An Aussie in Egypt
Picking Egypt as her home, Rachael Grinham's choice has paid off handsomely. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab talks with the migrant Aussie
Firmly established as a contender for any squash event she enters and happily settled in Cairo, Rachael Grinham of Australia is poised to build upon the excellent stretch she enjoyed during the last half of 2002.
One of squash's true hotbeds, with both her ranking and her confidence now at an all-time high, Grinham, at age 26, is currently on the precipice of what should be her most productive years.
And it's a developing nation, not the US or Europe, which is helping to make Grinham into a world champion.
When Grinham's decided last year to settle down in Egypt and play for Heliopolis Club -- the first professional athlete in any sport to select Egypt as her training ground -- observers claimed her world ranking would drop like a rock from number eight. It would be akin, they said, to Zidane turning pro for Ahli, O'Neal signing for Zamalek or Agassi training in Gezira. But the pundits were proven wrong. Grinham has in fact jumped to the world's number three slot.
"I live in Egypt. I love Egypt. I love squash and it's my career now," Grinham told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Having toured the world, a weekend in Sharm El-Sheikh or cruising the Nile is what Grinham now loves. She has integrated smoothly into the population, respecting their traditions and sharing in their celebrations and sorrows. She is reading a lot about Islam and sees how much of the religion has been distorted in the West. She promises to read about the history of Egypt.
Despite the traffic and the pollution, Grinham would remain for a while in Egypt after tournaments. It was Dr Samiha Abu Zeid, a pioneer in improving women's squash in Egypt and a member of the Heliopolis board, who persuaded Grinham to make Egypt her home base and play for Heliopolis. She also suggested that Grinham move in with another squash player, Maha Zein, 38 in the world and who had been living alone for eight years. "She is highly adaptable to Egyptian society and is serious in her training," said Zein who also plays the role of coach on the bench at tournaments."
"Australia is far and it's costly travelling from there to the corners of the world to play tournaments," Grinham said. "So many players head for Europe, especially Holland and England, to save time and money in travelling but still the cost of living there is high." Grinham lived in Holland for three years and compares it with Egypt. "In Egypt, I really like it here. In Holland there was no coaching. I was totally independent. The weather was depressing. In Egypt I have a stable life. The weather is cheerful. People are kind and supportive."
Grinham was all praise for her coaches. "I have really many coaches. They are so well- trained. They make me think well, read the game before playing, self-motivate me and push me to play hard. I really benefited a lot. And the facilities are great."
Heliopolis technical manager and Grinham's supervisor, Ashraf Hanafi, has given her fitness sessions six days a week. "I like her very much because she's taking the game seriously but her mental toughness is poor," Hanafi said. "She lacks confidence and is afraid of some players. Playing and gaining experience are the answer," Hanafi added.
Grinham has a great pedigree as a squash player. She won the world junior title in 1993 aged 16. Since joining the WISPA (Women's International Squash Players Association) world tour in 1994, her array of strokes and strong temperament initially took her steadily towards the top 20, a barrier she finally breached in the middle of 1997. At the Commonwealth Games in 1998 her partnership with Robyn Cooper brought them a silver medal in the women's doubles.
The talented and independently-minded Aussie may be slight in stature -- 5 feet, 2 inches, 115 pounds -- but there is no doubting her tenaciousness. She attained a career best No 3 WISPA ranking in the wake of some excellent performances this past month.
And neither she nor her year-younger sister Natalie, also a WISPA top 10, received virtually any coaching during their formative years. Their parents, John, an electrician, and Davina, spent so much of their free time at the club that, according to Grinham, she and Natalie "pretty much grew up there", chasing the ball around the floor of a vacant court starting at around age three with any kind of racquet they could possibly hold.
She was selected at age 16 to join the prestigious Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), where she received the first formal coaching of her career under the legendary likes of Geoff Hunt, Heather MacKay and Ken Hiscoe. But five years of coaching, records and psychologists didn't work out for her. "They didn't help my game," said Grinham "I just became super fit and managed to hit the ball with the right technique. It's good for beginners but in Egypt I learned to depend on coaching, play hard, be confident and different."
Grinham and her sister essentially taught themselves to play, which may explain their somewhat unconventional, though highly effective, stroking techniques in which they slash through and across the ball rather than stroke it in textbook fashion.
These tactical and competitive qualities, along with the quickness she displays in her darting forays around the court, led to the best year of Grinham's career in 2002, during which she won tour stops in Singapore and Hong Kong, the two biggest prize-money events of her 10 career titles.
This year Grinham reached the final of three successive tournaments, each time facing world No 1 Carol Owens: the Qatar Open, Heliopolis Open and Sixth Hurghada International Tournament. Although she lost all three times, the WISPA star is entering her prime and could be on the cusp of even greater individual achievements
Grinham's sudden rise has not escaped the attention of her colleagues. "Grinham really gave me a hard time," said Owens, an Australian who then switched affiliation to New Zealand. Owens had beaten Grinham two weeks ago in the final of the Heliopolis Open in Egypt. "She's stronger than before. I noticed that throughout the past year. It's really amazing of her to choose to live in Egypt and it's amazing that it suited her style of play."
So Grinham is playing like an Egyptian. Perhaps one day she'll walk like one, too.
