17th Women's World Teams
Squash Championships 2010
Palmerston North, New Zealand
28th November - 4 December 2010
An early exit for Egypt at the 2010 Women’s World Team Squash Championships in Palmerston North. The defending champions have crashed out at the quarterfinal stage, after a 2-1 loss to Malaysia. Raneem El Weleily had given Egypt the perfect start, with a straight games win over Low Wee Wern. However, world number one Nicol David squared the ledger with an 11-9, 11-3, 8-11, 11-4 victory over Omneya Abdel Kawy. Delia Arnold then completed the Malaysian fight back, with an epic 11-9, 3-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8. Malaysia will now play Australia in the semis, after the second seeds edged to a 2-1 win over USA.
The Aussies got off to a flyer with Kasey Brown beating Latasha Khan in straight games, but Natalie Grainger turned things around for the US in the second match, bouncing back from two games down to beat Rachael Grinham in five. It turned out to be merely a speed bump for Australia as Sarah Fitz-Gerald strolled to a 11-4, 11-1, 11-2 victory over Olivia Blatchford in the decider.
Meanwhile, the fairytale continues for home favourites New Zealand. The fifth seeded kiwis have beaten France 2-1, to set up a semifinal with top seeds England. Once again, it was Commonwealth Games star Joelle King who gave the home side a positive start. The world number 17 raced to a 3-0 win over Isabelle Stoehr, winning 11-9, 11-3, 11-4 in 27 minutes. However, her gold medal partner Jaclyn Hawkes couldn't close out the tie, going down to Camille Serme in straight games.
That left birthday girl Shelley Kitchen, who turned 31 today, to claim victory for New Zealand. The former world number six produced another superb performance to down Coline Aumard 11-5, 11-5, 11-4. Kitchen says she had a few butterflies but was confident her opponent would have had more. "I've definitely been in this situation many times before, being in the deciding match, whereas my opponent I think it's probably one of the first times she's been in that situation so I knew I had that on her".
Kitchen says it is great to be through to the semifinals, but England is going to be a stiff challenge. However, she says a New Zealand win is not out of the question, based on England's surprise loss to Egypt in the final two years ago. "The pressure's on them and we just have to relax and we're going to have the home support as well". The New Zealand players wore black arm bands today, in recognition of the 29 miners who lost their lives at the Pike River Coal Mine. The crowd also observed the nationwide two minutes silence at 2 o'clock. England earned its place in the semis with a straight forward 3-0 win over Ireland. Laura Massaro and Jenny Duncalf both won in straight games, with Tania Bailey inning the dead rubber against Zoe Barr 2-0. The Irish weren't helped by the absence of their top player Madeline Perry, who was sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Results
Quarterfinals (2) Australia) def (9) USA 2-1 2. Kasey Brown def 2. Latasha Khan 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 (27 minutes) 1. Rachael Grinham lost to 1. Natalie Grainger 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 10-12 (49 minutes) 3. Sarah Fitz-Gerald def 4. Olivia Blatchford 11-4, 11-1, 11-2 (18 minutes)
(5) New Zealand def (6) France 2-1 2. Joelle King def 2. Isabelle Stoehr 11-9, 11-3, 11-4 (27 minutes) 1. Jaclyn Hawkes lost to 1. Camille Serme 7-11, 5-11, 7-11 (26 minutes) 3. Shelley Kitchen def 3. Coline Aumard 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 (24 minutes)
(1) England def (7) Ireland 3-0 2. Laura Massaro def 3. Laura Mylotte 11-2, 11-4, 11-7 (22 minutes) 1. Jenny Duncalf def 2. Aisling Blake 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 (37 minutes) 3. Tania Bailey def 4. Zoe Barr 11-3, 11-6 (15 minutes)
(4) Malaysia def (3) Egypt 2-1 2. Low Wee Wern lost to Raneem El Weleily 5-11, 4-11, 4-11 (21 minutes) 1. Nicol David def 1. Omneya Abdel Kawy 11-9, 11-3, 8-11, 11-4 (53 minutes) 3. Delia Arnold def 3. Engy Kheirallah 11-9, 3-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8 (80 minutes) 9th-16th playoffs
(11) South Africa def (12) Canada 2-1 2. Siyoli Waters def 2. Alex Norman 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-2 (38 minutes) 1. Tenille Swartz def 1. Miranda Ranieri 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (23 minutes) 4. Cheyna Tucker lost to 3. Stephanie Edmison 5-11, 8-11 (15 minutes)
(10) India def (16) Austria 3-0 2. Joshna Chinappa def 2. Sandra Polak 11-4, 11-7, 12-10 (20 minutes) 1. Dipika Pallikal def 1. Birgit Coufal 11-5, 8-11, 15-13, 11-5 (36 minutes) 3. Anaka Alankamony def 3. Judith Gradnitzer 11-6, 11-7 (15 minutes)
(8) Netherlands def (15) Japan 3-0 2. Annelize Naude def 2. Miwa Maekawa 11-2, 11-3, 1-7 (14 minutes) 1. Vanessa Atkinson def 1. Misaki Kobayashi 11-6, 11-3, 7-11, 13-11 (52 minutes) 4. Milou van der Heijden def 3. Yuki Sakai 11-7, 11-9 (14 minutes)
(13) Hong Kong China def (14) Mexico 2-1 2. Elise Ng def 3. Nayelly Hernandez 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 (24 minutes) 1. Liu Tsz-Ling lost to Samantha Teran 3-11, 9-11, 4-11 (23 minutes) 3. Carmen Lee def 4. Imelda Salazar Martinez 11-8, 11-4, 11-7 (21 minutes)
Gary Denvir Media Manager Women's World Team Squash Championships 027 273 9446
