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02-May-08:
Nicol David looking for
revenge in Liverpool ...
World number one Nicol David will be after revenge when she
takes on a qualifier in the opening round of the Dunlop British Open
- Liverpool 2008 squash championships in Liverpool.
The longest-established and most prestigious event in world squash,
the Dunlop British Open - Liverpool 2008 will be staged at the
city's new ECHO Arena Liverpool from 10-12 May following qualifying
and early rounds at the Liverpool Cricket Club from 6 May.
David, who is in her third year at the top of the world rankings, is
expected to reach the final for the fourth successive year. The
24-year-old two times champion from Malaysia will be eager to make
up for the disappointment of a shock loss to Australian Rachael
Grinham in last year's final in Manchester, but believes she is
ready to make amends for a match where she faded in the latter
stages while Rachael was a player transformed.
 "I've
added things to my training to strengthen one
or two areas, but I know that focusing on any one rival would be
distracting. You just realise that you have to put up with whatever
happens, and be ready for anything.
"I’m just going to the British Open thinking it is now going to be
earlier. My training is done and I just have to make sure everything
is in place. You prepare yourself for anything, knowing all these
things occur and learning what you can do and don’t do in a
tournament."
David notched up her 40th
WISPA World Tour final appearance when she won last month's KL Open
on home soil. In a remarkable run since winning the British Open
title for the first time in October 2005, she has competed in 25
Tour events - reaching the finals on all but two occasions!
Title-holder Rachael is one of three players making their
12th consecutive appearances in the event since debuting in 1997.
Winner of the prestigious trophy in 2003, 2004 and 2007, the
31-year-old former world number one from Queensland enjoyed a
stunning return to form last year - when she also won the World Open
title - previously held by David - for the first time, in Madrid.
Rachael, the third seed who is also drawn to face a qualifier in the
first round, will be joined in the field by her younger sister
Natalie Grinham. The second seed will be competing in the event
for the first time as a Dutch player after switching allegiance to
the country in which she has lived for more than ten years in
February. Grinham junior, who in October battled with Rachael in the
first World Open final featuring two sisters, is looking for her
first British Open title after finishing as runner-up in 2005.
Jenny Duncalf, the world No6 from Harrogate, leads British
interest in the women's draw. The 2007 British National champion and
the reigning European Champion, is the event's fifth seed - and
leads the domestic attack in the absence of England number one Tania
Bailey, the world No5 from Lincolnshire who underwent surgery this
month to repair a tear in the cartilage in her right knee.
But Duncalf faces a formidable first opponent in England team-mate
Alison Waters, the 24-year-old world number 11 from London
who succeeded 25-year-old Duncalf as British champion in February.
The draw for the first staging of the British Open in Liverpool has
- remarkably - thrown up an all-Lancashire first round clash between
two England team-mates. Vicky Botwright, the 30-year-old No7
seed from Manchester, will face unseeded Laura Lengthorn-Massaro,
a 24-year-old from Preston who is ranked just four places lower.
Whilst Botwright dominated the early exchanges between the pair,
Lengthorn emerged victorious in four of their five meetings so far
this year. The pair's career head-to-head tally in national and
international meetings stands at 8-6 to Botwright: County, national
and international pride will be at stake when the two next meet in
Liverpool!
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Women's Draw
Women's Draw
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