Malaysia’s Nicol David celebrated her third title in a row in the women's final Forexx Dutch Open Squash 2008, Europe’s biggest squash tournament at the Frans Otten Stadion in Amsterdam, defeating Natalie Grinham of the Netherlands 11-9 11-9 11-4.
Having contested ten major finals over the last two years, David and two-time Dutch Open champion Natalie Grinham were no strangers to the big occasion in the climax of the $53,500 WISPA World Tour Gold championship. Their matches are invariably long and this was no exception - the first game alone lasted 23 minutes.
Second seed Grinham, the former Australian looking for her first Tour title since acquiring Dutch nationality in February, led in the first two games - but world number one David fought back to take both 11-9. An early lead in the third proved too much for the world number three to overcome as the Malaysian romped home to win 11-9, 11-9, 11-4 in 55 minutes.
The triumph extends David's unbeaten run to 38 matches and nine WISPA titles since November - and brings her career tally to 31 titles.
"That was a great match, we had some really monster rallies, like we always do, and it definitely didn't feel like a 3/0," David told the tournament website www.dutchopensquash.nl afterwards. "She took it on when she had the opportunity, she trains on this court and she was finding some lovely angles in the first game. I had to try to find my game and step it up, and luckily I managed to get those last two points in the first two games.
"I'm really pleased with my focus and my game, and I'm delighted to win the Dutch Open again, I'm looking forward to next year already!"
Semi-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [4] Natalie Grainger (USA) 11-9, 11-5, 11-8
[2] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [8] Alison Waters (ENG) 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8
Quarter-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [6] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6
[4] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 11-8, 11-3, 11-2
[8] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 11-9, 11-6, 12-10
[2] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [7] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) 11-4, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5
1st round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5
[6] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) bt Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 14-16, 11-7
[4] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt Madeline Perry (IRL) 11-6, 11-5, 4-11, 11-8
[5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [Q] Aisling Blake (IRL) 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7
[8] Alison Waters (ENG) bt Kasey Brown (AUS) 12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8
[7] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [Q] Line Hansen (DEN) 11-7, 11-2, 11-8
[2] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [Q] Lauren Briggs (ENG) 11-2, 11-3, 11-4
Issued by iSPORTmedia