Urquhart will face reigning Cleveland Classic champion Laura Massaro in the next round, after the Englishwoman beat Malaysian Low Wee Wern. Massaro took a well-deserved lead early on thanks to some strong lengths and canny shot selection. Wee Wern, still only 21-years-old, fought well and managed to claim the third game, before Massaro’s experience saw off the contest after 53-minutes.

The last remaining US hopeful Amanda Sobhy played well in front of home-crowds as she dispatched the experienced Rachael Grinham in straight-games. Grinham’s error count was unusually high, frequently hitting the tin early on to allow Sobhy the opportunity to establish and hold a lead from the start. From there the Harvard student found a consistent length to trouble her opponent and her intelligent use of drop shots eased her unfancied progression to the next round to play Jenny Duncalf.

No2 seed Duncalf beat English compatriot Sarah Kippax after a well-contested effort from the qualifier. After registering a controlled first-game victory, Duncalf was troubled by a more settled game-plan by Kippax, but at the midway stage of the second game, play was halted after the higher ranked played sustained a nasty blow to the knee from a Kippax racket-swing. An injury break of nearly 20-minutes was held whilst Duncalf recovered, but Kippax was clearly embarrassed by the incident and seemed unable to regain the focus she had found early on. The 3-0 result that followed was a hollow victory for the world number two.

There was nearly a surprise result at the top of the drawer, as Nicol David was forced to five-games against New Zealand qualifier Joelle King. Last week’s Greenwich Open finalist went two games down against the world No1 and David’s progression seemed inevitable as she took a 6-1 lead in the third game.

King tried a last-ditch change of tactic however, and launched upon an impressive attacking tirade to come from behind and claw back a game in her favour. More of the same followed in the fourth game as King drew level, standing firm as David looked to extend the rallies and look for signs of weakness in her opponent’s game.

At 6-5 up, King looked on the verge of a momentous upset but the world No1, using all her experience from years at the top of the sport, further tightened her width and won six points in a row to sneak ahead of the 23-year-old and progress to the quarters.

David will play Annie Au of Hong Kong in the next round, who should be well rested following the withdrawal of her first round opponent Camille Serme, following a last minute back injury.

No4 seed Madeline Perry looked to get over her disappointing Greenwich Open exit last week, with a strong 3-0 win over qualifier Jaclyn Hawkes. Hawkes, perhaps fatigued after an close 80-minute scrap with Emma Beddoes in qualifying finals the day before, was never able to establish herself against the experienced Irishwoman.

Perry’s progression sets up an intriguing quarter final clash with young Egyptian Raneem El Weleily, winner of last week’s Greenwich Open. The world No7 from Alexandria faced a stern test against former world No2 Natalie Grinham, who herself saw victory last week, winning the WSA Tournament of Champions title in New York.

Both players tend to favour the attacking drop shots and there was nothing separating the pair at 11-11 in the first game. Grinham showed little concern for the score line as she slotted in a crosscourt nick from well behind the service box, taking her to a game ball that she was able to convert. El Weleily struck back, extending a 7-point lead in the second game before a lapse in concentration saw Grinham back in the hunt at 8-7. Refocused, the Egyptian got her head down and saw off the game to draw level at 1-1.

In the third, El Weleily was able to string together a whole game of dominance, with Grinham unable to respond. But again some youthful erraticism crept into her play in the fourth and allowed Grinham a glimmer of hope at 8-4. The Egyptian flicked the switch back on though, and with some racket wizardry, worked seven out of the next eight points in her favour, to progress through to the next round.

Quarter final draw:

[1] Nicol David (MAS) v [8] Annie Au (HKG)

[4] Madeline Perry (IRL) v [7] Raneem El Weleily (EGY)

[3] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [Q] Donna Urquhart (AUS)

[2] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) v Amanda Sobhy (USA)

1st round results:

[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [Q] Joelle King (NZL) 11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7 (63m)

[8] Annie Au (HKG) bt Camille Serme (FRA) w/o

[4] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [Q] Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (35m)

[7] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Natalie Grinham (NED) 11-13, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 (36m)

[Q] Donna Urquhart (AUS) bt [5] Kasey Brown (AUS) 10-12, 11-7, 11-6, 13-11 (62m)

[3] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5 (53m)

Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [6] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 11-3, 11-7, 11-2 (19m)

[2] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [Q] Sarah Kippax (ENG) 11-8, 12-10, 11-7 (52m)

Quarter finals:
Dipika Pallikal (IND) beat Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 7-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 13-11
Raneem El Weliely (EGY) beat Natalie Grinham (NED) 12-10, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8
Joelle King (NZL) beat Madeline Perry (NIR) 11-7, 11-3, 5-11, 11-7
Samantha Teran beat Kasey Brown 7-11, 2-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8

Joelle King proved to be too strong for local wildcard entry Lilly Lorentzen. Lorentzen looked nervous from the outset and King was intent on stamping her authority on the match. Although Lorentzen looked strong on occasion, it wasn’t enough to prevent King from advancing to the next round.

