Grinham sisters in Lion City to compete

Natalie and Rachel Grinham are looking to compete in Singapore, and hopefully banish some demons along the way.

Both the World No. 3 and No. 4 were finalists in the first two editions of the CIMB Singapore Women's Squash Masters, but Nicol David and injuries stood in their way to being crowned champions of the Gold 45 event.

"I've got mixed feelings, I feel happy to be back. Last year, I went out with an ankle injury, in my first round match so I have a few bad memories of last year," said Natalie Grinham in the press conference ahead of her first round match against Kasey Brown of Australia. "So, I hope this year I can stay healthy and do well."

"It's good to be back, it's great that Singapore keeps organising a tournament," said her sister Rachel Grinham. "I'm happy to be here and it's great to be at one of our major events. We're all just here hoping to do well, really."

Both Toowoomba natives were, however, cautious about rating their chances in the Singapore competition this year.

"I rate my chances about as good as everyone in the tournament. My results in the past twelve months haven't been that great," added the Helioplis Club-based Rachel. "So going into the tournament, I'm going to take it one match at a time."

"Like [Natalie] said, you've just got to take the tournament one match at a time and see how it goes," said the younger Grinham. "The conditions here can be quite warm, and the girls are quite fit, there will be quite a few battles on the court. I'll need a lot of mental and physical strength and we'll see how it goes."

The Grinham sisters did admit that playing back-to-back tournaments (in Natalie's case, playing back-to-back-to-back competitions, including the World Games in Taiwan) did leave them a little fatigued both physically and mentally, especially when they were not training like they did usually.

"It does get tough when there are more than two [tournaments], as you are not getting much training," continued Rachel. "So in a way you are not doing much work, so you might lose a bit of fitness.

"I played in the World Games, so going into the Singapore Masters, it's three weeks away from home so, mentally, being away from home for so long does get to you, especially now that I like to be home a little bit more," concluded Natalie. "You lose a little physically as you aren't training as hard.

"Hopefully you've got enough pre-training to get you through the weeks, but it can be a little tough mentally."

Both Rachel and Natalie Grinham begin their first round matches at the Kallang Squash and Tennis Centre on Wednesday evening.