WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Women's Qatar Airways Squash Challenge, Doha, Qatar

2nd round:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [15] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9-1, 9-4, 9-4 (26m)
[5] Linda Elriani (ENG) bt [12] Fiona Geaves (ENG) 9-0, 9-2, 9-4 (25m)
[4] Nicol David (MAS) bt [10] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 5-9, 9-3, 9-6, 9-0 (46m)
[11] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) 9-4, 9-2, 9-4 (35m)
[6] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [13] Annelize Naude (NED) 9-3, 9-0, 9-4 (24m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [9] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-5, 9-0, 9-2 (29m)
[7] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt [16] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 6-9, 9-6, 9-2, 9-7 (52m)
[14] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) 9-1, 9-5, 9-5 (43m)

Bailey Beats Atkinson In Major Qatar Challenge Upset

Vanessa Atkinson's bid to clinch the world number one ranking for the first time next month took a dramatic knock in Doha when she crashed out of the second round of the Women's Qatar Airways Squash Challenge.  The second seed and defending champion was beaten in straight games by 14th seed Tania Bailey, giving the Englishwoman from Lincolnshire her best result for more than two years.

Atkinson, the world champion from the Netherlands, arrived in Qatar's capital city having suffered only one defeat so far this year.  Her victory earlier this month in the Texas Open took the 29-year-old from The Hague to the top of the provisional world rankings - with a reasonable performance in the Qatar Airways Challenge certain to seal her status.

"I think I put too much pressure on myself for this tournament," said the Dutch star to www.squashsite.co.uk after her shock 9-1 9-5 9-5 defeat in 43 minutes.  "I went on quite relaxed, but as soon as we started playing, I started panicking.  I was not thinking about the game enough, I was too busy panicking... I was concentrating too much on the result, and not enough on the game.

"I'm tired, I need a rest I think, so at least, I'll be able to do that now!" conceded the beaten champion.

It was a commendable triumph for Bailey, the 25-year-old former world junior champion from Stamford who has been beset by a series of injuries and illnesses over the past few years.  "The pressure was all on her I guess, and that made a big difference.  I was moving well today, much better than yesterday.  She has got a great front court game, but thankfully today, I was able to get to it much quicker than normal," said the delighted winner.

"I'm so pleased to play at that kind of level again.  Since my year off because of my health, I've been struggling with my fitness and with my confidence.  For the past months, I've put a lot of effort into getting my fitness back, so this victory will do my confidence a hell of a lot of good!"

Bailey will now meet compatriot Vicky Botwright for a place in the last four.  The seventh seed from Manchester triumphed 6-9 9-6 9-2 9-7 in 52 minutes over France's 16th seed Isabelle Stoehr.

Event favourite Rachael Grinham now has the chance to rescue her world ranking supremacy.  The 28-year-old Australian cruised to a 9-1 9-4 9-4 win in 26 minutes over Hong Kong's Asian Games champion Rebecca Chiu - and must now beat England's fifth seed Linda Elriani to keep alive her hopes of extending her world number one ranking into a tenth successive month.

Calculations suggest that a place in the final would achieve this for the Queenslander, who will now hope to repeat her victory over Elriani at the same stage of the tournament little more than twelve months ago.