Jaclyn Hawkes sprung a surprise on No5 seed Annie Au after coming from a game down to progress to the quarters. The early exchanges were close, but the third game proved crucial as Au relinquishing both a 8-5 and 10-8 lead before Hawkes snatched the game 13-11. Hawkes then came out ‘all guns blazing’ in the fourth and sealed the 3-1 victory.

Dipika Pallikal showed her dominance in a confident, controlled performance against local stand-in Line Hansen, who took her place in round one after the withdrawal of injured Rachael Grinham. Although she didn’t get the victory Hansen played some solid squash at times and was graceful in defeat.

Brown took on local hope Amanda Sobhy in the first round. Sobhy was after another upset following her 3-2 qualifying win the day before, and pushed Brown to five games but fell just short as Brown’s experience eased her progression.

Natalie Grinham played some immaculate squash against the young Egyptian, looking comfortable in the first two game, before a closer third game encounter was forced to a tie-break.  The experienced Grinham held her nerve however, to see out a 3-0 win.

Samantha Teran started brightly against Low Wee Wern, putting the Malaysian on the back foot from the start, and continued to take her chances well as she dispatched her opponent in four games.

Egyptian start Raneem El Weleily looked comfortable throughout her match as she took on the athletic Donna Urquhart from Australia. El Weleily took the first two games with ease 11-3 and 11-4 demonstrating a sharp and accurate attacking game that kept Urquhart on the back foot for most of the match. In the last game the Australian showed more resolve but El Weleily knocked back her opponents advances.

Round1:

[1] Madeline Perry (IRL) beat [Q] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9

[8] Joelle King (NZL) beat Lily Lorentzen(USA) 11-1, 11-3, 11-6

[Q] Dipika Pallikal (IND) beat [L] Line Hansen (DEN) 11-6, 11-5, 11-6

Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) beat [5] Annie Au (HKG) 8-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-5

[6] Natalie Grinham (AUS) beat [Q] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 11-7, 11-7, 13-11

[4] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) beat Donna Urquhart (AUS) 11-3, 11-4, 11-9

Samantha Teran (MEX) beat [7] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-9, 4-11, 11-3, 11-8

[2] Kasey Brown (AUS) beat [Q] Amanda Sobhy (USA)  11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 11-4

6 time world champion Nicol David retains her spot at the top for another month andJenny Duncalf makes it a further month at no.2. Madeline Perry leaps back above Laura Massaro to return to number 3 whilst Rachael Grinham also jumps back above Kasey Brown to return to number 5.

Natalie Grinham moves up to number 8, her highest ranking since August 2010.Samantha Teran’s strong year in 2011, including a semi final place at the World Open has seen her move up one to number 12, her highest ranking since November 2010 and one away from her highest ranking of 11.

Dipika Pallikal won her 3^rd title of 2011 in December at the Crocodile Cup in Hong Kong beating Joey Chan in a thriller, 14-12 in the 5^th. This win sees the Indian number 1 record another milestone as she moves up 2 places to a career high of number 15. Her opponent in the final, Joey Chan, also reaches a career high by moving up 1 place to number 19.

Outside the top 20 there were career highs by a number of players:

Swiss no.1 Gaby Huber moves up to no.29.
World Junior Semi-Finalist Emily Whitlock moves up to no.33.
Australia’s Melody Francis, winner of 5 WSA titles in 2011 moves up to no.34.
Japanese no.1 Misaki Kobayashi moves up to no.37.
Canadian no.1 Samantha Cornett moves up to no.42.
Czech no.2 Olga Ertlova moves up to no.46.
French no.2 Coline Aumard moves into to the top 50 at no.50 for the first time.
England’s Sarah-Jane Perry moves up to no.65 after winning her first title at the Manor Open.

