Squash here
Two international squash tournaments for women, in Heliopolis and Hurghada, are previewed by
Nashwa Abdel-Tawab
Owens, the No 1 in women's squash, will be in Heliopolis and Hurghada
photo: Hossam Diab
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Cairo is hosting the well-established Heliopolis Open that started yesterday and will end on 2 June. Carol Owens and Natalie Pohrer, who contested the final in the 2002 event, are top seeds, with Cairo-based Rachael Grinham, seeded fourth, sure to pose a real threat in her adopted hometown.
Grinham will plot the means of ambushing her opponents twice in the next two weeks when the WISPA Tour moves to Egypt for the Heliopolis event as well as a tournament in Hurghada. Cassie Jackman and Vanessa Atkinson will hope to build on their performances here, while Natalie Pohrer will try to work out how to turn her on-court dominance into victories.
Egyptian supporters will be able to cheer on several home players in the qualifying competition, with Omneya Abdel-Qawi set to meet England's veteran Fiona Geaves in the first round.
The WISPA circuit moves on from the Heliopolis Open to the Hurghada International, at Egypt's Red Sea resort, from 2 to 8 June. As in Heliopolis, Owens and Pohrer are top seeds, with a particularly mouth-watering all-English first round clash between Cassie Jackman and Rebecca Macree.
Outside of Egypt, Scotland's world No.4 John White and New Zealand's world No.1 Owens secured the prized squash silverware in Qatar after a week of world class action. White won the $120,000 PSA Qatar Masters title for the first time and Owens reclaimed the $62,000 Qatar WISPA World Grand Prix Finals title she first won in 2000.
Third seed White capped his dream run in Qatar with a three-game victory in the final at the expense of a tired- looking Thierry Lincou of France. Playing with controlled aggression and at times a volatile exhibition of forehand smashes, White won 15-8, 17-15, 17-16 in a match that lasted 65 minutes.
It wasn't easy as White had to brave tie-breaks in games two and three to win his first major title in more than two years. Indeed, his Masters glory followed four runners-up berths on the PSA Tour in little more than a year -- including the British Open in April 2002 and the World Open last December.
"It was a tight match but I am glad I've managed to win this one after losing a close World Open final," White said after the pulsating match. "It could have gone anywhere since both of us played tough in the second and third games. I was a bit fortunate on some of the points, but I think I did well enough to win," White added after the sixth PSA Tour title win of his career.
Lincou blamed the loss on his poor condition. "I wasn't feeling well in my legs. I was tired after playing so many tough matches," said the world No.6 and seven-time French champion. "Of course I am disappointed, but I guess John deserved to win since he played a better level of squash than I did. I need to work on my fitness in the next tournaments," added Lincou after his third PSA Tour final appearance this year.
One of Lincou's difficult moments was fighting back from 2-0 down to overcome second round hero Karim Darwish, the 21-year-old from Egypt who dispatched defending champion Jonathon Power to reach the quarter- finals. Darwish seemed destined to repeat his giant-killing exploits, but the experienced Frenchman retained his focus to win 9-15, 12-15, 15-8, 15-5 and 15-13 in 90 minutes.
"Even at two games down, I still believed that I had the mental strength and fitness to come back," said Lincou in his post-match interview. "Together with reaching the Tournament of Champions final, this is one of the best results of my career and I now think I can go that extra distance to reach the final."
Favourite Owens walked away with the top prize in the 2003 WISPA World Grand Prix Finals after she thrashed world No.4 Grinham of Australia in straight games in the final. Owens took only 29 minutes to register a 9-0, 9-2, 9-4 win on the all-glass showcourt at the Khalifa Squash Complex.
Exhibiting fierce form, Owens raced away with the first game in only seven minutes, thanks mainly to three successive shots by Grinham to the tin apart from a couple of wide lobs by the Australian that went out of the court.
In the second game, Grinham gained the applause from the crowd, but the Auckland-based Owens showed no signs of letting up as she pounded smash after smash to win the game in only eight minutes. In the third game, Grinham regained her composure, found range on her shots, especially her drop shots, to tie with Owens at four- all. However, the experienced New Zealander continued her dominance over Grinham by reeling off the next five points to land her first Grand Prix Finals title in Qatar.
"I have played quite a few finals but this wasn't a tough one for me," Owens conceded after the match. "I think it's just another title for me, but I am very happy to have won here," Owens said after her 24th WISPA World Tour title and fourth this year. "I hope I can carry on playing like this for a few years to come. I have been in Rachael's position before so I know how it feels to have lost a final. It's nice to have won another trophy," the New Zealander added.
Grinham conceded that she played some of her best squash in a long time. "The world's best eight players were here so I am not exactly disappointed with my performance. I just lost to a good player. I should have attacked more than I did," said the Australian.
