WORLD SQUASH NEWS
RESULTS: Women's Heliopolis Squash Open, Cairo, Egypt
Quarter-finals:
[1] Carol Owens (NZL) bt [5] Rebecca Macree (ENG) 9-4, 9-1, 9-7 (48m)
[4] Cassie Jackman (ENG) bt [6] Fiona Geaves (ENG) 9-1, 9-1, 9-1 (22m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 9-2, 8-10, 9-2,
9-1 (39m)
[2] Linda Charman (ENG) bt [7] Stephanie Brind (ENG) 9-1, 9-5, 9-0 (32m)
Seeds Safely Through In Cairo
The top four seeds will contest the semi-finals of the $20,000 Women's
Heliopolis Squash Open in Cairo, Egypt, after comparatively straightforward
quarter-final clashes in the established WISPA World Tour event.
Only third seed Rachael Grinham was stretched beyond three games. The
Cairo-based Australian was playing her regular training partner Omneya Abdel Kawy,
the 17-year-old eighth seed from Cairo who will be favourite to lift the
women's world junior title in her home country in August.
The teenager delighted her home supporters when she took the second game to
level the match, but Grinham's greater experience ultimately proved decisive as
the 26-year-old Queenslander swept to a 9-2 8-10 9-2 9-1 victory in 39
minutes.
Grinham next faces England's No2 seed Linda Charman, who needed only 32
minutes to despatch seventh-seeded compatriot Stephanie Brind 9-1 9-5 9-0.
The other semi-final will feature New Zealand's top seed Carol Owens and
England's fourth seed Cassie Jackman - who share five appearances in the
Heliopolis final since 1996. Owens, the defending champion, took 48 minutes - the
longest match of the day - to overcome England's seventh seed Rebecca Macree 9-4
9-1 9-7, while Jackman, runner-up in 2001, cruised to a 9-1 9-1 9-1 win over
sixth-seeded compatriot Fiona Geaves in just 22 minutes.