There were further career in the top 100 for:
Korean no.1 Ahn Eun Chan moves up to no.52, New Zealand’s Amanda Landers-Murphy moves up to no.54, Hong Kong’s Liu Tsz-Ling at no.55, Australia’s Sarah Cardwell at no.57, Brazilian no.1 Thaisa Serafini at no.59, Welsh no.1 Tesni Evans at no.60, Australia’s Tamika Saxby at 71, USA’s Kristin Lange at no.80, New Zealand’s Megan Craig at no.81, Australia’s Christine Nunn at no.82, USA’s Elpiniki Clementat no.83, Australia’s Vanessa Pickard at no.84, Canada’s Genevieve Lessard at no.88, England’s Carrie Ramsay at no.89 and Zephanie Curgenven at no.91, France’s Chloe Mesic at no.93, USA’s Sabrina Sobhy at no.95, Scotland’s Alex Clark at no.97 and Australia’s Bethany Brazier at no.98.

Nicol David, No. 1 for 65 consecutive month. Photo courtesy of M. Roslan.

The December rankings were bound to feature some big changes due to the World Open and Hong Kong Open taking place in November. There were career highs aplenty throughout the top 100 and the highest of those was at number 3.

Laura Massaro, the WISPA Player of the Year, has moved into the world’s top 3 for the first time. Massaro started the year ranked at number 10 but after success in Cleveland and the British Nationals as well as the prestigious US Open, she seems to have asserted herself as a major threat to Nicol David’s reign on the women’s game.

The world’s top 2 remain unchanged. Jenny Duncalf reached her first World Open final, showing great form before being outclassed by Nicol David. David had a few surprise losses this year but still has amassed 7 titles, including a record 6^th World Open title. It makes it 65 consecutive months at no.1 for David.

Also in the top 20, Kasey Brown makes her debut in the top 5 becoming the Australian no.1 for the first time as she leaps above Rachael Grinham. Grinham’s drop down to no.6 ends her stay in the top 5, a place she has impressively held since February 2003!

Raneem El Weleily moves back up to a career high equalling no.7 after reaching her first World Series final in Hong Kong. Natalie Grinham moves up one place to no.9, her highest ranking since August 2010, after reaching the World Open semi final in front of her home crowd in Rotterdam.

Low Wee Wern records her highest ranking at no.11. The Malaysian wasn’t having the best year as she saw her ranking drop to 21 in October. Winning the China Open, her biggest title, seemed to change her fortune and she reached the Qatar Classic and World Open quarter finals as well as the Hong Kong Open semi final, with four top 10 wins along the way.

Samantha Teran became the 1^st ever Mexican to reach the World Open semi final as she moved back up to no.13. Dipika Pallikal also became the 1^st ever Indian to reach the World Open quarter final. The Indian star’s shine looks to continue as she moves up to a career high no.17. Joey Chan had a November to remember. She captured her biggest title and first of the year at the Macau Open and then reached the Hong Kong Open quarter final, upsetting Brown before losing a thriller to El Weleily. She makes her top 20 debut at no.20.

There were further career highs in the top 100:
Kanzy El Dafrawy up to no.29 after reaching the World Open last 16. That makes 6 Egyptians in the top 30.
Gaby Huber makes her top 30 debut at no.30. She started the year outside the top 50.
Yathreb Adel up to no.32. The youngest player in the top 100 pushed Massaro in the World Open 1^stround.
Melody Francis captured her 5^th title of the year at the Mackay Open and moves to no.36.
Siyoli Waters at no.38, Misaki Kobayashi up to no.39
Sina Wall up to no.41, Samantha Cornett up to no.44, Lauren Selby up to no.47, Olga Ertlova up to no.48
Ahn Eun Chan up to no.53, Lisa Aitken up to 55, Coline Aumard up to no.56,  Amanda Landers-Murphy to 57, Salma Hany up to no.59.
Tesni Evans up to no.65, Liu Tsz-Ling up to 68, Tamika Saxby up to 73, Kristen Lange up to no.82, Megan Craig up to no.84, Christine Nunn up to no.86 and Vanessa Pickard up to no.90.

The top 20:

You can find the full rankings on the following link:

http://www.wispa.net/view_rankings.asp

REPORTED BY STEVE CUBS |

The Hong Kong youngster, far from being overawed by her opponent or the occasion, really made a game of the second which she lost narrowly, then fired in a series of winning shots at the end of the third to pull a game back. She continued to impress in the fourth, and at 9-8 had an opportunity of the sort she’d been making, but tinned it.
Duncalf needed no second invite as she finished the match off, a match that ended up tougher than she, or anyone else, might have imagined.
 
