Qualifying Wildcards Announced For Forexx Women's World Open

Dagmar Vermeulen, Milou van der Heijden, Milja Dorenbos and Margriet Huisman will participate in the Forexx Women's World Open, which is to be held from 20-27 September in Amsterdam, after the Dutch quartet was awarded with wildcards for the qualifying event of the official individual world squash championship for women.

The Forexx Women's World Open marks the return to professional competition on the Women's International Squash Players Association (WISPA) World Tour for the 25-year old Huisman. The citizen of Almere was struck down with a severe leg injury in November 2007, after a highly successful year in which she stormed into the world's top-40 as a result of four tournament wins. A trapped nerve in her right leg ended the rise of the Dutch international though, forcing her out of the game for 15 consecutive months. In February of 2009, Huisman made her long awaited comeback on a squash court in a Dutch league match with a win over compatriot Dorenbos.

"I had to wait a long time for it, but I finally have a goal again: competing in the Forexx Women's World Open in Amsterdam," said the former world number 36. "Because I lost my ranking in the past year or two, I wouldn't have made it into the event on my own merit. That's why I am delighted to have received a wildcard from the organisers for the qualifying event," added Huisman, who is now working in Amsterdam as the head coach for the successful Squashing Kids program which focuses on attracting 8-12 year old school kids to squash.

Whilst Huisman received her wildcard on her performances in the past, the 33-year old Vermeulen, the 18-year old van der Heijden and the 25-year old Dorenbos earned the highly-sought-after spots due to their results in the Forexx Pro Tour Squash 2008-2009.

This circuit, consisting of 10 professional squash events for men and women on Dutch soil, was created nine months ago to provide the top Dutch players with an opportunity to earn valuable points to climb up the World Rankings, with the added bonus of competing for wildcards for the Forexx Women's World Open 2009 (women) and the Dutch Open 2009 (men). Earlier this year it was already announced that 23-year old Dutch player Orla Noom had been given the main draw wildcard for the Forexx Women's World Open due to her performances in the Forexx Pro Tour tournaments.