Rachael Grinham Marks 30th Tour Title At Sharm El Sheikh

30 Nov 2009

Australia's Rachael Grinham celebrated the 30th WISPA World Tour squash title of her career by beating home hope Engy Kheirallah in the final of the $29,500 Women's Sharm El Sheikh Open at Laguna Vista Resort in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

The triumph marks the latest milestone in the formidable career of the 32-year-old Queenslander who collected her maiden Tour title at the Toulouse Open in March 1998 after winning the World Junior Championship, at the age of 16, in July 1993. Grinham went on to win the Texas Open, Kuwait Open and Singapore Open trophies, the World Open crown in 2007 - and, two months ago in Manchester, picked up her fourth British Open crown.

Based in Cairo since 2001, Grinham eased into her 54th Tour final after beating third seed Raneem El Weleily - while, in the other semi, fourth seed Kheirallah maintained her winning run over Omneya Abdel Kawy by defeating her higher-ranked compatriot in straight games.

But after a tight first game, it was the top-seeded Australian who prevailed to win 16-14, 11-6, 11-4 in 52 minutes to strengthen her position as the current player with the second biggest collection of Tour titles - behind Nicol David, the world number one from Malaysia who boasts 41.

Final:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [4] Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 16-14, 11-6, 11-4 (52m)