Coach Rebecca Chiu was pleased with her protege’s performance: “I thought she would be more nervous and make more mistakes than she did,” admitted Chiu, “but she played really well and was hitting some very good winners, and she had a chance to take it to five games.”
    
Duncalf’s next opponent is Malaysian Low Wee Wern who also faced a qualifier in New Zealand’s Kylie Lindsay. The rallies were well contested, mainly at the back of the court, but the Malaysian always had the edge, winning 11/4, 11/4, 11/7.
 
Camille Serme looked determined not to let her young Hong Kong opponent Liu Tsz Ling get a sniff of an upset, moving on with a 11/3, 11/3, 11/1 scoreline.
 
An upset – on paper, not necessarily on current form – came about in the following match as Emma Beddoes won her all-English match with 14th seed Sarah Kippax.
 
“It’s always weird when you play another English player,” commented the winner, “the crowd are very quiet, I don’t think anyone applauded anything for the first two games!”
 
Beddoes took those two 11/6, 11/6 but Kippax stormed back with 11/2 in the third. “She came out hitting winners, which I wasn’t expecting,” said Beddoes, “but I was pleased with how I regrouped to take the fourth.
 
“I’m very pleased, of course, I’ve been playing well and that’s my first ever win over Sarah after playing her a lot over the years, so it’s nice to do it in a big event like this. It’s the last tournament of the year for most of us so the further we can go the better.”
 
The shortest match of the day saw in-form Egyptian Raneem El Weleily breeze past German qualifier Sina Wall 11/6, 11/4, 11/7 in just 17 minutes, while her prospective opponent Madeline Perry needed just over an hour to see off the challenge of another in-form youngster, Dipika Pallikal.
 
The Indian number one had chances of a two-nil lead until a few errors at the end of the second let the fourth seed back in, but it remained an even contest until the death, the Irishwoman eventually winning 5/11, 11/8, 12/10, 5/11, 11/7.
 
“She was firing in winners from everywhere at the start,” said a relieved Perry, “I was expecting the ball to come back to me but it just didn’t. It was all pretty quickfire stuff, not many long rallies until the end, but it was always going to be close as she’s been playing very well.
 
“I felt that if I could stick in I would get some errors from her, which I did, but the fourth was poor from me, the fifth was good though – it was a good match to get me used to the court!”
 
Where Lee Ka Yi had earlier delighted without being a realistic prospect for the second round, the Hong Kong crowd expected Joey Chan to progress and she duly delivered, repeating her Macau Open final victory just days ago, beating Aisling Blake again 11/6, 11/8, 11/6 to join Annie Au in round two.
 
“I was confident going into the match,” said Joey, “having already beaten her in Macau and playing on my home courts this time. I tried to stay calm and keep patient, but I felt she was tiring towards the end of the second so I started to attack more.
 
“I’m really happy to get through to the second round for the first time.”

Women’s Round One (bottom):
[2] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt [Q] Lee Ka Yi (Hkg) 11/4, 11/9, 8/11, 11/9 (34m)
[13] Low Wee Wern (Mas) bt [Q] Kylie Lindsay (Nzl) 11/4, 11/4, 11/7 (29m)
[7] Camille Serme (Fra) bt Liu Tsz Ling (Hkg) 11/3, 11/3, 11/1 (23m)
Emma Beddoes (Eng) bt [14] Sarah Kippax (Eng) 11/6, 11/6, 2/11, 11/5 (43m)
[10] Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt [Q] Sina Wall (Ger) 11/6, 11/4, 11/3 (17m)
[4] Madeline Perry (Irl) bt Dipika Pallikal (Ind) 5/11, 11/8, 12/10, 5/11, 11/7 (61m)
[15] Joey Chan (Hkg) bt Aisling Blake (Irl) 11/6, 11/8, 11/6 (42m)
[6] Kasey Brown (Aus) bt Melody Francis (Aus) 11/5, 11/6, 11/7 (30m)

Full reports, quotes and photos on TODAY in Hong Kong: www.squashsite.co.uk/hk/today.htm

After I managed to scrape through the first round against Joelle King, Kasey Brown played her best squash in the quarters coming out completely flawless to beat me. I knew being slightly off my focus with her wasn’t the way to go that day. She did really well to reach the finals and that she would be gunning for more in the upcoming tournaments.

