Botwright is conquered

Vicki Botwright may well have changed the image of the women's game, but she was unable to follow up her moment of fame with a winning performance at the British Open here yesterday.

The world No 16, who had posed for pictures in a thong, lost in straight games 10-8, 9-6, 9-4 to the No 5 seed, Natalie Grainger, the English player who is now based in St Louis, Missouri.

Botwright, from Lancashire, ran out of energy after taking a 7-4 lead in the first game at the National Indoor Arena. She had been up all night suffering from a stomach virus, and almost fainted as she left the court at the close of the second game. She continued in the third, but was no match for the hard-hitting Grainger, who will now meet the England captain Linda Charman-Smith ­ a 9-3, 9-1, 9-1 conqueror of Scotland's Pam Nimmo ­ in the quarter-finals.

The Welsh No 12 seed Alex Gough caused a surprise in the men's competition when he beat his Nottingham team-mate Simon Parke, the No 6 seed from Yorkshire. Gough won 15-7, 15-10, 15-11 against an opponent who was far from fully fit.