Squash: Last fling for champ who's done it all

Shelley Kitchen has no regrets about missing the Commonwealth Games through illness - her priorities have changed. Photo / Richard Robinson

Shelley Kitchen hopes her finale on the squash court will be an occasion to savour.

The double Commonwealth Games medallist and former world No 6 is stepping off the court for the last time - at least in a competitive environment - after next week's world women's teams championships in Palmerston North.

She will be an important figure for New Zealand in the tournament.

The teams of three must play in their ranking order. Jaclyn Hawkes and Joelle King, the Games doubles gold medallists from Delhi last month, fill the No 1 and 2 positions, but Kitchen, unranked after a long period of inactivity, should be among the strongest No 3s in the event.

The pride of Kaitaia is 31 next Thursday and ready to move on with life.

She gave birth to Amalia, her first child, in February - her partner is national team coach Anthony Ricketts - and had her sights set on more Games success in Delhi to follow her silver and bronze double of Melbourne in 2006.

However, Kitchen became ill soon after the birth and was diagnosed with pleurisy.

She withdrew from the Games team and is now ready to put a full stop on a squash career which included world doubles titles and high-profile successes.

"I thought, 'I can do it, the baby will be seven months old, I've kept really fit during the pregnancy'. I swam 2.5 kilometres every day right until the day before Amalia was born," Kitchen said of the lead-up to her Games withdrawal.

"I was definitely dedicated. I was up feeding the baby in the night then trying to train like a professional squash player and it all got too much for me."

In mid-July, she pulled the pin, after the medical diagnosis but is now fully fit and keen for one final crack.

The last four Games have featured squash. New Zealand have medalled at each one.

Kitchen's double success - silver with Tamsyn Leevey and bronze in the singles, along with a fourth placing with Glenn Wilson - pushed her name to greater national prominence.

Whether Kitchen would have had more medals out of Delhi is a moot point, although there is every chance, given the determination and skill with which New Zealand have embraced the doubles format.

King and Hawkes were put together in the wake of Kitchen's withdrawal. The opening round in Delhi was their first outing as a combination. Kitchen was originally paired with Hawkes.

Still, she's just thankful she had Melbourne.

"It would have been nice to get more medals, but after I decided I couldn't play, I thought 'oh well, I did well in Melbourne. That's okay."'

Kitchen will walk away with no regrets, no looking over her shoulder, no what-ifs.

She beat the game's best, winning the world women's doubles title with Leevey four years ago, the same year she toppled the seemingly unbeatable world No 1 Nicol David to win her Games singles bronze.

"In a way, I feel I've already retired because I haven't been doing the international tournaments.

"Now coming back, I'm really enjoying playing. I love the challenge, but I've definitely moved on. I feel I've achieved everything I could.

"I've enjoyed my career, I trained hard, prepared myself well for every tournament and if I lost it was because the other person was too good. It's quite nice knowing that."

It's not that she couldn't keep playing; rather that her priorities have changed.

"I don't want to leave Amalia at home. I feel this year I've missed out on the coffee groups, meeting other mums and babies.

"But I look back at what I used to do and think 'wow, jumping on planes, packing, I used to wake up in the middle of the night and not know where I was'. What these girls do now is amazing. How did I ever do that?"

HARD ROAD TO FINAL

What: The women's world teams championships.

Where: Palmerston North, starting on Monday.

Who: The top 16 women's squash nations, who are split into four pools.

Format: Teams play the other three teams in their group, with the top two advancing to quarter-finals.

Format: Each team of three, plus one reserve, play singles matches against the player seeded to face them. New Zealand's order will be Jaclyn Hawkes (world No 13), Joelle King (No20) and Shelley Kitchen (unranked, but former world No6). Tamsyn Leevey (unranked) is reserve.

Prospects: Fifth-seeded New Zealand are in pool D with fourth seeds Malaysia. They have the undisputed world No1 Nicol David. But New Zealand, assuming they beat the others in their pool, Canada and Hong Kong, must beat the Malaysians to avoid a tough quarter-final against one of the three top seeds, England, Australia and Egypt.

Groupings

Pool A: England (No1), Netherlands (8), United States (9), Austria (16).

Pool B: Australia (2), Ireland (7), India (10), Japan (15).

Pool C: Egypt (3), France (6), South Africa (11), Mexico (14).

Pool D: Malaysia (4), New Zealand (5), Canada (12), Hong Kong (13).