Stoehr, Brown, Kitchen, Chiu Fall Short in Long Battles

Alison Waters and Jenny Duncalf both advanced Thursday. Photo 2006 © Alex Wan.

The second round produced no upsets but several matches started with the promise of surprise endings only for the natural order to pertain in the end.

Stoehr took game two to put pressure on Jenny Duncalf. Photo 2006 © Alex Wan.

First match of the day found Jenny Duncalf of England, ranked 6, taking a fairly easy first game from French number one Isabelle Stoehr who has recently climbed into the top twenty at 19.

Duncalf was confident and precise  and took the first game 9-2 in short order. It was, it proved just a little too easy.  After leading 6-2  in the second she became complacent, thought all she had to do was phone it in and she would triumph. Stoehr, who is now based in England, proved otherwise by digging in and  playing just as accurately as  Duncalf. It was hard to pin down when the balance shifted  quite noticeably but as Stoehr whittled way at the lead with the help of some of her own winners and three errors from Duncalf, the Frenchwoman was taking the dominance and Duncalf was obviously rattled. Her confidence ebbed, she snatched at shots and went for winners when she should have kept the rally going to play herself back into the game. Alas,  for Duncalf  and hola! for Stoehr who took seven points without break to win the game 9-2.

Duncalf came off the court with a grim face knowing that she had blown that game and that she could not allow the match to get away. Although she corrected her approach in the third Stoehr had no intention of lying down and continued to contest every rally. This was now a battle of equals and at 5-5 it could have gone either way. Stoehr won the next point to lead 6-5 but Duncalf remained firm in her resolve tied the game  at 6-6 and then upped the pressure slightly to keep in control  to win 9-6.

Duncalf regrouped to prevail over Isabelle Stoehr. Photo 2006 © Alex Wan.

That was a very important stage of the game psychologically because it had taken the fight and the heart out of Stoehr. The fourth game was virtually a walk through for Duncalf  as Stoehr failed to maintain the level of challenge that she had attained in the previous games. Duncalf won 9-3 to end the  55 minute battle and move to a quarter-final meeting with the English player ranked one above her, Vicki Botwright.

When I commented to Jenny that she had had problems with Stoehr she replied:

“I have never lost to her before but I got too complacent in the second. She is a skilful player and was playing well. I didn’t feel I was moving very well and had to get my concentration and focus back in the third game. The ball was very bouncy and I can’t wait to get on to the glass court tomorrow.”

The courts at the Secunderabad club are in excellent shape and the place is air-conditioned but that doesn’t stop the clammy heat from seeping in. There has been very little sign of the sun and quite a bit of rain (they call it a depression). The club is a hair-raising, stomach-knotting 30 minute drive from our hotel with cars, buses lorries, cycles, motorized rickshaws and motorbikes all intent on committing mass suicide under each others’ wheels.

The sound of Hyderabad is a continuing cacophony of horns that is worse than either Paris or Cairo. Even inside the comfortable air-conditioned bus, I live in a state of fear of the accident that must surely happen. So far it hasn’t. Please pray for me. Any religion will do.

KAWY RECOVERS

Omneya Abdel Kawy looked sharp against Laura Jane Lengthorn. Photo © Alex Wan.

Laura Jane Lengthorn is seeded two places behind Omney Abdel Kawy but ignored those runes to take the first game 9-3. Kawy  seemed unperturbed by this upset and  took charge from the beginning of the second game: Lengthorn can play a good percentage game but simply doesn’t have a  range of shots of to finish rallies that she works so hard to control. Kawy’s constant fading boasts and drops, mixed with her easy length  kept Lengthorn working with the inevitable result: Kawy taking three games in a row, 9-4.

Another English player Dominique Lloyd-Water also started with determination in her match against third seed Natalie Grinham of Australia even leading 5-3  in the first game. Grinham pulled level  but at no point seemed in a position of of dominance. There were some long hard rallies and Lloyd-Water  fought for every point but finally the difference in world ranking - three against 21 – became evident  and Grinham won the 18 minute game 9-6. The difference was that Lloyd-Water was working very hard while Grinham seemed to float around the court, placing the ball where it caused  the English girl most pain.  It took another 18 minutes for Grinham to win the next two games  for the loss of just two points, an indication of just how hard Lloyd-Water had worked in that first game.

CHIU TAKES GAME OFF SECOND SEED

Nicolette Ferandes stopped cold by Tania Bailey. Photo © Alex Wan.

Hong Kong’s Rebecca Chiu  also caused a few raised eyebrows when she snatched the first game from second seed Rachel Grinham. Chiu, seeded 13, is a ten year veteran of the Hong Kong national team, so has had international experience  in abundance. And these Hong Kong girls are very competitive: Last year in Belgium, three virtual unknowns  defeated the much fancied Egyptian team to steal the world junior team title.  Although Grinham emerged  the 3/1 victor she had to work for 68 minutes to get that result, which, in no small way, is a bit of a victory for the ever-smiling Chiu.

FERNANDES BASHED BY BAILEY
Our brave little Guyanian Nicolette Fernandes met the resurgent  Tania Bailey and got blitzed for five points in 31 minutes.  It was obvious that she had gone a stage too far and she was out of her depth against the current world number eight.

“Tania was just too good for me. She controlled the ball and the rallies. Even when I did get control for a spell in a rally she would get it back. What I learned from the match is that I have to get better and learn to control the match,” she said, adding that she did not feel tired from her previous matches. “In fact I was surprised how good I felt.”

AND SO TO THE PALACE
Tomorrow we move to the Falaknumka Palace, a tatty magnificence that has not been used for 80 years. The Taj hotel chain has bought it and  will renovate it to be, they claim, the best hotel in the world where a night’s stay will cost you $2,000.

The glass court will not be in the Palace, but in the grounds behind. So, if the  Indian driving doesn’t get me, the bloody mosquitoes will.  More prayers, please.

QATAR AIRWAYS CHALLENGE
SECOND ROUND RESULTS
[1]Rachel Grinham (AUS) bt  [13]Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9-10, 9-5, 9-2, 9-7 (68mins)
[6]Tania Bailey (ENG) [Q]Nicolette Fernandez (GUY) 9-5, 9-0, 9-0 (31mins)
[3] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [16] Dominique Lloyd Walter (ENG) 9-6, 9-2, 9-0 (40mins)
[7] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [9]Laura Lengthorn (ENG)  3-9,9-4, 9-4, 9-4 (44mins)
[5]Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [14]Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 9-2, 6-9, 9-6, 9-3 (55mins)
[4]Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Lauren Briggs (ENG) 9-7, 9-1, 9-7 (44mins)
[8]Alison Waters (ENG) bt [Q]Kasey Brown (AUS) 5-9,9-6, 9-3, 9-4 (56 mins) 
[1]Nicol David (MAS) [10] bt Shelley Kitchen (NZ)9-6, 4-9, 9-6,9-5 (60mins)

                    [Main Draw]

The Falaknumka Palace. Photo 2006 © Alex Wan.