Joyful Jackman Celebrates Shanghai Victory

England's Cassie Jackman celebrated one of the greatest triumphs of her career when she crushed Malaysia's Nicol David (both pictured right) in straight games in just 27 minutes in the final of the Shanghai WISPA WorldStars Championship to become the winner of the first major squash event to be staged on mainland China.

The final was the climax of a major initiative launched by the Chinese Squash Association (CSA), in conjunction with the Shanghai Sports Commission, to bring elite international squash to the city. And the unique setting on the famous Bund waterfront, alongside the Wang Pu River in central Shanghai, provided a spectacular opportunity for the sport to make its all-glass court debut in China.

As the stands filled, and hundreds of inquisitive spectators milled about close by, two words were heard in so many sentences: Bi qiao (pronounced bee schou) - literally 'wall ball', the Mandarin name for squash.

Until recently squash was a sport known only by a few enthusiasts, but now it has been seen on national TV, heard on radio, and read about in the written media. Building on the highly successful WISPA Promotional Tour to China earlier in the year, CSA wanted to show top squash in a public environment to keep tugging at the sleeve of public and governmental attention. The first Shanghai WISPA WorldStars seems to have achieved what the CSA had envisaged.

Saturday had seen Nicol David cause a major seeding upset by beating Australia's world No1 Rachael Grinham - coincidentally the other half of the spearheading WISPA Promotional Tour team that visited Shanghai and Beijing in June. Meanwhile, Cassie Jackman had seen off world No5 Natalie Grinham to keep both sisters out of the final!

As Deng Li, the CSA mastermind of the event, settled down to watch the action he professed himself to be satisfied with all that the WorldStars had already achieved: "Squash a very young sport here, but now bi qiao has received some attention in my country. With our partners, Shanghai Sports Commission and Dragon TV, we are very happy with the progress we have made," said the Association's Deputy General Secretary.

Like the previous evening, a bright clear day had given way to crisp dusk. Again as 24 hours earlier, Jackman had literally included a hot drink as part of her warm up! It was not so much cool as cold outside the court wall windbreak that enclosed the players.

Although David had notched up a win against her English opponent, that had come a year ago in the Dutch Open. Since then Jackman has three victories - the Hong Kong waterfront in the semis of the World Open on the same court, and twice in the last couple of months at the quarter final stage of the Bahrain WISPA Classic and Weymuller US Open.

Last night Jackman had set about Natalie Grinham with the sort of gusto that normally emerges when she has settled into a match - sometimes as late as the second game. Here, in front of packed stands and a plethora of TV and still cameras, the world No2 began where she had left off the previous night.

David, the seventh seed, was being sent on visits to every corner before being despatched on a regular basis with a volley buried into the forehand side nick.

Having taken the first game, Jackman maintained her authority over the nimble but out-manoeuvred Malaysian. Rallies were extended but David could ill afford even a slightly loose ball as Jackman was punishing and the 21-year-old from Penang was being punished!

Jackman, the 31-year-old England No1 from Norwich in Norfolk, stayed focused and hardly missed a volley. When she was sent back, she had the length and width to thrust the pressure back on David, or would wind up into a straight low drive that would send the seventh seed flailing to the front. It was a compelling performance.

To the accompaniment of what appeared to be an extended signal of salute from a passing large steamer, Jackman took the inaugural Shanghai WorldStars title 9-2 9-3 9-0 - and let loose a media scrum for pictures, TV shots and interviews.

When peace was eventually resumed, after the trophy presentations made by the Shanghai Sports Commission and CSA, the champion explained: "It wasn't really a lopsided match, I was just able to stay focussed and not let her in."

For David, the four-times Asian champion, there was the bittersweet feeling of having made her first WISPA Gold final, but not having been able to really challenge for the title. "I think I was still overwhelmed from yesterday's game," she said, referring to her win over world number one Rachael Grinham. "I had hoped to play as well as yesterday but Cassie didn't let me into the match."

The week had still been pivotal to the Malaysian's career progress, and was another title garnered for Jackman (the 28th of her career) - and very definitely a milestone in the development of bi qiao in China.

Final:
[2] Cassie Jackman (ENG) bt [7] Nicol David (MAS) 9-2, 9-3, 9-0 (27m)