BRIGHT LIGHTS, LAS VEGAS OPEN
BRIGHT LIGHTS, LAS VEGAS OPEN
1st round (Thu) - Tania lost to Shelley Kitchen (5)... 6/9, 4/9, 8/10
Tania lost in the first round of the Las Vegas Open to Shelley Kitchen in three games on thursday. Shelley, who recently defeated Jenny Tranfield and Fiona Geaves to take the Hyder Open title continued her good form into this match and was to strong for Tania on the day.
Tania has not faced Shelley, the number 5 seed on the Wispa world tour before, although she did have a convincing win over the new zealander in the semi final of the womens world open in 2000 when she beat her to the loss of no more than 3 points. The match proves that despite Tania's improved performances in the Squashworks Open last week, she still has a long way to go before she is back to her best.
From Vegas, Tania said that she was not good enough and that she was only able to play half a game. She was 6/4 up in the first 4/0 up in the second and 8/5 up in the third but was unable to capitalise on those leads because shelley was too consistent for her. Tania is confident that illness permitting she will be much improved in a few months time, but is still frustrated at not being able to perform at the level that she could in late 2002.
Tania now has another break from tournaments through june at least and this will give her more valuable time to work on her fitness and get some good match practice. The most important thing is still that she is able to avoid illness and can just continue to play the tour without being effected by more setbacks. When she has been playing the tour regularly for 6 months or more then hopefully Tania can begin to regain her past performances and get right back to the top.
SQUASHWORKS OPEN, SALT LAKE CITY
Semi Finals (Sat) - Tania (6) lost to Stephanie Brind (4)... 9/4, 9/0, 0/9, 5/9, 5/9
Tania's good run in the squashworks open was ended by Stephanie Brind on Saturday at the semi final stage. Steph did to Tania what Tania had done to Omneya the previous day and come back from 2-0 down to win the match.
The match started well for Tania and in the first two games she was easily in control and dominating her compatriot. However in the third game fatigue started to set in and with the legs feeling empty from the previous days efforts Tania began to feel tired and was unable to run like she was in the first two games. This let Steph take charge and although Tania was 5-2 up in fourth and fifth games she was unable stay with the pace.
This was only Tania's second tournament in three months and she has done really well considering. The fact that the tournament is being played at high altitude will have benefitted her fitness levels and if she can rest for the next week and stay virus free then it should set her up nicely for Vegas which begins on the 20th. For the Drawer for the Vegas tournament check out the agenda page
Quarter Finals (Fri) - Tania (6) beat Omneya Abdel Kawy (2)... 6/9, 2/9, 9/5, 9/4, 9/4
Tania scored her biggest win on the WISPA world tour for 14 months as she came back from 2-0 down to beat the world number 10 and No.2 seed Omneya Abdel Kawy in Salt Lake City. Rachel Grinham was the last top 10 player that Tania beat, back in February 2003.
Tania was made to work extremely hard by the 18 year old eygption and after the match was very tired. The fact that she managed to stay strong through until the end is very pleasing, especially considering she was 4-1 down in the deciding match and won the last 8 points without losing any.
She now faces Stephanie Brind in the semi finals (saturday) and is hoping that her win hasn't completely sapped her energy levels.
For more information on the tournament check out the official site.
First Round (Thur) - Tania (6) beat Melissa Martin (Q)... 9/7, 9/4, 9/2
Tania recovered from a poor start in Salt Lake city to win her first Wispa tour match since January. She beat the qualifier Melissa Martin who is coached by the former squash star Brett Martin in 3 games, despite going 6-0 down in the first game.
Tania said that she was nervous, due to the fact that she hasn't won for so long, but once she was able to get into the game she didn't look back. The games are being played at high altitude in salt lake city and it was therefore very hard work for Tania but excellent for her fitness.
She now faces the number 2 seed Omneya Abdel Kawy in the quarter finals (Friday).
For more information on the tournament check out the official site.