WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Women's Texas Squash Open, Houston, Texas, USA

Semi-finals:
[1] Cassie Jackman (ENG) bt [4] Natalie Grinham (AUS) 9-7, 3-9, 3-9, 9-1, 10-9 (68m)
[2] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [3] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) 10-9, 8-10, 9-0, 9-6 (61m)

Jackman & Grinham To Battle For Texas Title

Top seeds Cassie Jackman and Rachael Grinham will meet in the final of the Women's Texas Squash Open, after both survived testing hour-long semi-finals in the WISPA Gold event in Houston, USA.

The first semi ended after 68 sensational minutes with the capacity crowd on its feet applauding top seed Jackman and fourth seed Natalie Grinham off court after their five-game marathon

Jackman, the world No1 from England playing in her first event since getting married last month, had won by the narrowest of margins.  After fighting back from 1/2 down, the 31-year-old from Norfolk saved one match ball at 7-8 and a second at 8-9 in the decider.  Jackman had been stamping her authority with powerful drives and overheads but was also making mistakes, always under pressure from the 26-year-old Queenslander whose speed around the court was breathtaking.

Several rallies appeared to have been taken by Cassie, only to find Natalie digging out her "winners" and keeping the rallies going. 

After the 9-7 3-9 3-9 9-1 10-9 victory, which takes her into her 52nd WISPA World Tour final, Jackman said:  "That was a skin of the teeth job!  Still, having lost in my last two finals, I am just pleased to have another chance tomorrow."

Natalie was coached and supported by older sister Rachael, the No2 seed who was next on court against Vanessa Atkinson, the third seed from the Netherlands.

Rachael started well, reaching 8-6 in the first before Vanessa saved two game balls and then had one of her own at 9-9 before losing the game with a downed boast.  The second was equally tight, with Rachael again squandering a slight lead, but this time losing to the seven-times Dutch champion to tie the match.

After series of errors by Atkinson in the third game, Grinham raced to a 2/1 lead after winning the game without dropping a point.

However, Vanessa regrouped in the fourth by cutting out unforced errors and raced to a 4-0 lead before being pegged back. After a series of rallies where both players continued to anticipate the direction of shots from the front, Rachael edged ahead to take the match 10-9 8-10 9-0 9-6 and a place in the final after 61 hard-fought minutes.

Rachael Grinham's 22nd WISPA World Tour final appearance will mark her third successive meeting with Jackman this year - the results being shared, with Grinham winning the Kuwait Open final in January and Cassie getting her revenge in the Qatar Airways Challenge semi-finals in February.