Queensland’s Rachael Grinham rescued Australia’s hopes at the KL Open in Kuala Lumpur when she came from two games down to beat Egyptian qualifier Heba El Torky in the first round on Wednesday.
Grinham outlasted El Torky 8-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 12-10 in almost an hour and a half to become the only Australian winner on the tournament’s opening day.
She now takes on another Egyptian qualifier, Nour El Sherbini, after the 16-year-old shocked second seeded Englishwoman Jenny Duncalf 12-10, 9-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9.
Grinham said she found it hard to adapt to El Torky’s game.
“I wasn’t really comfortable with the way the ball was coming off my racquet,” she said.
“I was hitting it to short and couldn’t find my length and made a few errors. She was killing me in the beginning, but I was able to work my way into it just in time.
“After I won the third I was definitely feeling a lot more comfortable and I was ahead for most of the match after that.”
Earlier, rising Indian star Dipika Pallikal outplayed Australian eighth seed Kasey Brown 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 in one of a number of upsets on the opening day, while world number one Nicol David downed Australian qualifier Donna Urquhart 11-5, 11-5, 11-6.
In the men’s draw, Hong Kong’s Leo Au ousted Ryan Cuskelly in five games 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-3, while qualifier Matthew Karwalski was forced to withdraw from his match against Malaysian Ong Beng Hee with a leg injury while down 8-0 in the first game.
First round results – prefix denotes seeding:
Men
1-Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 11-2, 11-5, 11-9
Leo Au (HKG) bt Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-3
Max Lee (HKG) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-8, 11-5, 11-5
4-Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Ivan Yuen (MAS) 6-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-8
3-Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Tarek Momen (EGY) 8-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-1, 11-6
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6
Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Matthew Karwalski (AUS) 8-0 ret
Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt 2-Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 8-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3, 11-2
Women
1-Nicol David (MAS) bt Donna Urquhart (AUS) 11-5, 11-5, 11-6
Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt 8-Kasey Brown (AUS) 11-6, 11-7, 11-9
4-Madeline Perry (IRL) bt Camille Serme (FRA) 11-9, 11-1, 1-11, 12-10
5-Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-9, 11-6, 11-5
Annie Au (HKG) bt 7-Natalie Grinham (NED) 11-9, 12-14, 11-6, 11-6
3-Laura Massaro (ENG) bt Samantha Teran (MEX) 11-7, 11-5, 11-6
6-Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Heba El Torky (EGY) 8-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 12-10
Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt 2-Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 12-10, 9-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9