Atkinson & Willstrop Claim Qatar Crowns

England's James Willstrop and Vanessa Atkinson, from the Netherlands, claimed the men's and women's titles, respectively, in the Qatar Classic after straight games victories in the semi-finals at the Khalifa International Squash Complex in Doha.

The men's triumph marks the biggest title won by 22-year-old Willstrop, the former world junior champion from Yorkshire, whilst the successful defence of the women's title will take Atkinson - who has retained second place in the world rankings since January this year - to world number one, for the first time in her career, in December.

Australia's third seed David Palmer had survived two five-game marathons - both lasting more than 75 minutes - before facing Willstrop, the No8 seed, in the men's Qatar Classic climax. It was, however, third time unlucky for the 29-year-old from Lithgow in New South Wales, who had already finished as runner-up - in both cases to Willstrop's English compatriot Peter Nicol - in the established PSA Super Series event in Doha in 2001 and 2002.

Willstrop raced to a first game lead, allowing his opponent only a single point, before continuing the rout in the second game. It took the Englishman 42 minutes to beat Palmer 11-1 11-7 11-7 and inflict the first straight games defeat of the Australian in a ranking event this year.

"I believed I could win it, but to actually do so is another thing altogether," Willstrop told www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "This is as big as it gets, and winning a tournament with so many great players in it is just incredible."

The Qatar success marks Willstrop's second PSA Super Series crown, and the fifth PSA Tour title of his career.

After upsetting Australia's world No1 Rachael Grinham and Malaysia's world No3 Nicol David to reach her first WISPA Grand Prix final, England's sixth seed Vicky Botwright was unable to produce further magic against the title-holder in the women's climax. Not since October 2003 had the Manchester-based 28-year-old beaten Atkinson - and the toils of her giant-killing exploits earlier had clearly left their mark in the final.

Atkinson, the world champion in her 29th WISPA Tour final, earned her third successive straight games win in the event beating Botwright 9-7 9-4 9-2 in 34 minutes to claim her 17th WISPA title.

"I cannot believe I've actually retained my title as I've just been through such a terrible patch and lost all my confidence," said Atkinson afterwards. "I started to play better in Monte Carlo, which helped win that tournament. I just hope I can keep at that level next week."

All the players now race to Hong Kong, where the PSA and WISPA Tour action continues in the Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Privilege World Open. Willstrop opens his campaign against local wildcard player Wai Hang Wong, while Atkinson looks forward to a qualifier.

Men's final:
[8] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [3] David Palmer (AUS) 11-1, 11-7, 11-7 (42m)

Women's final:
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [6] Vicky Botwright (ENG) 9-7, 9-4, 9-2 (34m)