Waters Stuns Top Seed Grinham In Cleveland

England's Alison Waters delivered one of the standout performances of her career when she crushed top seed Rachael Grinham in the semi-finals of the Women's National City Burning River Classic to secure an unexpected place in the final of the $39,000 WISPA World Tour squash event at Cleveland Racquet Club in Pepper Pike in the US state of Ohio.

"Alison put on a display of the highest calibre as she kept the former world number one on the defensive then finished rallies with some decisive shot-making," said tournament organiser Nathan Dugan.

"Rachael was only able to put two points on the board in the first game but it was not through errors that she found herself in the position - Alison took advantage of any loose ball by burying the next shot in a straight nick!

"What the packed crowd witnessed stunned them into almost a breathless silence as the disbelief of what they were seeing sunk in," added Dugan after the 11-2, 11-4, 11-5 victory which takes the 24-year-old world No6 into her sixth Tour final.

Waters now faces defending champion Natalie Grainger, the second seed from the USA who is looking to win a hat-trick of successive Cleveland crowns. While Waters has, in fact, won three out of her last four encounters with Grinham, the Londoner will be hoping to end a run of five defeats in a row by the US number one.

Grainger, the world No4 from Greenwich, extended her unbeaten run at the Cleveland Racquet Club to 11 matches with an 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 win over Laura Lengthorn-Massaro, the fifth seed from England.

After winning the opening game, Grainger raised her game another notch as she jumped on anything that could be volleyed. The Lancashire lass did not have the response to the assault and despite playing some excellent squash herself was always chasing rather than being out in front.

"If both finalists produce the quality of play they brought to the court this evening then the Cleveland Racquet Club crowd will be in for a treat tomorrow," concluded Dugan.

Semi-finals:
[3] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 11-2, 11-4, 11-5
[2] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [5] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) 11-9, 11-6, 11-8