Rachael Grinham
Encyclopedia
Rachael Margaret Grinham (born 22 January 1977 in Toowoomba, Queensland
Toowoomba, Queensland
Toowoomba is a city in Southern Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital city, Brisbane. With an estimated district population of 128,600, Toowoomba is Australia's second largest inland city and its largest non-capital inland city...

) is a professional squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...

 player from Australia. She won the World Open in 2007, and the British Open
British Open Squash Championships
The British Open Squash Championships is the oldest and most established tournament in the game of squash. It is widely considered to be one of the two most prestigious tournaments in the game, alongside the World Open The British...

 in 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2009. She reached the World No. 1 ranking in August, 2004 and held it for 16 consecutive months.

Rachael's younger sister Natalie Grinham
Natalie Grinham
Natalie Marie Grinham is a professional squash player. During her career, she has won three Commonwealth Games Gold Medals, and finished runner-up at both the World Open and the British Open. She reached the World No. 2 ranking in 2007. She represented Australia in international squash...

 is also a top squash player.

Early years

Rachael has a great pedigree as a squash player. Winner of the World Junior title in 1993 aged 16, she had an opportunity to defend in 1995, but was beaten by Jade Wilson from New Zealand in the final. Since joining the WISPA World Tour during 1994, her array of strokes and strong temperament initially took her steadily towards the top 20, a barrier she finally breached in the middle of 1997. She won her first tournament in 1998 when she was 22 years old, beating Tracey Shenton for the Open Toulouse Central in France. She also lost to Tracey Shenton in the same year at the Isostar-Beverwijk tournament, Netherlands. At the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

 in 1998 her partnership with Robyn Cooper
Robyn Cooper
Robyn Cooper is a professional squash player from Australia. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 12 in 1996. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games, she won a Silver Medal in the women's doubles, partnering Rachael Grinham. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Cooper won a Bronze Medal in the...

 brought them a silver medal in the Women's Doubles.

1999

Rachael had a good year in 1999 winning the Swiss Open, Germering Open and Indian Open beating Claire Waddell, Sabine Schoene and Claire Nitch
Claire Nitch
Claire Nitch is a squash player from South Africa.Nitch reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 9 in 1997. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games, she won a Bronze Medal in the women's doubles .Nitch has won the South African national squash title six times...

 respectively. She ended the year ranked No. 18 on the WISPA Tour.

2000-2001

Rachael finished 2000 by climbing 6 places in the ranking up to No. 12 in the world. She won two tournaments, Milo National Open beating the current world No. 1 Nicol David
Nicol David
Datuk Nicol Ann David is a Malaysian female professional squash player. She is currently ranked world number 1 in women's squash, and is the first Asian woman to achieve this...

 and successfully defended her Indian Open title beating Salma Shabana, the sister of the male current world No. 1 Amr Shabana
Amr Shabana
Amr Shabana is a professional squash player from Egypt. He won the World Open in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009, and reached the World No. 1 ranking in 2006.-Career overview:...

. She climbed 4 places in 2001 to No. 8 in the world. A family final finally first happened at a WISPA World Tour event in Malaysia in February 2001 when she beat sister Natalie for the Kuala Lumpur title. Later that year, she beat Nicol David for the DMC title.

2002-2003

The first half of 2002 did not go well for Rachael until she beat England's Tania Bailey for the Singapore Open. One month later she took the Credit Suisse Privilege Ladies Open, one of the finest squash tournaments in the world beating Natalie Grainger
Natalie Grainger
Natalie Grainger , also known for a period by her former married name Natalie Pohrer, is a professional female squash player....

. Rachael and Natalie had won a women's doubles Bronze Medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. She climbed to No. 6 in the world by the end of the year. At the beginning of 2003, she claimed the Vassar College Class of 1932 beating Vicky Botwright
Vicky Botwright
Vicky Botwright is a squash coach and former professional squash player from England. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 5 in 2005. In 2008, she finished runner-up at the World Open, losing in the final to Nicol David 11–5, 1–11, 6–11, 9–11...

. She reached two finals in Helioplis Open and Hurghada International in Egypt but lost both to former world No. 1 and retired player, Carol Owens
Carol Owens
Carol Owens is a New Zealand-based squash player who won the World Open in 2000 and 2003.Owens was born in Melbourne, Australia, but she changed her nationality when she moved to Auckland, New Zealand. A right-hander, she made her competitive debut in 1990 in the Swiss Open where she finished 17th...

. Arguably, the 2003 British Open was the turning point for the 29 year old, who pulled off a semi-final upset over the top seed, Carol Owens, then the World No. 1, before beating Cassie Jackman in the final to claim the title for the first time. She ended the year ranked No. 3 in the world.

