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| December 24, 2002 | Tuesday | Shawwal 19, 1423 |
Grant and Atkinson lift titles
MAASTRICHT, (The Netherlands) Dec 23: England and the host nation shared the honours Monday at the Valid Dutch Open squash championships as top seed Dutch Vanessa Atkinson claimed the women’s title and Englishman Adrian Grant upset the seedings to secure the men’s trophy on Monday.
The 22-year-old Grant, the No 2 seed, despatched top-seeded compatriot Nick Matthew 15-10 15-6 15-8 in the final to secure his third successive PSA Tour title of the year in his third final appearance of the year.
Earlier, Grant, a former European junior champion, survived losing the first game in his opening match of the tournament to romp through to the final without conceding any further games.
Grant blanked fourth-seeded local favourite Tommy Berden in the semifinals 15-10, 15-9, 15-11 to cruise into the final.
Grant’s success in the final event of the year marked the tenth PSA Tour final appearance of his career - and the eighth title. For a disappointed Matthew, the world No 32 from Sheffield, it was his fourth successive defeat in a PSA final in 2002.
After taking four games to overcome France’s fourth-seeded Isabelle Stoehr in the semifinals, world No 7 Atkinson was in commanding form in the final where she beat Scotland’s second-seeded Pamela Nimmo 9-3 9-5 9-5 to record her second WISPA World Tour trophy of the year in her fifth final.
Results:
Men’s semifinals: (1) Nick Matthew (Eng) bt (3) John Williams (Aus) 15-6, 15-8, 15-5; (2) Adrian Grant (Eng) bt (4) Tommy Berden (Ned) 15-10, 15-9, 15-11
Final: (2) Adrian Grant (Eng) bt (1) Nick Matthew (Eng) 15-10, 15-6, 15-8
Women’s semifinals: (1) Vanessa Atkinson (Ned) bt (4) Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) 9-2, 4-9, 9-2, 9-6; (2) Pamela Nimmo (Sco) bt (3) Annelize Naude (Ned) 4-9, 10-8, 4-9, 9-1, 9-7
Final: (1) Vanessa Atkinson (Ned) bt (2) Pamela Nimmo (Sco) 9-3, 9-5, 9-5.—WSF
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