Qatar Classic

Gregory Gaultier & Nicol David - Champs in Doha.

After a loss, it usually gets me going and my aim was to get back on track for the Worlds. The Qatar Open went well and I got into every match with a purpose and never looked back.

Quarters and Semis with Raneem El Weleily and Rachael Grinham were very close but certainly were a boost when I got through further reaching the finals. That gave me a leap into another level with my focus while playing Madeline Perry. That win felt great and everything I put together made more sense in the finals.

Overcoming Kasey

The World Open!
The whole week of the tournament was a progression phase. Even before the Worlds started, Liz and my support team were set and got me ready for what was coming my way.

Finally got to play my first match with Delia Arnold and was so excited to get on court. When we moved onto the glass court, that just made everything extra special. It felt like we were performing a show with 1500 seats ready to be filled. Nour El Sherbini was up and I fought for every point against the young, talented Egyptian.

Kasey Brown was next and I took on board what I learnt since we played and brought my all in that match. A very intense match in every aspect but winning the second game gave me a step up to win the match.

A familiar setting in previous World Opens when I played Natalie Grinham but this was the semis instead. We had monster rallies in the first game and a close one too. I kept to it and got ahead in each game to beat her.

The finals day arrived; the moment I had been preparing for all year. Jenny Duncalf was set to go but I couldn’t stop myself from going out of my skin to win that title. That was the best squash match I’ve ever played and I can’t explain how amazing that feeling on court was during the match.

Unreal moment winning my 6th World Open title… Words can’t describe how I feel. Hardwork and passion truly pays off with lots of love and support from the people who dedicate their efforts and care too.

Special thanks to my parents for coming all the way to support me at every World Open. Their love is what keeps me going. Liz, for making me the best squash player I’ll ever be and her patience to see me through everything. My full support team, Ronald and Maurice (sports therapists), Frank (sports psychologist) and Patrick (physical trainer) for keeping me on top of my game always.

Thank you again! Onto Hong Kong!

Editor’s note: Nicol’s winning speech as recorded by Steve Cub of SquashSite.

REPORT BY STEVE CUBS |

Selby was also satisfied: “I thought I did alright, considering the matches I’ve had so far this week. Rachael’s not the easiest to play when you have heavy legs, she holds the ball so well and you have to stop and start and turn so often. But I’m pleased with my tournament, I thought I did credit to myself and I got my laundry done!!”

Teran was happy too: “I’m happy to get started, and to have a tough game to get me ready for the next round, Tesni played well. It’s normally hard to adjust after the travel from Mexico, but I’ve been here a couple of days already and I feel quite comfortable, I’m in good rhythm and playing well.

There was a huge upset in the second batch of women’s matches as teenage Egyptian qualifier Kanzy El Dafrawy ousted eighth-seeded compatriot Omneya Abdel Kawy in three delicately poised games, 12/10, 11/9, 12/10.

“I can’t believe it,” said a delighted Kanzy, “I’ve never even taken a game off her before. But I was playing well, even if she isn’t at her best at the moment, but when I was 10/6 down in the third I told myself I mustn’t let an opportunity like this slip.”

Another upset followed when Dipika Pallikal, who has just moved into the world’s top twenty, took out 14th-seeded Kiwi Jaclyn Hawkes in four games.

“I started well then made too many errors in the second,” said the Indian number one. “In the third and fourth I was trying to be more steady and I thought I did that well. I played Jackie in Malaysia in July so I knew what to expect, you have to be prepared to run and run like she does. “Really happy to get through, it should be a good game against Kanzy …”

There were no further upsets in the afternoon session women’s matches, as Jenny Duncalf, Annie Au, Laura Massaro and Joelle King all progressed never looking in serious danger. King found Swiss qualifier Gaby Huber a bit of a handful: “I’d never really seen her play, so it came as a bit of a surprise to find she hits the ball as hard as I do, which I’m not really used to,” admitted the Kiwi commonwealth gold medallist, who won 11/7, 11/6, 11/6. “It’s good to get started though and I’m very happy to win that one three-nil.” King now meets second seed Duncalf, who had just as tough a time of it against Line Hansen, coming through 11/9, 12/10, 11/7 in just over half an hour.

