David Slays Goliath Grainger In Shanghai

Almost a year after upsetting Natalie Grainger in the second round of the World Open in Hong Kong, Malaysian Nicol David pulled off a second successive victory over the world No4 from the USA in today's quarter-finals of the Shanghai WISPA WorldStars Championship at the Megafit Sports Club in Shanghai.

Grainger, the fourth seed, started brightly enough but even as the first game reached its mid point she was beginning to look listless. Seventh seed David took the first game when Grainger hit a loose attempted nick off a return of serve only for it to sit up allowing the Malaysian a simple finish.

The second game was similar as Grainger was competing in waves of rallying combined with spells of lethargy. Her cheeks were pinked, face stressed and it was clear that she was off colour.

The match ended with Grainger hitting two weak tins as the former world junior champion from Penang secured her 9-6 9-4 5-9 9-6 triumph in 43 minutes.

"I have been carrying something for the last week; not sleeping well and just feeling tired," Grainger commented. As for David, she now moves onto the see-through court on the Bund in central Shanghai for the semi-finals.

There she will meet Australia's Rachael Grinham - the other half of the pairing that became known to squash enthusiasts in China's second city as they played exhibitions on the WISPA Promotional Tour in June.

Grinham dropped the second game in her quarter-final, as she had done the day before. Her opponent Tania Bailey showed just why she was flying much higher in the rankings before a series of illnesses and injuries in the last couple of years took their toll. She moved round the court with purpose, regularly causing problems for the world number one.

Grinham ran away with the third much as Bailey had done in the second, but when it seemed that she might ease through with the fourth too, instead she found the English challenger reaching 8-4. At the fifth attempt, Bailey won a game ball to draw level.

Bailey moved forward in the fifth with more tight and controlled squash before Grinham levelled at four-all, then moved forward to 7-4. But Bailey then benefited from a lob floated out (symptomatic of the Aussie's evening), another tickled tin and moved to seven all.

But Bailey then made a couple of tired errors of her own to allow the mightily-relieved top seed to squeeze through 9-6 1-9 9-1 6-9 9-7 after 81 increasingly-fraught minutes.

Afterwards, the recently-crowned British Open champion admitted that she had been fortunate to escape. "I haven't played Tania for such a long time and it was uncomfortable not knowing quite what to expect. I was really hesitant - Tania was playing really well and caught me cold," Grinham added.

In the other half of the draw both Natalie Grinham, Rachael's third-placed sister, and second seed Cassie Jackman had a good deal less difficulty in reaching the last four.

Grinham had to deal with another grazed knee acquired from her low level flying around the court; but although her opponent Omneya Abdel Kawy was edging back into contention as she recovered to eight all in the third, she couldn't find a strong enough finish to pick up a game ball and the Egyptian's Shanghai experience was over in 28 minutes in a 9-2 9-5 10-8 scoreline.

Jackman also had to deal with an increasingly effective and confident opponent, but compatriot Vicky Botwright's defences couldn't withstand the flow that Jackman unleashed as the world No2 raced to a 9-4 9-0 9-6 victory in 29 minutes.

The Shanghai action now moves to the city's picturesque Bund riverside where the eyes and the cameras of the nation will be on a top pro squash event for the first time.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Tania Bailey (ENG) 9-6, 1-9, 9-1, 6-9, 9-7 (81m)
[7] Nicol David (MAS) bt [4] Natalie Grainger (USA) 9-6, 9-4, 5-9, 9-6 (43m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 9-2, 9-5, 10-8 (28m)
[2] Cassie Jackman (ENG) bt [Q] Vicky Botwright (ENG) 9-4, 9-0, 9-6 (29m)