West Denied Hedonism Chance

Local star Marlene West was denied the chance to appear in the main draw of the first WISPA World Tour event to take place in Jamaica when she lost out in a 51-minute battle with Canada's Runa Reta in the qualifying finals of the Women's Hedonism II Open in Negril.

Multi-talented West is the reigning Jamaican champion and represented her country in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The Caribbean champion between 1993-95 and 1999-2004, West also has representative honours in swimming, water polo and football - and holds coaching certificates in cycling, swimming and squash!

After winning the opening game against the Canadian, West went down 1-9 9-5 9-5 9-3 as Reta reserved her place in the main draw - where she will meet USA's seventh seed Latasha Khan.

Top seed in the $23,000 event is world No1 Rachael Grinham. The Australian will be putting aside her disappointment at losing her crown in last week's Dunlop British Open as she opens her Hedonism campaign against unseeded compatriot Melissa Martin. Grinham is expected to meet Egypt's second seed Omneya Abdel Kawy in the final on Sunday.

Qualifying finals:
Runa Reta (CAN) bt Marlene West (JAM) 1-9, 9-5, 9-5, 9-3 (51m)
Manuela Manetta (ITA) bt Alana Miller (CAN) 10-8, 9-7, 9-6 (47m)
Nicolette Fernandes (GUY) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 9-5, 9-6, 9-6 (42m)
Amanda Hopps (AUS) bt Katie Patrick (CAN) 9-3, 9-6, 10-8 (51m)