2004

2004 was far the best year in Rachael's career. She has based herself in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

 for a few years and it had proved to be a great place to hone her game. She may be slight in stature, but there is no doubting her tenaciousness, which saw her become world number one in August 2004. She started the year by claiming the Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

 Open, the richest squash event in the world, by beating top seed Cassie Jackman. Later on, she beat Cassie Jackman again, then the World No. 1, for the Texas Open title. Three months later, she claimed the Hurghada International in Egypt which she lost last year beating local favourite, Omneya Abdel Kawy. She reached the final of Brunei International but lost to Vanessa Atkinson. After a series of successful tournament wins, Rachael became the world No. 1 in August after dethroning Cassie Jackman. She continued her run by beating Cassie Jackman again for the Bahrain Classic Title. She retained her British Open title by beating Natalie Grainger. She lost again to Vanessa Atkinson
Vanessa Atkinson
Vanessa Louise Atkinson is a former professional squash player from the Netherlands, who won the World Open in 2004 and reached the World No. 1 ranking in December 2005....

 in the final of the Qatar Classic
Qatar Classic
The Qatar Classic is an annual international squash tournament that takes place in Doha, Qatar in October. The event was re-established in 2001. The tournament features both men and women, the men's event is part of the PSA World Series and the women's event is part of the WISPA World...

 Open. At the World Doubles Squash Championships
World Doubles Squash Championships
The World International Doubles Squash Championships is a squash tournament which includes Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles events. Under the rules of the championships, double pairs must be made up of two players from the same country...

, Rachael won the women's doubles title in 2004 (partnering Natalie), and the mixed doubles title in 2004 (partnering David Palmer
David Palmer (squash player)
David Palmer is a professional squash player from Australia. He won the Super Series finals in 2002, the World Open in 2002 and 2006; the British Open in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2008; and the Australian Open in 2008. He attained World No...

). She ended the year ranked No. 1.

2005

She held on the top ranking at the beginning of the year. In April, she failed to defend her Texas Open title where she lost to Vanessa Atkinson. Later this month, she won her first Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

 Challenge beating Natalie Grainger. A month later, she successfully defended her title by defeating local favourite Omneya Abdel Kawy in the Hurghada International final in a 3-2 thriller. She took sweet revenge from Vanessa Atkinson beating her for the PMI Women's Open title. She lost her British Open title suffering a loss to Nicol David in semi-finals. She beat Omneya Abdel Kawy again for the Hedonism title in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

. She held top spot for 16 months only losing it to Vanessa Atkinson in November. December 2005 saw her reach the final of the World Open in Hong Kong, only to be beaten by Malaysia's Nicol David. She finished the year at No. 2 ahead of Vanessa Atkinson
Vanessa Atkinson
Vanessa Louise Atkinson is a former professional squash player from the Netherlands, who won the World Open in 2004 and reached the World No. 1 ranking in December 2005....

.

2006

Nicol David and Vanessa Atkinson pushed her down to number three in the rankings at the start of 2006, but apart from tilting at WISPA Tour titles, she claimed Commonwealth Games Gold in Melbourne early in the year when she teamed up with sister Natalie to win the Women's Doubles title and another family final resulted in a silver medal for her with Natalie taking gold in the singles at the same Games. At the World Doubles Squash Championships
World Doubles Squash Championships
The World International Doubles Squash Championships is a squash tournament which includes Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles events. Under the rules of the championships, double pairs must be made up of two players from the same country...

, Rachael won the mixed doubles title 2006 (partnering Joe Kneipp
Joe Kneipp
Joseph Kneipp is a professional squash player from Australia.Kneipp was born in Brisbane and grew up near Cairns. He began playing squash at the age of seven. As a junior, he won the Australian under-13 squash championship title. At the age of 14, he attended the Australian Institute of Sport for...

). In May, she failed to defend her Hurghada International title losing 3-2 to local favourite and 2004 & 2005 finalist, Omneya Abdel Kawy
Omneya Abdel Kawy
Omneya Abdel Kawy is an Egyptian professional squash player.Omneya won the World Junior Championship in Egypt 2003. Omneya crowned a sparkling junior career in 2003 in her home city of Cairo when she lifted the World Junior title after having been the runner up to Nicol David in 1999 and 2001...

. The next four tournaments saw her lose to Nicol David
Nicol David
Datuk Nicol Ann David is a Malaysian female professional squash player. She is currently ranked world number 1 in women's squash, and is the first Asian woman to achieve this...

 in the final of the Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

 Challenge, semi-finals of the CIMB Malaysian Open, final of the Hotel Equatorial Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...

