Squash: Hawkes' rich form has top 10 in sight

Jaclyn Hawkes. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Jaclyn Hawkes may be inching her way up the world squash rankings, but the 28-year-old New Zealander isn't about to get carried away just yet.

The latest rankings, released this week, saw Hawkes slot in at No 12, her best placing. On the same day, at the world women's team squash championships in Palmerston North, she received an indication of just how far she still has to go.

Malaysian world No 1 Nicol David was all business in accounting for Hawkes 11-3 11-5 11-5, in a tie won 2-1 by New Zealand after Joelle King and Shelley Kitchen recorded wins.

The fourth-ranked Malaysians now face No 3 Egypt in the quarter-finals, while fifth-ranked New Zealand yesterday accounted for No 6 seeds France 2-1 to advance to the semifinals.

As well, Hawkes yesterday lost 7-11 5-11 7-11 to France's world No 10 Camille Serme - but King and Kitchen recorded straight sets wins over Isabelle Stoehr and Coline Aumard respectively to secure the win.

It has been just two months since Hawkes and King combined to win doubles gold at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games and Hawkes has been quietly pleased with the way her game has progressed this year.

But she is only too aware of where she has to improve if she is to break through to the top 10.

"I always feel like I've got so much I can work on," she said. "There's the technical side and I think I can get a lot stronger. And probably I need to be volleying the ball a lot more, making more use of my height."

She said keeping a balance in training was key to achieving the consistency needed for a top-10 ranking.

So although she might sneak a day or two off training here and there, Hawkes' Christmas break at her Harrogate base in northern England will be brief.

"I put the racket away for a couple of weeks, but I'll still train," she said.

"The most time I've ever taken off and not done anything has been four days."

Training outside the squash court can include weights for strength, endurance running and hill sprints, and needs to be a carefully managed mix.

"There's so many different aspects to squash - you've got to have endurance, speed and agility so there's a variety of training.

"It's managing to get all those things right - you can do too much of one thing, so I'm really trying to find the right balance."

This year, there was extra pressure coming from trying to fit in some doubles tournament play ahead of the October Commonwealth Games.

Although King - the No 2 New Zealand player at this week's world team championships - and Hawkes were a new combination, they proved a perfect match and downed the English duo of Jenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro 11-9 11-10 in an epic hour-long battle.

As well as the boost of a gold medal, Hong Kong-born Hawkes said the sharpness demanded by doubles play had boosted her singles play.

"It is different, but I find that doubles is actually good for my skill and reactions in singles. And the more we improve our singles game, the better it is for doubles."

So although she is satisfied with her new ranking, Wednesday's defeat at David's hands has underlined how much more work needs to be done.

"I'm really pleased with my squash at the moment, but when you get into the top 16, it's so difficult to make that next move up.

"I don't just have to beat people in front of me, I've got to beat people that are top eight in the world, which to do consistently can be quite difficult.

"If I can just get a bit more consistency I think I can consolidate a top 10 ranking."

Teammate King also had cause to celebrate a career-high 17th spot on the rankings list.

- NZPA