England's Old Guard Shaken In Shanghai

Today's first round of the Shanghai WISPA WorldStars Championship - the first major squash event to be staged on mainland China - became a triumph for youth over experience for three English players competing in the Chinese Squash Association-organised WISPA Gold event.

Fiona Geaves, the sixth seed from Gloucester, admitted that she had been less than tactically astute in going in short too early against compatriot Vicky Botwright, a qualifier - and failed to establish any regular length against her opponent. Geaves paid the ultimate penalty as Manchester-based Botwright swept to a 9-0 9-4 9-3 victory in just 23 minutes. With a first round loss in the British Open too, earlier this month, Geaves is having a difficult autumn of her career.

Geaves' friend and England team-mate Linda Elriani, the fifth seed, also tumbled out of the championship as she failed to get the better of world junior champion Omneya Abdel Kawy, 13 years her junior. "Omneya couldn't do a thing wrong and every time I tried to get back into it she tried something that came off," explained the world No6 from Eastbourne. Leaving Abdel Kawy at the front, on an unresponsive court, was Elriani's downfall as she became more and more at odds with herself. "Hit it up," she shouted at the court lights as another drop at the wrong time hit the tin.

In the top half of the draw, English qualifier Tania Bailey ensured that seeding supremacy would not prevail. Unluckily sidelined during the British Open by illness, Bailey came roaring back to defeat eighth seed Rebecca Macree to complete the hat-trick of youthful wins. Macree was never in the frame - unable to impose any pattern to the match.

Bailey, the 25-year-old from Lincolnshire, now plays top seed Rachael Grinham who gave Hong Kong's Rebecca Chiu a chance to bring the large supportive crowd to life when she snatched the second game from 7/3 down. It was however only the briefest glimpse of home success as the Australian resumed the control of the court she had shown in the first with her varied, floating game. But it was a competitive match in which the home favourite was able to show just why she is well placed within the world top twenty.

Botwright takes on compatriot Cassie Jackman in the quarter-finals. The second seed took longer to repel the bustling challenge of Jenny Tranfield than she might have hoped. Never a fan of cooler conditions, which require even more warming of her back, Jackman found herself under pressure as Tranfield got to grips with the match and began to stretch the former world number one. Tranfield just fell short of taking the match to a decider at the five-court Megafit Club.

Kawy now plays third seed Natalie Grinham who found Shelley Kitchen in the obdurate mood that has been a feature of her improving year. It started well enough for Grinham as she raced to an 8-1 lead in the first, but then Kiwi Kitchen started to pick up more of the short stuff and return with interest. It was only after she had got back to 7-8 before Grinham capitalised on her third game ball by retrieving three seemingly lost causes - certainly as far as the already applauding crowd were concerned - and took the rally. A grazed knee requiring attention during the second took away her edge as she returned with strapping - but enough control to reach the last eight was resumed in the next two games.

An upset looked possible when Jenny Duncalf cruised to the first game against seventh seed Nicol David, the Malaysian looking as if she was in another time zone. But David slowly roused herself as the second unfolded, before taking full control of the match with her trademark all court movement.

For a short while she looked as if she would be playing Madeline Perry in the quarters. The Irish champion has been threatening a major scalp for months now and when she was 2/1 and 7-5 ahead against Natalie Grainger, it seemed that this would be it. Though the fourth seed recovered to 8/7, the game ball was squandered with an injudicious drop. Then it was Perry who let two match balls slip away by giving away strokes when she hit the balls past herself after extended rallies.

Grainger, meanwhile, only needed one more chance to snatch the game which she did with a searing cross court drive. Perry was not able to deal so effectively with her less error-prone Washington-based opponent in the decider and another surprise departure was averted as the American secured her 9-3 8-10 6-9 10-9 9-3 win in 54 minutes.

Asked what was going through her head at match ball down, Grainger responded: "I thought that I couldn't stay here all week without another match, all the training and not wanting to phone over the bad result!"

It was a first ever night of top competitive squash for the local audience to really savour, whetting their appetite for the quarter finals on Friday - before the action moves to the riverside in central Shanghai for the last two days.

1st round:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9-2, 7-9, 9-3, 9-4 (41m)
[Q] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [8] Rebecca Macree (ENG) 9-1, 9-5, 9-0 (32m)
[4] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [Q] Madeline Perry (IRL) 9-3, 8-10, 6-9, 10-9, 9-3 (54m)
[7] Nicol David (MAS) bt Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 1-9, 9-2, 9-3, 9-5 (38m)
Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [5] Linda Elriani (ENG) 9-7, 9-4, 9-5 (39m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 9-7, 5-9, 9-4, 9-2 (44m)
[Q] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt [6] Fiona Geaves (ENG) 9-0, 9-4, 9-3 (23m)
[2] Cassie Jackman (ENG) bt Jenny Tranfield (ENG) 9-1, 9-5, 4-9, 9-6 (50m)