 Open and final of the British Open. Finally in October 2006 Rachael broke her run of being beaten in WISPA
WISPA
WISPA may refer to:* Wireless Internet Service Provider Association* Women's International Squash Players Association...

 Tour finals when after a run of four defeats she triumphed at the Weymuller US Open beating Natalie Grainger. She suffered another two losses to Nicol David in the semi-finals of the CPS Hong Kong Open and the World Open.

2007

Rachael won five titles in 2007 – the Hurghada International and the Alexandria Sporting Club Open in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, the Vassar College Class of 1932 Open in the United States, the British Open, and the World Open in Spain. In the British Open final, she came back from two games down to defeat Nicol David 7–9, 4–9, 9–3, 10–8, 9–1. In the World Open, she beat sister Natalie in the final 9–4, 10–8, 9–2.

WISPA Titles (27)

All Results for Rachael Grinham in WISPA World's Tour tournament
EWLINE
Legend
WISPA Platinum Series (1)
WISPA Gold Series (6)
WISPA Silver Series (13)
WISPA Tour Series (7)
EWLINE
Titles by Major Tournaments
World Open (1)
British Open (3)
Hong Kong Open (0)
Qatar Classic (0)

No. Date Tournament Opponent in Final Score in Final Minutes Played
1. 1 March 1998 Toulouse Open   Tracey Shenton Unknown Unknown
2. 7 March 1999 Swiss Open   Claire Waddell 9–2, 9–6, 9–3 Unknown
3. 25 April 1999 Germering Open   Sabine Schoene 9–2, 5–9, 10–8, 9–7 Unknown
4. 2 December 1999 Indian Open   Claire Nitch
Claire Nitch
Claire Nitch is a squash player from South Africa.Nitch reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 9 in 1997. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games, she won a Bronze Medal in the women's doubles .Nitch has won the South African national squash title six times...

9–6, 0–9, 9–5, 9–7 Unknown
5. 16 April 2000 Milo Open   Nicol David
Nicol David
Datuk Nicol Ann David is a Malaysian female professional squash player. She is currently ranked world number 1 in women's squash, and is the first Asian woman to achieve this...

9–2, 9–4, 9–6 Unknown
6. 6 August 2000 Indian Open   Salma Shabana
Salma Shabana
Salma Shabana is a current professional female squash player from Egypt. She is currently ranked No. 76 in the world and reached a career high of No. 20 in September 2000. She is the sister of former male PSA world No. 1 squash player, Amr Shabana...

9–2, 9–2, 9–1 16 min
7. 11 February 2001 Kuala Lumpur Open   Natalie Grinham
Natalie Grinham
Natalie Marie Grinham is a professional squash player. During her career, she has won three Commonwealth Games Gold Medals, and finished runner-up at both the World Open and the British Open. She reached the World No. 2 ranking in 2007. She represented Australia in international squash...

7–9, 0–9 (ret) Unknown
8. 16 March 2001 DMC Open   Nicol David 9–4, 9–2, 9–4 Unknown
9. 24 August 2002 Singapore Open   Tania Bailey
Tania Bailey
Tania Bailey is a professional squash player from England.As a junior player, Bailey won the World Junior Championship in 1997 and captained the England team to World and European junior team titles...

9–4, 9–1, 9–7 29 min
10. 22 September 2002 Hong Kong Open   Natalie Grainger
Natalie Grainger
Natalie Grainger , also known for a period by her former married name Natalie Pohrer, is a professional female squash player....

9–3, 9–5, 9–7 30 min
11. 2 February 2003 Vassar College Open   Vicky Botwright
Vicky Botwright
Vicky Botwright is a squash coach and former professional squash player from England. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 5 in 2005. In 2008, she finished runner-up at the World Open, losing in the final to Nicol David 11–5, 1–11, 6–11, 9–11...

9–0, 9–2, 9–4 Unknown
12. 5 October 2003 British Open   Cassie Jackman 9–3, 7–9, 9–2, 9–5 50 min
13. 28 January 2004 Sheikha Al Saad Kuwait Open   Cassie Jackman 2–9, 9–6, 9–2, 9–5 53 min
14. 4 April 2004 Texas Open   Cassie Jackman 9–5, 9–5, 9–5 53 min
15. 12 July 2004 Hurghada International Open   Omneya Abdel Kawy
Omneya Abdel Kawy
Omneya Abdel Kawy is an Egyptian professional squash player.Omneya won the World Junior Championship in Egypt 2003. Omneya crowned a sparkling junior career in 2003 in her home city of Cairo when she lifted the World Junior title after having been the runner up to Nicol David in 1999 and 2001...

