scoreline to line-up against Tania Bailey, the fifth seed from England, in the first round.

Qualifying finals:
Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Annelize Naude (NED) 9-4, 8-10, 9-4, 9-2 (68m)
Latasha Khan (USA) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 6-9, 8-10, 9-2, 9-3, 9-6 (77m)
Samantha Teran (MEX) bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 5-9, 6-9, 9-5, 9-2, 9-0 (70m)
Engy Kheirallah (EGY) bt Raneem El Weleily (EGY) 5-9, 9-3, 9-3, 10-9 (53m)