Fighting fit at 44, Rachael Grinham wins third Australian Open title
By JORDAN TILL – Squash Mad Correspondent

Former world number one Rachael Grinham battled through five games against No.3 seed Jess Turnbull to claim her third Australian Open title.

In the process, she broke compatriot Vicki Cardwell’s 25-year record as the oldest women’s PSA WorldTour
champion of all-time!


We were treated to two very exciting matches with contrasting results on finals day at the Volkswagen Australian Open in Bega, New South Wales.

Top seed Grinham raced out to an early 9-4 lead in the first game of the women’s final against fellow Queenslander Turnbull.

The world No.66 Turnbull was determined to fight her way into the match and she did so, levelling it up at 9-9. From there they traded game balls back and forth before Grinham eventually claimed a tense first game 15-13.

The second was a similar story with Grinham building a 7-2 lead only to win it 11-9 in the end.

The third and fourth games had a different feel about them as Turnbull improved her accuracy to control the T and force the match to a fifth game.

Grinham’s experience really showed in the fifth game and ultimately made the difference throughout the match as she played the crucial points well to claim her third Australian Open title 16 years after her first.

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Rhys Dowling continued his solid run through the event to claim his first Australian Open and only his second PSA title, while Grinham rolled back the years to make her experience tell with a  through five games to claim her third Australian Open title.

No.4 seed Dowling took on top seed fellow Northern Territorian Joseph White in a first Australian Open final for both men.

Dowling took a head-to-head advantage into the final having never lost to his younger opponent and after a nervous start he looked to keep that record as he ran away with the first game.

It was a similar story in the second and third games as White made a few errors from good positions and Dowling showed a bit more severity in his shots, finishing off the match strongly in straight games.

If you missed seeing it live you can still watch the replays on Squash Australia Facebook page or YouTube channel at www.squashaustralia.tv

Squash Australia would like to acknowledge and thank the following sponsors for their support of this event: Volkswagen, Tarra Motors, Bega Squash Club, BLK, Dunlop and  Ashaway.

Volkswagen Australian Open 2021, Bega Country Club, Bega, NSW, Australia.

Women’s Final:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [3] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) 15-13, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 11-8 (50m)

Semi-finals:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [4] Selena Shaikh (AUS) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (20m)
[3] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) bt [2] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 (28m)

Quarter-finals:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [6] Jessica Osborne (AUS) 12-10, 11-5, 11-5 (22m)
[4] Selena Shaikh (AUS) bt Hannelize Human (RSA) 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-7 (34m)
[3] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) bt [5] Alex Haydon (AUS) 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 (24m)
[2] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) bt [8] Tamika Hunt (AUS) 11-7, 7-11, 13-11, 13-11 (45m)

First Round:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bye
[6] Jessica Osborne (AUS) bye
Hannelize Human (RSA) bt [7] Kate Winters (AUS) 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 (21m)
[4] Selena Shaikh (AUS) bye
[3] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) bye
[5] Alex Haydon (AUS) bye
[8] Tamika Hunt (AUS) bt Remashree Muniandy (AUS) 12-10, 11-4, 11-6 (23m)
[2] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) bye

Men’s Final:
[4] Rhys Dowling (AUS) bt [1] Joseph White (AUS) 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (32m)

Semi-finals:
[1] Joseph White (AUS) bt [3] Thomas Calvert (AUS) 6-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 (58m)
[4] Rhys Dowling (AUS) bt [2] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) 11-7, 11-7, 12-10 (39m)

Quarter-finals:
[1] Joseph White (AUS) bt [7] Javed Ali (PAK) 11-6, 11-3, 2-0 ret. (22m)
[3] Thomas Calvert (AUS) bt Peter Vaughan (AUS) 11-6, 3-11, 11-2, 11-6 (40m)
[4] Rhys Dowling (AUS) bt [5] Rohan Toole (AUS) 11-2, 5-11, 11-2, 11-5 (31m)
[2] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) bt [8] Solayman Nowrozi (AUS) 11-9, 11-1, 14-12 (56m)

First Round:
[1] Joseph White (AUS) bt Mark Canavan (AUS) 11-0, 11-6, 11-1 (15m)
[7] Javed Ali (PAK) bt Corey Bedingfield (AUS) 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 (24m)
Peter Vaughan (AUS) bt [6] Benjamin Ratcliffe (AUS) 11-4, 11-8, 12-10 (31m)
[3] Thomas Calvert (AUS) bt Tate Zak Norris (RSA) 11-4, 11-8, 11-6 (27m)
[4] Rhys Dowling (AUS) bt Mansoor Zaman (PAK) 11-6, 11-2, 11-7 (22m)
[5] Rohan Toole (AUS) bt Declan Smith (AUS) 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (16m)
[8] Solayman Nowrozi (AUS) bt Robert Palmer (AUS) 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (29m)
[2] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) bt Aidan Parkes (AUS) 11-3, 11-4, 11-3 (22m)

Pictures courtesy of Squash Australia