Lengthorn-Massaro earns chance to shine in Kuala Lumpur

Tonight's quarter finals of the Kuala Lumpur Open 2008 present two intriguing ties that may herald a changing of the guard in the England women's rankings.

Wins by Laura Lengthorn-Massaro and Alison Waters in the first round mean that they will now test themselves against Nicol David and Rachael Grinham respectively ...

I have written previously about how 2008 may be a breakthrough year for Waters, after winning the British Open in her third appearance in the final.

Lengthorn-Massaro will meet David after upsetting the seedings to beat New Zealand's Shelley Kitchen.

She has not beaten the Malaysian in three outings to date, only managing to snatch one game off her, in the Apawamis Open earlier in the year.

Lengthorn-Massaro's recent progress has seen her reach the final of the British Nationals, where she lost to Waters, and claim some scalps against highly-ranked international opposition - wins over Vanessa Atkinson and Natalie Granger (a player who Lengthorn-Massaro reminds me of in style and build) come to mind.

With Waters defeating Vicky Botwright in the first round and Jenny Duncalf losing to the unseeded Rebecca Chiu early on, it appears that Lengthorn-Massaro and the new National Champion will be snapping at the heals of their more experienced team-mates in 2008.

Kuala Lumpur Open 2008