Squash: Rorani finds early exit hard to take

MANCHESTER - A shattered Leilani Rorani slumped for 15 minutes with her head in her hands after her lack of preparation showed up glaringly on the Commonwealth Games squash courts today.

The two-time British Open champion and former world No 2 was toppled in the women's quarterfinals 9-1 10-8 9-6 by Australian world No 10 Rachael Grinham.

It was the second straight Commonwealth Games where Rorani has missed a singles medal and while she had excuses it barely made things easier to take.

"I don't have very many words to describe how I feel right now. People are saying I should just be happy to be here, but I wanted a medal and anything short of that is disappointing," Rorani said.

"Today I came second, and I hate coming second."

Rorani, 28, snapped an Achilles tendon in training in December and was forced out of the game for six months. She was only back in serious training for a month before coming here, topping off her buildup with a win in the Bay of Plenty Open.

After a jittery first round win in four games over promising Malaysian Nicol David yesterday, Rorani still looked off the pace as Grinham ran her around with varied length shots.

Grinham raced through the first game then Rorani came back strongly in the second to lead 5-0 but was overtaken again, before Grinham closed out the match in little more than half an hour.

The 25-year-old Australian said she had never been a challenge for Rorani in five previous attempts.

"She's really not moving as well as she used to, and I took advantage of it," Grinham said.

"I've never come close to her before, and I definitely wasn't playing Leilani the British Open champion."

Rorani said it was never an option not to travel to the Games and she had still backed herself to achieve a medal.

She would not say whether the loss was enough to review her future in the game, adding she would take a while to mull it over. She spoke before coming to Manchester of possible retirement.

"I was going to come here with whatever I had. I was realistic about my form coming over here but I just wanted to make the most of it.

"Rachael played well but there were some shots I played that were so ugly, that's what lost the edge for me."

Rorani will now team with Carol Owens in the doubles and Glen Wilson in the mixed doubles later in the week.

After Shelley Kitchen's first round exit yesterday it left No 2 seed Owens as the sole New Zealand player left in the singles draw.

Second-seeded New Zealander Carol Owens guaranteed herself of a medal with a 10-9 9-1 9-0 quarterfinal win over English seventh seed Tania Bailey.

She was to play the winner of the match following, between Englishwomen Cassie Jackman and Linda Charman.

Owens will face world No 3 and third-seeded Englishwoman Cassie Jackman in her semifinal tomorrow morning (NZ time).

Jackman beat compatriot and sixth seed Linda Charman in five sets.

Women's singles

Quarter-final: Rachael Grinham (Aus) beat Leilani Rorani (Nzl) 9-1 10-8 9-6

Women's singles

Quarter-final Plate: Marlene West (Jam) beat Nicolette Fernandes (Guy) 9-7 9-3 9-3

Men's singles

Quarter-final: David Palmer (Aus) beat Chris Walker (Eng) 9-5 9-1 9-1.

Quarter-final plate: Masambo Selisho (Zam) beat Murray Martin (Zim) 9-7 9-2 9-0, Luke Fraser (Guy) beat Navin Harish Samarasinghe (Sri) 9-6 9-2 9-0, Jesse Engelbrecht (Zim) beat James Bentick (Svg) 9-3 9-0 9-5

- NZPA

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