9–5, 9–1, 9–4 41 min
16. 16 September 2004 Bahrain Classic   Cassie Jackman 5–9, 9–4, 9–4, 9–2 55 min
17. 6 November 2004 British Open (2)   Natalie Grainger 3–9, 9–5, 9–0, 9–3 41 min
18. 24 April 2005 Qatar Airways Challenge Open   Natalie Grainger 2–9, 10–8, 9–2, 9–2 51 min
19. 15 May 2005 Hurghada International Open (2)   Omneya Abdel Kawy 1–9, 2–9, 9–4, 9–3, 10–8 1 h 21 min
20. 11 September 2005 Seattle Open   Vanessa Atkinson
Vanessa Atkinson
Vanessa Louise Atkinson is a former professional squash player from the Netherlands, who won the World Open in 2004 and reached the World No. 1 ranking in December 2005....

9–2, 9–2, 9–4 40 min
21. 23 October 2005 Hedonism II Open   Omneya Abdel Kawy 7–9, 9–1, 9–2, 9–4 38 min
22. 14 October 2006 Carol Weymuller Open   Natalie Grainger 6–9, 9–6, 9–1, 1–9, 9–4 1 h 10 min
23. 13 May 2007 Hurghada International Open (3)   Omneya Abdel Kawy 9–4, 9–6, 9–4 44 min
24. 22 August 2007 Alexandria Open   Engy Kheirallah
Engy Kheirallah
Engy Kheirallah is a professional squash player from Egypt. She was born on 5 December 1981. She is currently ranked no. 14 in the world and reached a career high of no. 12 on 12 October 2006...

2–9, 9–3, 9–1, 9–4 Unknown
25. 24 September 2007 British Open (3)   Nicol David 7–9, 4–9, 9–3, 10–8, 9–1 1 h 27 min
26. 6 October 2007 Vassar College Open   Natalie Grainger 9–7, 10–8, 6–9, 1–9, 9–6 1 h 12 min
27. 27 October 2007 World Open   Natalie Grinham 9–4, 10–8, 9–2 47 min


Note: (ret) = retired, min = minutes, h = hours

WISPA Tour Finals (Runner-Up) (14)

No. Date Tournament Opponent in Final Score in Final Minutes Played
1. 22 March 1998 Isostar Circuit   Tracey Shenton Unknown Unknown
2. 30 April 2000 Mexican Open   Sarah Fitz-Gerald
Sarah Fitz-Gerald
Sarah Elizabeth Fitz-Gerald AM is an Australian women's squash player who is perhaps the greatest of the 1990s, collecting five World Open titles – 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002. She ranks alongside Susan Devoy, Michelle Martin and Heather McKay as the sport's greatest...

2–9, 4–9, 6–9 Unknown
3. 18 November 2001 Grasshopper Cup   Vanessa Atkinson 6–9, 1–9, 7–9 Unknown
4. 2 June 2003 Heliopolis Open   Carol Owens
Carol Owens
Carol Owens is a New Zealand-based squash player who won the World Open in 2000 and 2003.Owens was born in Melbourne, Australia, but she changed her nationality when she moved to Auckland, New Zealand. A right-hander, she made her competitive debut in 1990 in the Swiss Open where she finished 17th...

5–9, 5–9, 4–9 44 min
5. 9 June 2003 Hurghada International Open   Carol Owens 5–9, 1–9, 5–9 37 min
6. 31 July 2004 Brunei International   Vanessa Atkinson 8–10, 5–9, 9–3, 9–2, 10–8 1 h 16 min
7. 3 December 2004 Qatar Classic Open   Vanessa Atkinson 4–9, 7–9, 6–9 41 min
8. 9 April 2005 Texas Open   Vanessa Atkinson 10–9, 9–0, 9–4, 9–3, 9–2 1 h 1 min
9. 4 December 2005 World Open   Nicol David 10–8, 2–9, 6–9, 7–9 53 min
10. 1 June 2006 Hurghada International Open   Omneya Abdel Kawy 6–9, 2–9, 9–7, 9–0, 2–9 1 h 15 min
11. 9 July 2006 Qatar Airways Challenge Open   Nicol David 9–4, 5–9, 0–9, 0–9 54 min
12. 5 August 2006 Penang Open   Nicol David 5–9, 9–6, 5–9, 3–9 55 min
13. 18 September 2006 British Open   Nicol David 4–9, 1–9, 4–9 41 min
14. 2 September 2007 Dutch Open   Nicol David 9–4, 9–1, 9–6 34 min

External links

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