Tournament News 08... Worlds Singapore Malaysia Knee Surgery Nationals Apawamis Open 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003

WORLD OPEN, TANIA MISSES OUT THIS YEAR - OCT 08

Update from Tania:

Unfortunately I am not going to be playing in the World Open this year. It is a massive blow for me as this has been one of my goals ever since it was announced 2 years ago.

It is obviously the biggest event ever held and being in England was going to make it extra special. Due to my on going injury problems this year I am not ready to play, I have played through injuries in every tournament this year and it is not enjoyable or good for me.

It started last November when I tore my adductor in Qatar and then it went again in December and then I tore my hamstring in New York in January and then I tore it again at the Nationals, and it wasn't fully recovered when I played Malaysia in March.

My knee problems will have cotributed to all the other injuries so surgery was the only option in April to tidy up the cartiliage. The recovery had been going well but I went into the Malaysian Open in July on only
about 10 days of training and although I played well there and felt good it was just too much too soon for my knee and I now have to fully strenghthen it before I play again.

I am not putting a time on when I will return to playing as I want to make sure my knee is ready and
putting a time on it would encourage me to rush back again. I will be continuing with the rehab and strength programme for now.

The physio is happy with my progress and this week has gone really well and my knee is feeling good. I want to play for at least another 5 years and I still have many goals I want to achieve, the physios and doctors are confident I will be able to, as long as I do the right things now.

It has been a really frustrating time as I had worked so hard on my game and I felt I was playing really well before all the problems started. I just look forward to getting back on the tour sometime soon.

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SINGAPORE OPEN, INJURY WOES CONTINUE - JUL 08

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MALAYSIAN OPEN - JUL 08

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Tania to play for first time since knee surgery - 29th June 08

Update from Tania:

My knee is recovering now and I am back on court. I am starting to train properly again now and will be looking to get back to full fitness as soon as possible.

I am entering the Malaysian Open and the Singapore Open at the end of July 08.

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Tania to undergo knee surgery - 9th April 08

Update from Tania:

My knee is recovering now and I am back on court. I am starting to train properly again now and will be looking to get back to full fitness as soon as possible.

I am entering the Malaysian Open and the Singapore Open at the end of July.

Update from Tania on knee surgery:

"...Unfortunately I need to have an operation on my right knee to repair a tear in my cartiliage, it will be an arthroscopy and I am having it done on Wednesday in Manchester.

I have been having problems with it for over a year now and it has been getting increasingly worse recently and although the physio and conditioning coach have tried everything it just hasn't improved. It is most probably the reason why I have had tears in my adductor and hamstring over the last 6 months.

It depends exactly what the surgeon finds when he does the operation as to how long the recovery will be but I will have intense rehab after so hopefully it wont be too long. I am devastated to be missing the Europeans and the British Open as they are 2 of my favourite events of the year and I especially love representing my country so I will really miss not playing this year.

But I am very determined to get my strength and fitness back and to start playing well again. I have many goals I still want to try and achieve and I believe I still have plenty of years left on the circuit. There are a lot of things I want to work on in my game that I haven't been able to do due to the injuries so I look forward to getting on with them as soon as possible..."

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NATIONALS - FEB 08

Tania suffers hamstring tear... (18th Feb)

Tania has had a scan today and it has come to light that she tore her hamstring during Saturdays semi final defeat to Laura Lengthorn. Her leg had been very sore on Sunday and she went up to Manchester first thing on Monday to see the physios at the National squash centre who confirmed the injury after a scan.

Tania will now stay in Manchester for the next few weeks and have intensive treatment in an attempt to get ready for the Kuala Lumpur Open (which she flys out to later this month). Tania had injured her hamstring in the Apawamis Open 2 weeks ago and was hoping that the physios would be able to get her fit in time for the Nationals.

Unfortunately this proved not to be possible and they now face another race against time to get her ready for malaysia.

Results Semi Final (16/02) Tania (1) lost to L Lengthorn (3) 6/11, 9/11 rtd injured... (29m) Quarter Final (15/02) Tania (1) beat S Kippax (8) 11/7, 11/7, 11/7 (27m) 1st Round (1/2) Tania (1) bt L Mylotte 11/4, 11/6, 11/5 (24m) Photos Photo 1... Photo 2... Photo 3...

