Shelley Shines As Cassie Collapses In KL

Cassie Jackman's bid to win a second world title came to a disappointing end in Malaysia today when the second seed from England fell in straight games to New Zealand's 12th seed Shelley Kitchen in the second round of the KL Women's World Open Championship at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

Kitchen's 9-5 9-4 9-7 win marks her first over the world number two from Norfolk - but follows a breakdown by Jackman in last week's Qatar Classic in Doha which led to overnight hospitalisation and tests for DVT.

The England No1, who celebrates her 32nd birthday just before Christmas, underwent two career-threatening back operations over the past four years, yet recovered to win back the world No1 ranking at the beginning of this year.

"My left leg is completely dead today," Jackman told www.squashnow.com after her second round defeat. "I can only think it is all connected to my back surgery and I want to get home as quickly as possible to check in with the people who did all that for me.

"With hindsight, maybe I should not have come on to Malaysia, but I felt OK after a good sleep when leaving hospital in Qatar and I thought it was worth a try at what is a wide open field here."

In her first ever appearance in a World Open quarter-final, 25-year-old Kitchen, from Auckland, goes on to meet local star Nicol David. The sixth seed from Penang was fully stretched by unseeded English player Alison Waters before winning 10-8 7-9 9-2 10-8 in 55 minutes.

It was a notable day of competitive action in the last sixteen in KL - with all of the matches taking more than 40 minutes to resolve. Fifth seed Linda Elriani survived a marathon all-English encounter with Jenny Duncalf, the 13th seed, before pulling through 9-5 9-7 8-10 9-3 in 79 minutes.

The Sussex-based 32-year-old now faces third seed Vanessa Atkinson who took 55 minutes to overcome England's 11th seed Vicky Botwright 9-6 9-6 2-9 10-8. Elriani will be hoping to repeat her US Open upset over the world No3 from the Netherlands in October in Thursday's last eight clash in KL.

2nd round:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [16] Madeline Perry (IRL) 9-1, 9-0, 7-9, 9-5 (50m)
[10] Jenny Tranfield (ENG) bt Tania Bailey (ENG) 7-9, 9-2, 9-3, 9-6 (47m)
[3] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [11] Vicky Botwright (ENG) 9-6, 9-6, 2-9, 10-8 (55m)
[5] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt [13] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-5, 9-7, 8-10, 9-3 (79m)
[8] Rebecca Macree (ENG) bt Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) 9-5, 9-7, 9-5 (48m)
[4] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [15] Stephanie Brind (ENG) 9-7, 9-4, 9-1 (42m)
[6] Nicol David (MAS) bt Alison Waters (ENG) 10-8, 7-9, 9-2, 10-8 (55m)
[12] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [2] Cassie Jackman (ENG) 9-5, 9-4, 9-7 (43m)