Grinham claims WSW title in Calgary

Top seed Rachael Grinham recorded a fourth successive straight-games win - this time over second seed Joey Chan - in the final of the Calgary CFO Consulting Services Women's Squash Week to lift the title of the $15k WSA event at Calgary Winter Club.

Meghan Glenday reports
 
Joey Chan’s precision really put the pressure on Rachael Grinham in the Sunday afternoon final.

Again, Joey played with minimal errors, and moved with such elegance around the court. Although Rachael managed to take her in 3, the rallies were really close, almost as though the games could have gone either way. 

Just unbelievable squash played by both ladies. Rachael, your Australian flare leaves us in awe. Congratulations on your big win, you definitely have that extra special touch, keeping you one step ahead of your opponents!

Thanks so much to all of the sponsors, billets, and volunteers who made this week a huge success. We definitely couldn’t have pulled this off without all of you. And a special thanks to the refs Jo, Rod, Grant and Asif and Cameron who volunteered their time all week, making this event that much easier to run. We always love having you guys present. 

Susie King, as tournament director, you should be very proud! All of your hard work paid off this week, and you definitely accomplished your vision of promoting women in squash! On behalf of the committee members, I’d like to say thank you for inviting us to be a part of this!

To all of the WSA players as well as amateur players who came out for this event, we hope you had a great time, and see you all back in Calgary next year!
 

Draw & Results

11-4, 12-10, 11-9 (30m)

[5] Victoria Lust

11-8, 11-7,
11-9 (28m)

[2] Joey Chan

11-4, 11-6, 11-5 (31m)

[2] Joey Chan

02 Apr, Qualifying Finals:

Susie King (Can) 3-2 Jaycee Spagrud (Can)       9/11, 11/2, 11/2, 15/17, 11/9
Diana Garcia (Mex) 3-0 Giselle Delgado (Chi)                       11/6, 11/3, 11/4
Millie Tomlinson (Eng) 3-0 Karina Heredia (Mex)                    11/2, 11/1, 11/1
Nikki Todd (Can) 3-0 Jackie Moss (Can)/                             11/7, 12/10, 11/8

01 Apr, Qualifying Round One:

Susie King (Can) 3-1 Erin Robetts (Can)  9/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/6

Semis:
Chan and Grinham to move into the final
Meghan Glenday reports

Joey Chan gave Emma Beddoes a good run, winning 3-0 Saturday Night.

Joey moves around the court so discreetly, with minimal errors, it’s difficult to see what could get passed her. She hasn’t displayed any weaknesses so far, she makes it look so easy. We’re looking forward to watching her in the final on Sunday.

Rachael Grinham continues to be unstoppable, as she moves into the finals with ease. Another strong win this week, beating Victoria Lust 3-0. Her remarkable technique makes her shots unreadable, and some of spectators were commenting that her footwork was the best they’ve ever seen.

It was definitely an exciting match to watch, the crowd erupted prematurely a few times as both players managed to retrieve some incredible winners. Fortunately, the crowd caught themselves quickly as some of these epic rallies continued on, and it didn’t seem to distract either of the players, nor throw off their game…at all.

The night continued on into the Saturday Ladies Night Social. Rachael was a trooper as she got trapped on one of the courts with several of the ladies in the amateur event wanting to get their photo taken with her. She even signed a few body parts for the ladies! Thanks Rachael! As you can see, you truly inspire us all!

The rest of the WSA players attended the dinner and even got ‘bedazzled’ up for the photo booth. We now have some really awesome pictures to put up on the display next to the final’s court on Sunday! Thanks for coming out ladies!

Quarters:
Grinham, Chan, Beddoes, and Lust advance to the Semis
Meghan Glenday reports

A photographer from the Calgary Herald came down to the courts as Amanda Landers-Murphy and Emma Beddoes started their quarter final match Friday evening.

They played a drawn out match of 48 minutes, with some consistent and careful rallies throughout, hitting strong winners at opportune moments. Emma took the win in the end, 3-1, pushing herself through to the semi final round. Incredible persistence from Emma once again.

