Favourite Madeline Perry exited from squash event prematurely
Women's favourite Madeline Perry exited prematurely from the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Squash Open after suffering injuries during the semi-finals of the established international Tour event at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin.
In the women’s WISPA World Tour Silver 20 event, Ireland's defending champion Madeline Perry struggled from the start of her match against Jaclyn Hawkes and seemed to reach every ball a fraction too late to impose herself on the third seed from New Zealand.
Trailing two games down, the world No3 from Belfast conceded the match. Perry said she had injured her back following her quarter final match against Italian Manuela Manetta and was unable to move freely. Winner of the title four times since 2005, Perry expressed great disappointment at not being able to continue her challenge for her fifth Irish Open squash title: "But I will be back to challenge next year," said the Irish star.
Hawkes, now celebrating her tenth WISPA Tour final appearance, will face Nour El Tayeb, the rising star of women's squash in Egypt. The 18-year-old fourth seed brought to an end the distinguished squash career of Dutch star Vanessa Atkinson, the 35-year-old former world number one and winner of 24 WISPA Tour titles who was competing in her final Tour event.
Atkinson, winner of the Irish Open title in 2003 and 2004 and runner-up last year, twice led the Cairo teenager – but El Tayeb played with confidence and intelligence to eventually wear down the former world champion 7-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-1, 11-3 in 44 minutes to reach the second Tour final of her young career.
