Nuestros amigos de Uruguay, con Jean Paul Bragard a la cabeza, nos enviaron esta valiosa información.
Invitamos a todos los amantes del squash a que no se pierdan esta oportunidad de ver jugar a las mejores jugadoras del mundo.
WISPA – Promo Tour URUGUAY 2007
Quedó confirmado el Wispa Promotional Tour en Montevideo para el 5 y 6 de junio DE 2007. Vienen la actual número uno y tres del mundo y la leyenda Sarah Fitz-Gerald.
A continuación les dejamos la biografía que nos envió el organizador del Tour de cada una de las jugadoras.
NICOL DAVID (Malaysia)
World ranking: 1 (Feb 07)
Date of Birth: 26th August 1983
Age: 23
Lives: Amsterdam / Penang
Nicol David is a phenomenon. By a distance the most successful Malaysian woman squash player of all time. Going back to her junior days the Penang-born star won the Women's World Junior title in style in Belgium in June 1999, then became the first person ever to claim the title for a second time – beating her great rival Omneya Abdel Kawy in the final in her home town of Penang two years later in 2001.
Since that day in Hong Kong at the end of 2005 when she beat Rachael Grinham 9/7 in the fourth game to sensationally win the World Open, she has gone from strength to strength.
Last year she won six WISPA majors. She also took the Asian individual title again.
Amongst her haul her second British Open title was special, but winning a second World Open title in Belfast last November in front of parents Anne and Desmond and coach Liz Irving was sensational. She toughed it out with regular adversary Natalie Grinham and came through after going two games to one down in a 95 minute marathon.
That win took Nicol to an unbeaten WISPA 33 match span, which she will hope to extend in 2007. She has a strong hold on the World number one ranking too.
The pressure to keep ahead is intense but the small star has broad shoulders!
RACHAEL GRINHAM (Australia)
World ranking: 3 (Feb 07)
Date of Birth: 22nd January 1977
Age: 30
Lives: Cairo
The older of the two Grinham sisters from Toowoomba in Queensland, Rachael re-energised her career after moving her base to Cairo over five years ago. She climbed up the rankings and reached the number one spot in August 2004 and remained until the end of 2005, though the whole of that year was spent looking over her shoulder as Vanessa Atkinson came very close to snatching it.
Like Nicol David, she has two British Opens to her name, but a third was denied when David beat her in September 2006. Shortly after she did win the Carol Weymuller Open in New York, but no finals since then for the slight girl who has a style all of her own. Nobody floats and holds the ball like the player who had the consolation of Mixed Doubles gold with sister Natalie at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne last year.
The start of this year saw her pitted again against sister Natalie in the semis of the Marsh Apawamis Open in USA, where there was no respect for seniority and Rachael, just turned thirty, was the loser.
However, experience is not to be sniffed at, nor are 22 WISPA Tour titles, so the part owner of a coffee bar called Boomerang near Cairo is going to be a real contender again in 2007.
SARAH FITZ-GERALD (Australia)
Age: 38
Lives: Melbourne, Australia
After many years of effort, during autumn 1996, just a few weeks apart, were two totally memorable milestones in Sarah's career. She won the World Open title and took world number one slot.
The Australian kick-started her career by becoming World Junior Champion in 1987, and in October 1996 became the first player to combine that with the World Open crown when she sensationally won the title in Malaysia, not dropping a game in the whole championship, including the final against Cassie Jackman.
Having retained her World Open crown in 1998 knee surgery early in 1999 kept her off the circuit for most of the year.
In December 1999 she stepped back on to court and 2000 started with a bang …five wins in succession but she was still not quite back to her best – that was to come in 2001 onwards. 2001 continued in the winning vein with all events entered resulting in titles claimed ….the highspots being a first ever British Open title in June and a 4th World Open in front of her home city crowd in Melbourne. Indeed, during 2001 only one loss was suffered, going down to Leilani Joyce in the semi finals of the Hong Kong Open.
In 2002 she completed her total of a great five World Open titles when she beat Natalie Grainger 3/1 in the Qatar hosted final.
Her success led her to pick up a variety of sporting awards including Australian Female Athlete of the Year in 2001.
Now, in addition to exhibition matches she does media work.
She has also used her energies for the good of her fellow players in her role as President of the Women's Players body (WISPA) while she was competing, and now as a patron of WISPA
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