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 Squash star Natalie Grinham has
decided to switch from Australian to
Dutch. The world’s number 2 female
player is not eligible to represent
The Netherlands at the European and
World Team Championships until 2009, as a result of the rules set out by
the World Squash Federation (WSF)
and the European Squash Federation (ESF)
which stipulates that players have
to wait at least 3 years before
being able to represent another
country. Grinham last represented
Australia during the Commonwealth
Games 2006 after which she opted to
not represent her country at the
World Team Championships in Canada
later that year. As an individual
the 29-year old will play the
Women’s International Squash Players
Association (WISPA) tournaments
under the Dutch flag. Starting from
the CIMB KL Open 2008, that will
take place from March 5th until
March 8th in the Malaysian capital
Kuala Lumpur.
The change of the former Australian
player doesn’t come as a major
surprise. Grinham has already been
living in the Netherlands for more
than 7 years and is married to
former Dutch champion Tommy Berden.
The younger half of the
“GrinhamSisters” - sister Rachael is
currently ranked 3 in the world -
contributes her rise on the World
Rankings to her stay in The
Netherlands. "When I first came to
Holland in 1999 I was ranked in the
40's. The professional set up that
they have here with the league,
training facilities, coaches and
trai ning partners had a huge impact
in getting me to where I am today.
I'm looking forward to being able to
represent Holland so that I can give
something back to the country that
has helped me improve so much."
according to Grinham.
Like her sister, Grinham is renowned
for her amazing speed and attacking
style of play. The Toowoomba born
player has been a regular in the
world’s top 5 since February 2004
and already occupies the 2nd spot on
the World Rankings for 13 straight
months. The citizen of Almere won 4
WISPA tournaments in 2007, bringing
her career total to 10 titles, and
she also reached 6 more major
finals. During the Women’s World
Open in Madrid she was part of a
historic final in which she had to
succumb to her one year older sister
Rachael. The highlight of Grinham’s
career came in March 2006 when she
took the Commonwealth Games by storm
winning an unprecedented three gold
medals. The individual title was
taken after beating the world number
1 Nicol David in the semi’s and
higher seeded Rachael in a sisterly
final, before Grinham paired up with
her sister to win the Women’s
Doubles, and with Joe Kneipp to
triumph in the Mixed. The new Dutch
player also won the World Team title
twice with Australia in 2002 and
2004.
 The change comes at a perfect time
for squash in her new home country,
a popular sport with approximately
450.000 Dutch participants. The
Netherlands already boast 4 players
in the top-50 of the world, her
addition will improve the chances
for further Dutch success
tremendously during the (biggest)
women’s squash events around the
globe, a very encouraging sign for
the organizers of the Forexx Women’s
World Open Squash 2009, which will
take place in Amsterdam. Grinham
admits the good prospects for squash
in The Netherlands played an
important role in her decision to
switch nationalities: “I am already
looking forward to challenge for the
world title in Amsterdam in 2009.
The opportunity to become World
Champion in front of a home crowd
gives me extra motivation and
everything I do in the next year and
a half will be in preparation for
this major goal.”
Not only Grinham is happy with her
switch to a new country. Also the
Dutch Squash Federation is ecstatic
about the news: “The choice of
Natalie to become Dutch not only
gives us a real chance to win a
European- and/or World title in the
near future with our women’s team,
but it also means an enormous boost
to the juniors and other top players
in our country. Besides Vanessa
(Atkinson) and Annelize (Naudé) they
now have another great role model,
who they can learn from.”, said the
federation’s technical manager Ian
Cherington. |