Tournament Update It was going well for Tania this week. Her physio had been working on her hamstring injury (which is possibly linked to her adductor tear injury from last year) all of last week and had seemingly erradicated it. She had good wins in the 1st round and 1/4 final and although she was a little tentative lunging on the injured leg and a little rusty due to lack of match practice she had hoped that she had seen the back of the injury. However during the warm up for the semi final she felt some discomfort in her leg and this had turned into sharp pain by the second game. This pain and worry of further injury effectively ended her bid to win the nationals a second time. She retired after losing the second game as she did not want to make her injury worse with WISPA tournaments coming up next month. It was clear throughout the first 2 games of the semi final that Tania was not right. In fact her (our) mum simply couldn't watch and had to go outside. It was a sad way to end a tournament that she very much enjoys playing. She was very disappointed and pretty much inconsolable after the retirement. Tania will be back with the physio's next week and fingers are crossed that they can sort her out before the Kuala Lumpur Open next month... Howard Hardings (England Squash Press Man) updates... After Semi Final Third seed Laura Lengthorn-Massaro claimed a place in the women's final for the first time after favourite Tania Bailey, from Lincolnshire, retired injured after two games.  Former champion Bailey arrived in Manchester having not been on court for two weeks after sustaining a ham-string injury in New York. The Lancashire lass from Preston took the first game convincingly against her higher-ranked England team-mate, and came back from 4-6 down in the second to secure the second.  "I was feeling good and really up for the third when Tania decided to stop," said the 24-year-old world No12.  "But it's fantastic to be in the final." The pair's previous meeting took place last October in the World Open in Madrid where Bailey, despite suffering with breathing difficulties, beat her English rival in four games. "I'm not expected to beat Tania, yet when we played in Madrid suddenly everybody assumed I'd win - and I felt really tense on court and threw the match away," explained Lengthorn-Massaro.  "I was determined not to let that happen again." Tania Bailey was distraught at not being able to complete the match:  "I felt it a bit in the first game - then a couple of lunges in the second made me realise that there was a problem," explained the world No5 from Stamford. "Even though I could have played through the pain, it's the worry of what that might do to me long-term which was of greater concern.  It's really disappointing, I hate stopping in the middle of a match. "I wouldn't necessarily have been able to beat Laura, but I'd just like to have given her a game." After Quarter Final... Bailey, the 2006 champion from Lincolnshire, beat Cheshire's Sarah Kippax 11-7, 11-7, 11-7. "That's definitely the best she's ever played against me," said Bailey of her opponent, the No8 seed who is now based in Halifax.  "I not as strong as I've ever been," added Bailey, who sustained a ham-string injury two weeks ago which hampered her Nationals' preparation.  "My match practice is a little bit lacking - but I'm just so glad I'm playing." After 1st Round... Less than 24 hours after considering withdrawing from the women's event, top seed Tania Bailey coasted to a straight games first round victory over Irish international Laura Mylotte. The world No5 from Lincolnshire had not been able to train or compete for almost two weeks, since picking up a ham-string injury during a quarter-final match against the Australian world No2 Natalie Grinham in the Apawamis Open in New York. "Even up to yesterday, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to play," said the 28-year-old England No1 after her 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 win in 24 minutes.  "But thanks to the brilliant efforts my fantastic physio Jim Webb (the Head Physiotherapist at the English Institute of Sport, North West) - including a two-hour session I had with him yesterday - I felt absolutely fine during my first match for nearly two weeks. "I was a little bit nervous when I went on court - but my body felt fine.  Hopefully, I'll get stronger with every match - and I'm looking forward to playing my next match on the all-glass court.  I love that glass court," added the 2006 champion from Stamford.  The women's event is being played using 'Point-A-Rally' scoring for the first time - falling in line with PAR scoring to 11 points a game that has considerably enhanced the spectator appeal of the men's game. "I like it - it makes the games much more exciting for the crowd," said Bailey after her first round match.  "We'll need to get used to it - but it puts pressure on the higher-seeded players as their opponents can just let rip.  But it's worked so well for men's squash." Facts/Media Click here for squashsite coverage... Next up if Tan is fit is the KL Open - 5th March

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APAWAMIS OPEN - FEB 08

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