Cayman’s squash buffs were treated to a visit from one of the world’s top players over the weekend and they are already looking forward to a return visit.
Grainger was well received. Photo: Ron Shillingford |
Natalie Grainger, the former world No.1 and current No.4 gave three exhibition matches in front of a packed house on Friday night. In attendance were Minister of Sport Alden McLaughlin and his ministry colleagues Joel Francis and Dalton Walter.
Grainger beat local players Chantelle Day and Marlene West 2-0 and then took on club coach Dean Watson in a best of five match. Freshly shaved having lost his grizzly beard for aerodynamic reasons, Watson was still trounced 3-0.
Grainger is also president of the Women’s International Squash Players Association so this trip fulfilled her role as an ambassador of the sport. Grainger’s visit was organised chiefly by Merta Day and top player Mark Chalenor. Ten dollar tickets were sold at the exhibition and proceeds go into the junior squash programme.
British-born, South Africa-based Grainger thoroughly enjoyed the weekend’s activities, even if it was never a relaxing one. So what did she get out of the visit? ‘I got my legs run to the ground, that’s what,’ she laughed.
‘Actually, it’s been fabulous. I love coming to new places, meeting people and the squash community here in Cayman has been so much fun, so active, they did an extraordinary job.
‘They got the media down here to cover it. Last night they had 200 people here. It was packed. I think everybody who knows what squash is was here last night. It’s just been fantastic. I’m a true squash lover and I enjoy taking the game to wherever I can.’
Will we see her here soon? ‘Hopefully. The sun’s out every day. We’ve got some golf planned later. Little tennis maybe. Everybody’s laid back and people are so friendly. The government ministers coming down was inspiring.
‘The government also helped fund the exhibition and the clinics and I know the proceeds from last night’s ticket sales are going into the junior programme. That’s tremendous. The government’s been fantastic. They put a lot of money in and came to support us.
West said: ‘You always benefit when somebody of that calibre comes down and plays. It brings you closer to what the world’s best are doing.
‘On a small island this if you are one of the best players, you easily get delusional. So it’s good for someone like Natalie to be here because you can always learn from the experience.
‘She got me more aware as to how key your racquet skills are. As a swimmer initially, when I made the transition to squash from swimming, my base game was just to keep the ball going and run the ball down. But as the game has progressed you realise that it’s as much a technical game as well as physical, so your racquet skills and tactics are important.’
Chalenor is a former world No.7. He still plays internationally and uses Cayman as his base. He said: ‘It worked out really well. This was a women’s promotion. Funnily enough, women do get left out of things just because men get more involved in sport. It’s great to get Natalie down here. She’s a fantastic ambassador for the sport.
‘Hopefully, she’s inspired a lot of women. A lot of guys here must have been inspired too. They must have thought: ‘I don’t fancy taking her on at any stage.’
‘There were quite a lot of juniors today. There must have been nearly 40 people who took part. As far as I’m aware, everyone had a great time and that’s the main thing.
‘Overall, the profile of squash in constantly on the rise here in Cayman. That’s great. It’s an opportunity for people to try something new and it’s a great social sport. It makes people interact.’
Ian Patrick is chairman of the Cayman Islands National Squash Association. He said: ‘Natalie was a joy to have over. She’s great. We’d love to have her back. She’s a breath of fresh air.’
Watson said: ‘It was a great success. The reason why we had a female world class pro was to promote more girls playing squash. We’ve also got a female coach, Gemma Holt, coming from the UK in about six weeks’ time, just really to get females to play the game which we’re short of.’
Watson was similarly beaten by the last female pro who visited the island a couple of years ago. How did he feel? ‘We don’t need to talk about that. I think there were a number of bets going around against me. It was a tough match and she’s a very strong player. Good fun all round.’
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