A bit of an upset for Emily Whitlock’s quarter final match against Victoria Lust. Their current world rankings are quite close, Emily at 24 and Victoria at 28. We knew from the first few rallies that it was going to come down to whoever could produce the most winners and hold their own for the longest.

But Victoria’s strong focus and consistency throughout made the match quite one sided in the end with a big win of 3-0. Beautifully played, Victoria!

Also a big congrats to Joey Chan and Rachael Grinham, the two other players to join Emma and Victoria in the semi final round on Saturday evening.

Both came out strong against their opponents in the quarters, with Rachael beating Tong Tsz-Wing 3-0 and Joey also winning 3-0 against Liu Tsz-Ling. We’re looking forward to watching more of your refined finesse on the court Saturday evening!

The level of squash being played on CWC’s Court #7 this week has been truly impressive. We’re very proud to host such amazing talent!

Round One:
All seeds through to quarters
Meghan Glenday reports
 
All seeds made it through Round 1 on Thursday.

It was a full day of squash, with quite a solid spectator turnout for both the day matches and evening matches. We’re very happy to see everyone coming out to support these ladies, I think we’re all hoping to pick up a thing or two just by watching their phenomenal skills (I guess we’ll find out as the women’s amateur event begins Friday!)

Millie Tomlinson was a force to be reckoned with last night, the qualifier closest to making it through to round 2. She took #3 seed Emma Beddoes to 5 games in a long match of 75 minutes.

There were many lets played, as they struggled to dance around each other, but the rallies were very impressive nonetheless. Millie also had quite the fan base on her side last night, as the CWC junior girls cheered her on from the floor. Well played, ladies! Your persistence was fierce!

Another highlight of the night, for CWC members in particular, was getting to watch their Assistant Squash Pro Susie King’s match against Emily Whitlock. Although Emily won in 3, it was great to have Susie make it through qualifications to Round 1 of the main event and keep inspiring us all to go for those winning shots!

We’re looking forward to the Quarter Finals Friday night, good luck to all of the seeds as they continue to push through!
 

Qualifying complete in Calgary
Meghan Glenday reports
 
The first match of qualification finals, Millie Thompson came out strong against Karina Heredia, winning 3-0.

Next up was Diana Garcia’s win against Giselle Delgado, also 3-0. We could really see the fast pace rallies of these matches from the court’s side wall viewing.

Susie King and Jaycee Spagrud really delivered a fantastic 3rd match of the evening. It was exciting for the spectators as these two battled it out in 5. Susie and Jaycee managed to pull off several very elegant winners as they aimed with precision. Phenomenal rallies, ladies!

Susie won 3-2 in the end, making all of the CWC members proud, and delivering an inspiring game for her junior players who were cheering her on.

Good luck in Thursday’s match, Susie. We will all be there to cheer you on again!

The final qualification match of the evening was with Nikki Todd and Calgary player Jackie Moss, with Nikki winning 3-0. Also a great match played to close out the 2nd evening of the event. Cheers to all of the qualifiers that came out to play and best of luck to those who made it into round one of the main draw, which begins at noon on Thursday.

To top off a great night of squash, the Sponsor-Player meet and greet was also hit. A huge thanks to the Enzo DiPietro and Elizabeth Laborde and all of those involved in putting together such a wonderful spread for the evening. You put on a great party!

And WSA players, hope you enjoy your ‘Welcome to Calgary’s Spring!’ mittens. We’re hoping that the weather finally starts to warm up for you ladies!

King wins qualifying
opener in Calgary
Meghan Glenday reports

We had a fantastic turn out for the first night of qualifications, with some beautiful squash played by our local qualifiers, Susie King and Erin Roberts.

Great match ladies! Susie took the win 3-1, and we’re looking forward to watching her in the second round of qualifications. Good luck, Susie!

Thanks to all of the sponsors and spectators who came out for this first match, we had a full house, creating a very nice atmosphere to kick off the week’s events! Hope to see you all down at the courts again Wednesday evening!