Grinhams Line Up For Singapore Semi

There will be a Grinham in the final of the CIMB Women's Singapore Masters. But will it be third seed Natalie Grinham, the world No3, or her elder sister Rachael Grinham - ranked just one place below her, but the tournament's second seed - who will contest the climax of the $53,500 WISPA World Squash Tour Gold event at the Kallang Squash Centre in Singapore?

The first quarter-final pitched Natalie Grinham against eighth seed Madeline Perry - and the hour-long match set the scene for the rest of the evening. The pair traded games before taking the match into a fifth game. And in the decider, there were never any more than two points between the two before Irish champion Perry had a late lapse of concentration to allow Grinham to go ahead.

The game ended on a stroke to the Dutch star and, despite initially thinking it was a harsh decision, Perry conceded later that it was a fair call.

The Irish girl felt she had her chances to win: "I really felt I could win. We were at 8-all in the final game and then I played a weak volley boast there and just dropped off for a couple of points and gave her the match point," said Perry after her 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 defeat. "Still on match ball, I felt I could win, but I couldn't quite do it."

For Grinham, it was a different kind of struggle: "I played well in some points, other points I felt I was mistiming the ball. I played on the back courts yesterday, and the show court's a little bit different. So my timing was a little bit off sometimes. It was a patchy match, and I'm happy to get through it."

Rachael's match against Egyptian enigma Omneya Abdel Kawy was more straightforward. Except for a second game blip, the 32-year-old from Toowoomba, Australia, was always ahead despite playing with a sore ankle.

"The night before I had my first round, I just went over on my ankle, crossing the street unbelievably," explained Rachael Grinham after her 11-5, 13-15, 11-2, 11-4 win. "And I've already done my ankle a couple of times this year, so it's already quite weak. So I wasn't really sure I was going to be able to move alright.

"I thought tonight against Omneya, I was really going to struggle because she's usually quite good in the front. So I went out there with a plan to just try and keep her in the back so that I probably wouldn't have to move much and hopefully she would make some errors."

About playing her sister in the semis, Rachael continued: "Natalie and I don't play each other that much these days, because we're both struggling a bit to make it through the rounds. It's always good because we always know that one of us is getting through to the final."

The third quarter-final - an all-English affair between fifth seed Jenny Duncalf and fourth seed Alison Waters - was nip and tuck all the way. But it was Londoner Waters who prevailed 9-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-6, 11-9 in the 81-minute tussle to set up a second meeting in a week with favourite Nicol David, the world number one from Malaysia who beat her in the CIMB Malaysia Open final last Saturday.

For Duncalf, it was disappointing to be edged out: "There wasn't a lot in it, Alison nicked it in the end. I'm disappointed to lose but I didn't think I played too badly. I probably should have capitalised on my lead in the fifth, but Ali came back strong and took it in the end."

The crowd stayed to see top seed Nicol David in action and for a while there, it seemed they were going to witness an upset. England's world No9 Laura Lengthorn-Massaro played like the rising star she has been for the past two years, running Nicol close before losing the first game 12-10.

Laura then won the second 11-7 but that was when Nicol found the extra gear that she often does, taking the third 11-7. Nicol shot to a 6-0 lead in the fourth and despite a mini-comeback from Laura, the Malaysian stayed focused to wrap up the match in 61 minutes.

Laura took heart from her defeat: "I thought I played OK. My game plan was good but it was the execution that let me down. I was confident because the last we met was 3/2, so I know that I can get games, it's just turning the games into wins, so next time, I learnt a lot from this."

Now one win away from her third successive final, David agreed she was not at her best: "I was not having the best focus today but Laura played really well today and worked the court well. I got sucked into her game but then I managed to find my own game and bring it to her at the end."

Quarter-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [7] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7 (55m)
[4] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-6, 11-9 (81m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [8] Madeline Perry (IRL) 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 (60m)
[2] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 11-5, 13-15, 11-2, 11-4 (45m)