“In Canberra now and it’s a 32 draw at this event. I played Birgit Coufal yesterday and then Isabelle Stoher today and won 3-0 and 3-1 respectively.
Good to be in the quarter finals now and at last we move onto the glass court. The court is set up in a convention centre, just downstairs from our hotel and it is a really good venue and has been getting some good crowds already. I think the weekend is sold out with over 1500 tickets sold per day so this is great news.
I play Jackie Hawkes tomorrow afternoon so got a practice in the morning to get a feel for the court.
Temperatures have dropped tonight and it was freezing walking out to dinner tonight. Missing the English summer!” – Alison
Final: Alison lost to Madeline Perry
5/11, 10/12, 11.6, 11/4, 11/13 (2-3)
“Well a good tournament in Canberra though it would have been nice to get the win in today. Hard to take when you lose 13-11 in the 5th especially with 2 match balls as well. Mads played well though and I think it was a good final. Had a slowish start and I think my semis match yesterday was still in the legs a bit! I managed to up the pace in the 3rd and 4th and then the 5th was just a battle really. We were both getting tired and were hanging in there really. Was pretty exciting and that’s why squash is the best sport because its full of dramas and there are such highs and lows but even when you lose, it hurts but you still love the game!
We are off to Melbourne tomorrow for a doubles event starting Tuesday. This is in preparation for the Commonwealth Games so am looking forward to that” - Alison
“Good to get started in Singapore after a few days settling in and practicing after KL. Good match with Rebecca Chiu last night and pleased to win in 3. She is a tricky player and plays some really nice short shots so I couldn’t let up during the match and tried to keep the pressure on.
Playing Camille tomorrow and we haven’t played for a few years so am looking forward to that” - Alison
“Tough match last night with Rach. She played really well and whenever my length wasn’t good enough she would punish it by putting in some great drops from the back that made me work hard. Had two match balls in the 4th so was pleased to come out strongly in the 5th and managed to get a good lead and this was important. Excited to be in the final vs Nicol and there should be a good crowd watching later… all supporting me of course…!! hmmm…..! - Alison
Final: Alison lost to Nicol David 0-3
[16/18, 9/11, 10/12] – 63 Minutes
“Tight Tight match with Nicol and i think the first game was about 27 mins which is the longest game i have ever played. So it would have been a good one to have won and unfortunately Nicol took it 18/16. The next two games were neck and neck and I had a gameball in the 3rd which I again didn’t convert. Tough match and think we were both pretty tired at the end.
Having a few days break now in Hong Kong with Pete so I’m looking forward to that. Then it’s off to Melbourne for some training at Sarah Fitzs then Canberra starts on the 11th August, so after a bit of a rest I will start preparing for that.
Looking forward to going to Australia. Not been there since 4 years ago
for the Commonwealth Games so it will bring back many memories” - Alison
Enjoyed a good game with Tan last night, i lost to her here 2 years ago and i know Tan is a toughcompetitor and has been playing well recently so i knew it could be a tough match. We had some close games and towards the end i managed to push on and secure the match and i was pleased with how i felt physically. Its great to be back into tournaments especially after having 2 months offdue to injury and then a good 2 months summer training so its nice to have the buzz ofplaying in a tournament again. I play Omneya tonight on the glass court where we are staying so i’mlooking forward to that. It always attracts some good crowds and makes it a really good atmosphere to play in’. - Alison
‘I have had some battles with Omneya so i knew it was going to be tough. I had a set game plan going into the match and i felt i stuck to it well. I was hitting a good length and i think this was the key as it kept me in front of her. She is so skilful at the front of the court that i had to try and keep in front of her throughout. I play Nicol now tonight in the semis, so i’m looking forward to that and really enjoying our time here in KL’ – Alison
Alison lost to Nicol David 1-3 [12/14, 10/12, 11/6, 7/11]
