11-Apr, Qualifying Round One:

Alana Miller (Can) bt Siyoli Waters (Rsa)                      12/10, 11/9, 11/7 (32m)
Latasha Khan (Usa) bt Karen Meakins (Bar)                   11/3, 11/5, 11/5 (20m)
Manuela Manetta (Ita) bt Leonie Holt (Eng)                   11/2, 13/11, 11/8 (24m)

Sarah Kippax (Eng) bt Samantha Cornett (Can)             11/7, 11/5, 11/4 (24m)
Tenille Swartz (Rsa) bt Miranda Ranieri (Can)       11/5, 8/11, 11/4, 11/8 (35m)
Nicolette Fernandes (Guy) bt Melody Francis        11/6, 9/11, 11/9, 11/7 (37m)

Low Wee Wern (Mas) bt  Carrie Hastings (Eng)              11/1, 11/3, 11/4 (21m)
Delia Arnold (Mas) bt Chantelle Day (Cay)                    11/4, 11/4, 11/1 (15m)


Men's Caribbean Challenge:

Dean Watson (Cay) bt Gavin Cumberbatch (Bar)            11/5, 11/6, 11/8 (18m)

"She caught me by surprise at the start, she came out so fast and anything that wasn't down the wall she'd put away. I needed to concentrate on finding my length.

"She's very good when she's in front of you, I was hoping she'd make a few mistakes but she didn't, she was in her rhythm and I couldn't do a lot until I started getting her behind me.

"I think that's the first time I've come from 8-0 down, and the first time I've been asked to play again straight afterwards !

"We're all absolutely loving it here though, what a great place, and I've had a day on the beach already!"

Day One Gallery

Lunchtime session:
Miller overcomes slow start,
no joy for Meakins, Manetta at the Beach ...

Qualifying got under way with a blistering start by Siyoli Waters as she raced to a rapid 7-0 lead over Alana Miller in the opening game, firing the ball in low and hard for winners or forcing mistakes from her opponent.

The South African went to 8-0 on the back of winning the first significant rally of the contest, but that seemed to be the rally that the Canadian finally got a foothold in the match. Alana closed it up to 7/8, then saved three game balls before taking the lead in extra points.

The momentum was with the Canadian now, and although she allowed Siyoli to recover from 2/5 to lead 8/6 in the second, she always looked the likely winner, closing out the second 11/9 and taking a 10/5 lead in the third. Siyoli then played her best squash since the opening exchanges, saved three match balls but couldn't get out of the way of the ball on a long final rally as Alana advanced to the qualifying finals.

Immediately afterwards she faced a second challenge, five points against one of the SSSC juniors ...

Next up was qualifying second seed Latasha Khan against late entrant Karen Meakins. "I was coming over to help Dan out with the clinics anyway," said the Bajan, "but I never expected to play, it was only last night that I heard that I was in the draw!"

In the event Karen could never quite get into her stride as Latasha surged ahead in the first two games, and pulled away from 4-all in the third.

"I didn't know what to expect," said the victor, "I'd never seen her play before, so I'm just happy to get through, and happy that it's not as hot in here as last year!"

Making her first appearance here, Manuela Manetta made a convincing start to her match against Leonie Holt, taking the first 11/2, but the Englishwoman steadied her game up, and can count herself unlucky not to have extended the match, losing the last two from 10/8 and 8/7 up.

"I think I was in beach mode," said a relieved Italian. "I started really well but then my focus was up and down and I gave her a bit of a chance. She played well though, and I was glad to be able to get through in the end."

The first match of the evening session saw England's Sarah Kippax take on young Canadian Samantha Cornett. The opening exchanges were hard fought, long rallies as the score reached 4-all, but Kippax then raced ahead10/5 before Cornett steadied again, pulling three points back before the Englishwoman took the lead with an intercept volley drop.

Sarah was always ahead in the next two games, though it was never easy as Samantha continued to make her work hard but suffered from the occasional lapse of concentration, losing series of quick points before settling again.

In the end though Sarah - who gets married in June, much to the disappointment of one spectator who interrupted the on-court interview by apparently phoning the compere with an offer of marriage - was just too steady on the night.

"I'd never played her before," said Sarah, "but I was billeted with her family in Canada in one of my first tournaments so it was nice to meet up with the family again!

"She's very athletic and hits the ball well, I just had to stick to my basic game plan and it worked out in the end."



South Africa's Tenille Swartz produced the first upset of the day, beating qualifying sixth seed Miranda Ranieri in a tough four games. Both are very determined players, and some of the rallies were brutal as both ran, hit and retrieved as hard as each other.

Tenille took the first fairly comfortable in the end, but Miranda bounced back, capitalising on a 7/3 lead in the second to level. A quick 6/0 advantage in the third made sure that the South African would lead 2/1, and she finally pulled clear from 7/6 in the fourth to claim a place in tomorrow's finals.

"That was a tough first match," said the victor. "I played my game well in the first but in the second she got into it, she's a strong runner and gets lots back that you don't expect. I just had to keep it tight, keep her running, and in the end it worked out for me."

Caribbean favourite - and champion - Nicolette Fernandes was made to work hard on her return to Cayman, with Australia's upcoming Melody Francis in contention throughout another hard fought match between two determined players.

"I really wan to play on that glass court, it looks so spectacular," Fernandes admitted after the match, possibly explaining some of that spirit they both showed.

After the Guyanan had takes the first with relative ease, there was noting init for the next three games, until Nicolette finally opened up enough of a gap in the fourth to save the agonies of a decider.

"I had lots of nerves on there," said the victor, "I knew it was going to be tough as I'd never played her or even seen her play before and that's always a tough combination. She's not a conventional player and I couldn't get my shots together consistently enough so I found it hard to get into a rhythm.

"I'm so glad to get through though, I love it here in Cayman and I want to keep on playing ..."

The obligatory junior was of course waiting for Nicolette, who refused to play "until I get a kiss ..."

With her match having been rescheduled from this morning to an afternoon slot, Low Wee Wern jetted in from Houston where she made the Texas Open semis, and despite landing just two hours before her match, the Malaysian proved too strong for England's Carrie Hastings, winning in a shade over 20 minutes.

"It's my first time in Cayman, I've seen the airport, my room and the court so far, at times I was seeing two balls on there," said a relieved winner.

"I've been getting some good training in Penang and I played some of my best squash for a while in Texas, so hopefully I can carry on winning and make another Gold main draw like I did in Chennai."

As the match was on a side court, there was no obligatory junior, for which she was surely grateful ...

The final match of the night featured local wildcard Chantelle Day, Cayman's number two, against another Malaysian who did well in Texas, Delia Arnold, who had arrived in good time and proved too strong for her young opponent.

"Chantelle played well, and I was trying to get myself used to the court, ready for what should be a tough match against Nicolette tomorrow."

Dean rolls on ...

Defending men's Caribbean Challenge champion Dean Watson eased into the semi-finals with a quickfire win over Gavin Cumberbatch, neither looking too interested in long rallies.

Picking up where Nicolette left off, kisses were involved in the junior match, but in this instance it was the senior threatening the kissing ...

Was I THAT bad, Officer ?

Day One Gallery