*Kanzy KO's Kawy ...*

The first two matches completed saw qualifiers *Lauren Selby *and* Tesni
Evans* turn in creditable performances against *Rachael Grinham *and* Samantha Teran*, both having had a good tournament and doing themselves credit in today's openers. "That was hard, she's a good player and very physical,"
Evans told Squashsite.co.uk <http://squashsite.co.uk/>. "But I've enjoyed my week, it's been great to see the the top players together and to watch them play."

Selby was also satisfied: "I thought I did alright, considering the matches
I've had so far this week. Rachael's not the easiest to play when you have
heavy legs, she holds the ball so well and you have to stop and start and
turn so often. But I'm pleased with my tournament, I thought I did credit
to myself and I got my laundry done!!"

Teran was happy too: "I'm happy to get started, and to have a tough game to
get me ready for the next round, Tesni played well. It's normally hard to
adjust after the travel from Mexico, but I've been here a couple of days
already and I feel quite comfortable, I'm in good rhythm and playing well.

There was a huge upset in the second batch of women's matches as teenage
Egyptian qualifier *Kanzy El Dafrawy* ousted eighth-seeded compatriot
Omneya Abdel Kawy in three delicately poised games, 12/10, 11/9, 12/10.

"I can't believe it," said a delighted Kanzy, "I've never even taken a game
off her before. But I was playing well, even if she isn't at her best at
the moment, but when I was 10/6 down in the third I told myself I mustn't
let an opportunity like this slip."

Another upset followed when *Dipika Pallikal*, who has just moved into the
world's top twenty, took out 14th-seeded Kiwi Jaclyn Hawkes in four games.

"I started well then made too many errors in the second," said the Indian
number one. "In the third and fourth I was trying to be more steady and I
thought I did that well. I played Jackie in Malaysia in July so I knew what
to expect, you have to be prepared to run and run like she does. "Really
happy to get through, it should be a good game against Kanzy ..."

There were no further upsets in the afternoon session women's matches,
as *Jenny
Duncalf, Annie Au, Laura Massaro*and *Joelle King** *all progressed
never looking
in serious danger. King found Swiss qualifier Gaby Huber a bit of a
handful: "I'd never really seen her play, so it came as a bit of a surprise
to find she hits the ball as hard as I do, which I'm not really used to,"
admitted the Kiwi commonwealth gold medallist, who won 11/7, 11/6, 11/6.
"It's good to get started though and I'm very happy to win that one
three-nil." King now meets second seed Duncalf, who had just as tough a
time of it against Line Hansen, coming through 11/9, 12/10, 11/7 in just
over half an hour.

Meanwhile Duncalf's English team-mate Massaro managed to quell the lively
young Egyptian Yathreb Adel 11/9, 11/7, 11/6 and she'll meet Annie Au, who
won her all-Hong Kong match with Joey Chan in four games. "We play each
other so often, it feels strange to come all the way over here just to play
each other again," chuckled Au.

The ladies got their first outing on Victoria's showcourt as locals* **Orla
Noom *and* Natalie Grinham* started their campaigns. Noom, who won the
qualifying competition for the wilcard spot, performed well enough but
Australia's Kasey Brown was a tough opponent, and the sixth seed came
through in straight games despite Noom's best efforts and a noisy partisan
crowd."It's never easy playing the crowd's home favourite," admitted Brown,
"and they were definitely against me and pretty loud too, but I thought I
coped with it well and played pretty well too."

The following match, featuring four-time finalist Grinham against her
qualifier training partner Aisling Blake, was one the crowd had altogether
different expectations of, and they weren't disappointed as the former
Aussie who has just returned to the world's top ten came through in
straight games in front of her watching husband and son.

Two contrasting women's matches followed. France's seventh seed* **Camille
Serme*, having lost to one young Egyptian (El Weleily) in Qatar was in no
mood to lose to another today as she took a close first game against Nour
El Tayeb, doubled her lead with more ease in the second and gratefully
accepted the world junior champion's retirement with an ankle injury at 2/1
in the third.

Fourth seed *Madeline Perry* went two games up as well, but her opponent,
Emma Beddoes, far from conceding stormed back to take the next two games.
It was fairly comfortable for the Northern Irishwoman in the decider, who
after an tough hour long match will be grateful for a day's rest before she
takes on Natalie Grinham at the Luxor Theatre on Thursday.

*Low Wee Wern* had to work hard to secure a three-nil win over US veteran
Latasha Khan, while five-time and defending champion *Nicol David** *started
off her defence on an outside court against compatriot Delia Arnold "Delia
was struggling with the bounce on the court," said Nicol after her 11/3,
11/5, 11/6 win, "but I was too to start with, it took a little time to get
comfortable on there. I had to remind myself it was the first round of the
World Open and not let her get into it, she can be very dangerous if she
does."

That left Donna Urquhart and *Nour El Sherbini*, who were by now into their
fifth game too, Sherbini having taken the lead 2/1 after saving game balls
in what proved to be a crucial third game. The fifth was a relative canter,
the young Egyptian finally able to celebrate her 16th birthday with an 11/2
decider.
**

*Women’s Round ONE – bottom half (in playing order)*****

[3] Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt [Q] Lauren Selby (Eng) 11/7, 11/4, 11/5 (24m)**
**

[15] Samantha Teran (Mex) bt [Q] Tesni Evans (Wal) 11/5, 11/3, 11/7 (24m)***
*

Dipika Pallikal (Ind) bt [14] Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) 11/8, 9/11, 11/8, 11/7
(52m)****

[Q] Kanzy El Dafrawy (Egy) bt [8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) 12/10, 11/9,
12/10 (35m)****

[5] Laura Massaro (Eng) bt [Q] Yathreb Adel (Egy) 11/9, 11/7, 11/6 (41m)****

[9] Annie Au (Hkg) bt Joey Chan (Hkg) 13/11, 11/6, 7/11, 11/6 (46m)****

[10] Joelle King (Nzl) bt [Q] Gaby Huber (Sui) 11/7, 11/6, 11/6 (35m)****

[2] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt Line Hansen (Den) 11/9, 12/10, 11/7 (32m)****

** **

[11] Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt Sarah Kippax (Eng) 11/9, 11/9, 11/5 (30m)***
*

[6] Kasey Brown (Aus) bt Orla Noom (Ned) 11/6, 11/5, 11/4 (32m)****