BELFAST, Northern Ireland, (CMC) – Guyana’s Nicolette Fernandes was bounced out of the Women’s World Open Squash Championship on Thursday night, just 24 hours after she had posted a stunning upset victory in the first round.
Up against the No.11 seed Laura-Jane Lengthorn, of England, Fernandes failed to hit her best form and Lengthorn ran out an easy winner 9-0, 9-3, 9-2 in a battle of two 23-year-olds.
Fernandes, who won in the qualifying series earlier this week to get into the main draw, had ousted the No.6 seed and world Top-10 player Jenny Duncalf in the first round of the main draw of the US$112 500 tournament on Wednesday night.
Now based in Harrogate in England, Fernandes, who won the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games title in Colombia in July, was no match for Lengthorn on the all-glass court at the Ulster Hall.
The game was not as lopsided as the scores suggest and Lengthorn, ranked 13th in the world, took 42 minutes to log her win in straight games.
“I knew Nicolette was playing well especially after her win yesterday, so I tried to treat it really seriously and stick to my game plan which I thought I did well,” Lengthorn said after her win.
Fernandes, currently ranked a personal all-time high 35th in the world, competed strongly during most rallies but was unable to stage another giant-killing act.
“I felt I was in every rally but sometimes it goes like that, you just can’t seem to put the points together to make an impression on the scoreboard.
“I am a bit disappointed but I’ve enjoyed the week and hopefully I can go further next year,” added Fernandes, the 2005 Guyana Sportswoman-of-the-year.
Meanwhile, event favourite and world No.1 Nicol David, of Malaysia, cruised into the quarter-finals with a 9-2, 9-1, 9-0 win over Mexican qualifier Samantha Teran.
"I had to make sure I worked the ball and had to use the corners well," said David, after defeating Teran, the Pan American Championship winner.
Teran beat Fernandes in the Pan American Championship final in Colombia in September to avenge the loss she had to Fernandes in the CAC Games gold medal match two months earlier in Cartagena.
In another second round upset on Thursday, American Natalie Grainger ousted the No.2 seed Vanessa Atkinson, of the Netherlands 6-9, 2-9, 9-2, 9-1, 9-7.
On Wednesday night, Fernandes -- who had breezed past Dutch player Margriet Huisman 9-1, 9-0, 9-6 in 29 minutes in the qualifying round -- knocked off Britain’s Duncalf in straight games.