Squash: King, Knight lose title deciders

New Zealand's Joelle King. Photo / Richard Robinson

New Zealand's Joelle King has fallen short of claiming a sixth title on the world squash tour.

The No 3 seed at the Atwater Cup tournament in Montreal, Canada, lost in the final against former world No 2 Natalie Grinham from Australia.

Unseeded Grinham, who ishttps://zen.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm back on the circuit after a year off to have a baby, eased to a 11-6 11-7 14-12 victory.

King had earlier beaten top seed Vanessa Atkinson in four games to reach the title decider.

Fellow New Zealander Jaclyn Hawkes lost in the semifinals, going down 11-9 11-9 11-9 to Grinham.

King and Hawkes will now head to the Cayman Islands Open, where Hawkes has drawn world number one Nicol David in the opening round, while King will have to negotiate her way through qualifying to get into the main draw.

In Brisbane, New Zealand's Martin Knight battled his way into the final of the Hibiscus Gardens Open in Brisbane but the No 2 seed was tonight beaten in the tournament decider 11-7 7-11 11-4 11-8 by South African top seed Stephen Coppinger.

- NZPA