Grinham out of contention as David and Duncalf maintain their focus.
Rachael Grinham was forced to retire from the competition early this morning, due to injury. The Australian took a fall in the final points of her match against Low Wee Wern yesterday and spent the night trying to recuperate ahead of her fixture with Laura Massaro this afternoon. Grinham took the decision not to risk pushing her injury however, and Group B will now be comprised of just three players.
First onto court was Madeline Perry against Camille Serme. The cool conditions on court seemed to better suit Serme in the opening exchanges and she confidently attacked with dropshots and picked off Perry’s loose shots from the tee. At 3-9 down, Perry began to show signs of improvement, finding a tighter length and moving her opponent around but the French international was too far ahead and Serme closed out the game 11-6.
Perry settled in well after the break and shot ahead to a 6-0 lead utilising a faster pace and much improved width. With her improved range, she closed out the second game 11-5 with Serme unable to mount any consistent challenge. Serme handed her opponent a further lead early in the first game, with a number of errors, but kept her nerve to stay close to her Irish opponent and took the lead at 7-6 with a renewed attacking style and saw out the match 11/7.
Nicol David continued her progression through the group stages with a controlled and precise 2-0 win over Australian Donna Urquhart. The Malaysian played a tight and patient game from the start and was quite happy to wait for her chances to attack, and for errors from her opponent. Urquhart was limited to only the occasional scoring chance throughout the match, and under pressure hit a number of balls out of court. David is through to the next round now after consecutive 2-0 wins, with Madeline Perry still to play tomorrow.
Due to Grinham’s withdrawal, Jenny Duncalf versus Low Wee Wern played the final WSA match of the day. The first game was a close affair, with Duncalf always slightly ahead of her Malaysian opponent. After establishing a small lead early on, she did enough to stay ahead of Wee Wern throughout the game and closed out a 11/7 win. The Englishwoman took an early lead in the second, winning five points in a row and putting herself in a good position to see out the game. Wee Wern’s strong retrieval kept the match from being a whitewash, and she came close to a comeback in the second game after some good recovery squash forced some errors from the England No1. Duncalf weathered the storm though and came through her second win of the group stage with an 11/7, 11/8 win.
Day2 ATCO World Series Finals results:
Camille Serme bt Madeline Perry – 11/6, 5/11, 11/7
Nicol David bt Donna Urquhart – 11/4, 11/4
Jenny Duncalf bt Low Wee Wern – 11/7, 11/8
Rachael Grinham vs Laura Massaro – [Rachael withdraws from competition due to injury]
Day 3 fixtures:
Camille Serme vs Donna Urquhart
Laura Massaro vs Low Wee Wern
Nicol David vs Madeline Perry
WSA Women’s Groups
Group A Nicol David (Malaysia) Madeline Perry (N.Ireland) Camille Serme (France) Donna Urquhart (Australia) |
Group B Jenny Duncalf (England) Rachael Grinham (Australia) Laura Massaro (England) Low Wee Wern (Malaysia) |