Squash: End of the road for Le Moignan

MARTINE LE MOIGNAN, still the only Briton to have won a World Open and hoping for a memorable swan-song to a great career by making one last challenge for the title before her home crowd, was beaten in the second round here last night by the England No 7, Linda Charman.

It was perhaps the result which the tournament least wanted, but the admirably hard-working Charman's 9-2, 5-9, 9-7, 9-6 victory was taken with conviction and self-belief.

The local heroine pulled back from substantial deficits in both the third and fourth games, but against the nimbler Charman she was always struggling on a court which pulled the ball short and encouraged rallies at the front.

It was not until she was 2-5 down in the second game, having lost the first, that Le Moignan's fierce drive started to score, but after levelling at one game all she was soon in trouble at 2-7 in the third.

Le Moignan came back to 7-7 before Charman produced a volley drop and a backhand drop to win serve and get to

8-7, whereupon Le Moignan gambled with a volleyed reverse angle return of serve and put it down.

She spiritedly recovered from 2-6 to 6-6 in the fourth game, but then three times disastrously struck the tin and Charman clinched the best win of her career.

Suzanne Horner, the British national champion, and Sue Wright, the former British Open finalist, both won in straight games. The defending world champion from Australia, Michelle Martin, came through 9-0, 9-1, 9-3 against Canada's Melanie Jans.