‘Great match last night and frustrating as I had game balls in the 1st and 2nd games. I felt I was with Nicol throughout the whole match and there were just a few shots in it really. She plays really well when she is down in a game and just keeps it really steady. It was pleasing as my fitness felt good and hopefully next time i can push on that bit further. We go to Singapore tomorrow so am getting ready for the next tournament now, where we start playing on Wednesday. Today I’m having a light hit to get the body moving and then definitely a massage later and then supporting Jen in the final later’ - Alison
‘I’m back from Malaysia. I had two tough matches winning both 3-2 to reach Nicol in the semis where i went down 3-0. I have been struggling with an achilles injury so i was happy to have reached the semis but Nicol was just another step too far really. Its back to some good training now for 3 weeks and we also have a big
doubles competition in Manchester from the 29th March-31st. Its a big warm up for the CWG and we are playing teams that will be competing at the Commonwealth Games so its very important. Anyone can come and watch for free so please come and support us if you are around’ - Alison
‘Delighted to have won the Burning River Classic after a tough 3-2 win over Omneya. It was a totally different match to last weekas the court was very bouncy so it changed the match totally. Omneya did well to get it back from 2-0 down and in the 5th she gave me a few errors much to my relief. A massive thanks to Nathan
for doing such a great job in organising the tournament. I got a lovely Tag watch as a prize as well which i’m thrilled about and hopefully can come back next year to defend my title. Off home now and i can’t wait.. its been a long old trip but i have had a really great time’ - Alison
‘Pleased to have won 3-0 tonight as it felt very hot and bouncy out there so was hard controlling it at times . After the first i just tried to slow it down more and look for my length. There were no fire alarms going off tonight which was good. So its a repeat of the Greenwich final last week with Omneya!
The temperature has picked up a bit as well which is nice!! I’m still loving the heated seats in the car though and an automatic drive.. its so much easier..I must be getting lazy!’ - Alison
‘Interesting match tonight… I was 1-0 up and 6-2 up when the fire alarm went off. so we had to stop for a good 15-20 mins before the firemen came to turn if off! It was hard as we tried to keep warm during the
break but just weren’t sure how long we would have to wait for. Was glad when we got on and i finished it off
in 3 games. Playing Sam Teran now tomorrow.
Just been to dinner with my billets from last year. Amazing house with an English pub actually in the house so we had a fun time! - Alison
31st January 2010
Won 3-1 [9/11, 11/5, 11/6, 11/3]
‘It’s been a week since Greenwich so it was great to start the tournament last night with a 3-1 win over Emma Beddoes. Felt a bit flat in the first game and Emma was taking it in well. I got going in the 2nd and played pretty well after that. I play Joelle King tomorrow. There were some really long and good matches yesterday and 5 matches went to 5 games so I waited a long time to play. The standard was all really high. I am staying with a really nice family again which makes things easy, buts its just far too cold here!! - Alison
‘I am delighted to have won the Harrow Greenwich Open and am really played to have beaten Omneya 3-0. My record against Omneya has not that great as she is a very talented player so i am extra pleased with the result. Thanks to everyone in Greenwich for the week, we get looked after so well there. Am now in Brooklyn for a few days.. and its shopping time in NY today! We went to watch TOC last night and it’s such an amazing venue, there is a great buzz around..Will be there supporting tonight.. come on England! - Alison
“It was the top two seeds who contested the final of the richest women’s event of the year so far, after contrasting semi-final victories for England’s Alison Waters and Egypt’s Omneya Abdel Kawy at the Field Club.
Waters made it three straight-game wins in a row as she beat fourth-seeded Vanessa ATkinson to reach the final. Kawy twice had to come from behind before ending the run of unseeded compatriot Raneem El Weleily – who had ousted third seed Laura Massaro in a sensational quarter-final upset.
But it was Waters who came through three close games in the final, reducing the head-to-head deficit to 8-4 in the Egyptian’s favour as she repeated her win over Kawy in last year’s Greenwich quarter-finals.
Waters, 25, was playing her tenth WISPA final and bagged only her third WISPA title out of 85 events, while the 24-year-old Kawy has amassed six titles from 114 events and was making her 21st appearance in a final”