Meanwhile Duncalf’s English team-mate Massaro managed to quell the lively young Egyptian Yathreb Adel 11/9, 11/7, 11/6 and she’ll meet Annie Au, who won her all-Hong Kong match with Joey Chan in four games. “We play each other so often, it feels strange to come all the way over here just to play each other again,” chuckled Au.
 
The ladies got their first outing on Victoria’s showcourt as locals Orla Noom and Natalie Grinham started their campaigns. Noom, who won the qualifying competition for the wilcard spot, performed well enough but Australia’s Kasey Brown was a tough opponent, and the sixth seed came through in straight games despite Noom’s best efforts and a noisy partisan crowd.”It’s never easy playing the crowd’s home favourite,” admitted Brown, “and they were definitely against me and pretty loud too, but I thought I coped with it well and played pretty well too.”

The following match, featuring four-time finalist Grinham against her qualifier training partner Aisling Blake, was one the crowd had altogether different expectations of, and they weren’t disappointed as the former Aussie who has just returned to the world’s top ten came through in straight games in front of her watching husband and son.

Two contrasting women’s matches followed. France’s seventh seed Camille Serme, having lost to one young Egyptian (El Weleily) in Qatar was in no mood to lose to another today as she took a close first game against Nour El Tayeb, doubled her lead with more ease in the second and gratefully accepted the world junior champion’s retirement with an ankle injury at 2/1 in the third.

Fourth seed Madeline Perry went two games up as well, but her opponent, Emma Beddoes, far from conceding stormed back to take the next two games. It was fairly comfortable for the Northern Irishwoman in the decider, who after an tough hour long match will be grateful for a day’s rest before she takes on Natalie Grinham at the Luxor Theatre on Thursday.

Low Wee Wern had to work hard to secure a three-nil win over US veteran Latasha Khan, while five-time and defending champion Nicol David started off her defence on an outside court against compatriot Delia Arnold. “Delia was struggling with the bounce on the court,” said Nicol after her 11/3, 11/5, 11/6 win, “but I was too to start with, it took a little time to get comfortable on there. I had to remind myself it was the first round of the World Open and not let her get into it, she can be very dangerous if she does.”

That left Donna Urquhart and Nour El Sherbini, who were by now into their fifth game too, Sherbini having taken the lead 2/1 after saving game balls in what proved to be a crucial third game. The fifth was a relative canter, the young Egyptian finally able to celebrate her 16th birthday with an 11/2 decider.

Full reports with quotes and photos available on TODAY on the World Open site here!

Laura Massaro, US Open 2011

It has been an exciting year of squash—with many players stepping up their game to a different notch! This month’s November rankings features some pretty obvious rank movers.

Laura Massaro, the recently crowned US Open Champion made a big leap from No. 10 in the beginning of the year to No. 4 this November–her highest ever. While our Squash Stars Ambassador and Founder Nicol David still has the pole position firmly in her grasps, Laura Massaro is definitely a looming threat. Laura in our opinion, is definitely in the most confident position in the circuit as the only player to have thwarted Nicol David twice this year—once at the start of the circuit in Cleveland and then later in the semis of the Singapore Masters, where she lost in the finals to Madeline Perry, now World No. 3.

The Irish top seed takes Rachael Grinham‘s place in the top 3 as Rachael slides to No. 5, just one ranking above our Aussie Squash Stars Ambassador Kasey Brown. Kasey had a close hand in beating Laura at the US Open after a stirring win over Nicol in the semis—that makes her the only other player this year to have pinched a win from the Malaysian world champ.

A SquashStars favourite back in the radar is an ex-World No. 2 Natalie Grinham who makes an appearance back in the top 10 after claiming the Monte Carlo Classic title.

The other movers on the chart are Annie Au from Hong Kong who moves to No. 7, Nour El Tayeb up to No. 12 after another (impressive) Qatar Classic semi final berth, English lass Sarah Kippax makes her debut in the top 15, Dipika Pallikal at No. 19 after winning the Dread Series #2, Emma Beddoes up to No. 22 after reaching the quarters in Qatar, Heba El Torky makes her top 25 debut after reaching the semi final in the China Open and youngsters Emily Whitlock and Yathreb Adel surge up to No. 35 and No. 38 respectively.

