Waters On Song In Seoul Opener

England's Alison Waters drowned hopes of local interest in the quarter-finals of the BBQ Women's Seoul Open when she defeated Korean teenager Song Sun-Mi in today's second day of first round action in the $60,000 WISPA World Tour Gold squash event being staged on an all-glass court sited in front of the Hyundai I-Park Mall in Yongsan Plaza in the South Korean capital Seoul.

The world No68 from Kyung-Do is the highest-ranked woman in the country - and carried the hopes not only of the crowd, but also of the assembled VIPs. Song did not disappoint: the 19-year-old rallied well, retrieved athletically and hit a number of winners.

But the local star had a tough task in her fifth-seeded opponent Waters, the world No5. The Londoner needed only 22 minutes to earn her 11-2, 11-8, 11-8 victory.

The crowd had been well briefed - and knew that the world champion was next on the bill. Seats remained fully occupied, the steps thronged and the areas outside the barriers filled as Nicol David took on vibrant young talent Annie Au, the last remaining member of a Hong Kong trio in the first round.

While Au smiles all the time off court, in her work box she gives little away - and when the 20-year-old qualifier settled into the match, there were times when David, the world number one from Malaysia, was unable to dictate.

Playing with abandon, the young left hander took the second game and reached six-all in the next before David started to deny her opportunities - and soon wrapped up her anticipated victory in an 11-4, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7 scoreline.

Indeed, the Malaysian - who had never played Au before - was lavish with her praise about Au afterwards: "She has so much potential. She has already matured so much, improving in leaps and bounds. She knows how to work the ball and her feel of the game is very good too."

Au herself commented: "I am very happy; to get one game is a bonus as I thought I would lose 3/0!"

The third encounter featured friends Natalie Grinham, the third seed from the Netherlands, and Latasha Khan, a successful qualifier from the USA. While Grinham is making her fifth Tour appearance this year, the Seoul championship marks the indefatigable 36-year-old American's tenth WISPA outing in 2009!

Khan gave the 2007 Seoul champion a good workout - but it was Grinham that emerged the 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 victor.

Grinham will play Kasey Brown in the quarter finals after the eighth seed came through what looked like a difficult match on paper. Mexican Samantha Teran is always an obdurate opponent, but it was the Australian who prevailed 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 in 34 minutes.

Mr Yoon Hong-Geun, representing championship sponsors BBQ, had remarked in his event opening speech about how suited Squash is for a place at the Olympics: With the TV cameras rolling and the public enjoying the spectacle of top class sport, Squash can now point to spectacular settings and great coverage in yet another country - his own!

1st round (top half of draw:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [Q] Annie Au (HKG) 11-4, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7 (43m)
[5] Alison Waters (ENG) bt Song Sun-Mi (KOR) 11-2, 11-8, 11-8 (22m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [Q] Latasha Khan (USA) 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (25m)
[8] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Samantha Teran (MEX) 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 (34m)