THE TOP 20:

RANK	PLAYER	COUNTRY	Prev Pos	CHANGE	TOTAL	PLAYED (12 MONTHS)	AVERAGE
1	Nicol David	MAS	1		22575.00	9	2821.875
2	Jenny Duncalf	ENG	2		13807.50	9	1725.938
3	Madeline Perry	IRL	4	Up 1	13736.00	12	1445.895
4	Laura Massaro	ENG	5	Up 1	10850.00	9	1356.250
5	Rachael Grinham	AUS	3	Down 2	12681.50	14	1207.762
6	Kasey Brown	AUS	6		10890.00	13	1089.000
7	Annie Au	HKG	8	Up 1	8024.00	12	844.632
8	Raneem El Weleily	EGY	7	Down 1	7566.50	11	840.722
9	Camille Serme	FRA	9		7829.25	12	824.132
10	Natalie Grinham	NED	11	Up 1	6495.00	11	721.667
11	Joelle King	NZL	10	Down 1	6486.50	11	720.722
12	Nour El Tayeb	EGY	17	Up 5	4923.00	7	615.375
13	Donna Urquhart	AUS	13		5682.50	12	598.158
14	Low Wee Wern	MAS	21	Up 7	4907.50	12	516.579
15	Sarah Kippax	ENG	18	Up 3	4778.00	12	502.947
16	Jaclyn Hawkes	NZL	15	Down 1	4734.50	12	498.368
17	Samantha Teran	MEX	14	Down 1	3795.25	9	474.406
18	Omneya Abdel Kawy	EGY	16	Down 2	3789.00	8	473.625
19	Dipika Pallikal	IND	20	Up 1	4512.50	14	429.762
20	Delia Arnold	MAS	26	Up 6	3317.00	10	390.235

View full November 2011 rankings by WISPA here.

The tournament was at full strength with 16 of the top 20 players in the world taking part.

El Weleily’s title chances almost ended in the first round when she had to save 2 match balls against world no.5 Laura Massaro before beating the British Champion 13/11 in the fifth. The first round saw all 8 matches being extended to at least 4 games. New Zealand’s no.1 Joelle King also upset the seedings to beat Omneya Abdel Kawy 12/10 in the fifth. There were also tough wins for defending champion and top seed Jenny Duncalf, Madeline Perry, Rachael Grinham, Kasey Brown, Camille Serme and Annie Au.

The quarter finals featured some highly entertaining matches which kept the crowds enthralled through out. World no.2 Jenny Duncalf played the perfect match against Joelle King, not allowing the Kiwi to play her strong attacking game and won in straight games. Madeline Perry dropped the first game to Annie Au but kept her patience and started to find her length in the second before dominating the rest of match. Kasey Brown won the Aussie battle with Rachael Grinham. Brown had never beaten Grinham before in six attempts and after the first game it looked like it would be 7 wins in a row for Grinham. Brown stepped up the court and controlled the T with exquisite volleys and went on to take the match in 4 games. El Weleily came through another 5 setter, this time coming from 2-0 down to beat Camille Serme in the match of the night. The match could have gone either way but it was Weleily risk taking that paid off on the key points.

The semi finals saw both winners play near perfect squash. Weleily continued her amazing run, this time upsetting Perry in straight games. The Egyptian edged a tough opening game 14/12. This proved to be crucial and her confidence rose and she played faultless squash to win it 11/0. Weleily stayed strong in the 3rd and halted a Perry comeback to win it 11/8 and move into her biggest final. Duncalf had a great record against Brown, only losing once in 8 previous meetings, but 4 of those matches had gone the distance. This time Duncalf was in imperious form and didn’t allow Brown to step up and control the match. The defending champion won in straight games and moved into her 4th Carol Weymuller final in a row.

The final was played out in front of a packed out show court. Weleily had never previously beaten Duncalf in 4 meetings but once again started the match playing quality attacking squash, at 7-7 Weleily broke away to take the game 11/7. Duncalf looked to be back in control in the second and moved into a 10/6 lead. The world no.2 couldn’t convert her game balls and after some incredible rallies Weleily took the game 15/13. On the verge of winning her biggest title, she could have been forgiven for showing signs of nerves, but instead it seemed to fire her up even more and she forced the pressure on Duncalf even more, attacking anything loose. At 5/3 up Weleily broke away and took the 3rd game 11/4.

A 3rd career title for Raneem El Weleily and her first Gold level title. It was a fantastic week for her and will likely see her move into the World’s top 8 in next month’s ranking.

A great tournament, featuring high quality matches from the start, congratulations to Linda Elriani and the rest of the organising team. We look forward to seeing the tournament back even bigger and better next year.

All the players now go onto Philadelphia for the US Open with the main draw starting on the 2nd October.

RESULTS
Final:
Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [1] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 11/7 15/13 11/4

Semi Finals:
[1] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [5] Kasey Brown (AUS) 11/8 11/6 11/9
Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [2] Madeline Perry (IRL) 14/12 11/0 11/8

Quarter Finals:
[1] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Joelle King (NZL) 11/8 11/4 11/6
[5] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 7/11 11/8 11/5 11/6
Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [7] Camille Serme (FRA) 9/11 9/11 11/8 11/9 11/9
[2] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [8] Annie Au (HKG) 11/13 11/6 11/3 11/8

1st Round:
[1] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 8/11 11/6 11/8 11/5
Joelle King (NZL) bt [6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 11/3 11/7 9/11 15/17 12/10
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Donna Urquhart (AUS) 11/7 4/11 11/5 11/7
[5] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [Q] Joey Chan (HKG) 9/11 12/10 11/2 11/6
[7] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [Q] Samantha Teran (MEX) 9/11 11/9 11/8 12/10
Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [4] Laura Massaro (ENG) 6/11 11/5 11/6 7/11 13/11
[8] Annie Au (HKG) bt [Q] Emma Beddoes (ENG) 6/11 11/8 11/9 13/11
[2] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [Q] Dipika Pallikal (IND) 11/6 11/13 11/6 11/7

Joelle King has been in great form this year and the New Zealand no.1 is on the verge of a place in the top 10. She started strongly against Omneya Abdel Kawy, taking a comfortable 2-0 lead. Kawy had won their only previous meeting back in 2009 and came back fighting taking the 3rd game before saving two match balls in the 4th, eventually taking it 17-15 on the tie-break. King again let 4 match balls slip by at 10-6 in the fifth but finished the match off 12-10 with a beautiful drop shot. King had admitted afterwards that she had felt nervous closing out the match against Kawy, a player she admires a lot.

Raneem El Weleily had played Laura Massaro 6 times in 2010 and had won 4 of those matches, so there was a good chance another upset was on the cards. Massaro however has recently entered the top 5 and with another victory over Nicol David at the CIMB Singapore Masters in July, it seemed the British Champion had stepped up another level. Weleily’s risky shot making was paying off though and she moved ahead 2-1. Massaro leveled with a controlled and error free 4^th game and then had 2 match balls in the decider. She was unable to close it out and Weleily came through 12-10.

Raneem elated after her 3-2 win over Laura Massaro.

Top seed Jenny Duncalf led the way for the rest of the seeds. The world no.2 dropped the first game to Jaclyn Hawkes but took charge from the 2^nd game to win in 3-1. She goes onto face King in the quarter final. Second seed Madeline Perry lost the second game to Dipika Pallikal but stayed in control for the remainder of a fast paced and hard hitting match. Perry plays Annie Au in the quarter final. Au overcame Emma Beddoes 13-11 in the 4^th game, although Beddoes had her chances in the 3^rd and 4^th.

Rachael Grinham maintained her perfect record against compatriot Donna Urquhart, winning in 4 games. Grinham’s quarter final opponent is another Australian, Kasey Brown. Fifth seed Brown lost the first game to Joey Chan and edged the 2^nd on a tie break, before easing away to victory. World no.8 Camille Serme also lost the first game to her opponent Samantha Teran. The rest of the match was close, with only a few points separating the pair, but it was Serme who won the crucial points and go on to face Weleily in the quarter final.There is live video streaming of the quarter finals from Ustream on Squashsite, starting at 5.30pm EST.

Results:
[1] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 8/11, 11/6, 11/8, 11/5
Joelle King (NZL) bt [6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 11/3, 11/7, 9/11, 15/17, 12/10
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Donna Urquhart (AUS) 11/7, 4/11, 11/5, 11/7
[5] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [Q] Joey Chan (HKG) 9/11, 12/10, 11/2, 11/6
[7] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [Q] Samantha Teran (MEX) 9/11, 11/9, 11/8, 12/10
Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [4] Laura Massaro (ENG) 6/11, 11/5, 11/6, 7/11, 13/11
[8] Annie Au (HKG) bt [Q] Emma Beddoes (ENG) 6/11, 11/8, 11/9, 13/11
[2] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [Q] Dipika Pallikal (IND) 11/6, 11/13, 11/6, 11/7