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Leilani Retires
New Zealand's Chances in Denmark Greatly Diminished
by Ron Beck, © 2002 SquashTalk; all rights of reproduction reserved.
September 27 , 2002

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Leilani in Edinburgh in 2000 © Fritz Borchert

Leilani Rorani, the stylish and effervescent two-time British Open Champion, retired this week, effective immediately. Speculation had been wide about her retirement, following her missing the New Zealand Nationals last month.

The immediate effect of her retirement will be to effectively crush New Zealand's chance form the women's world team championship in Denmark next month. With both world #2 Carol Owens and Leilani on the team, tiny New Zealand was viewed as favorites to win the event.

Leilani, known for most of her career by her first married name, Joyce, was remarried to Mormon missionary Blair Rorani on the eve of the Manchester 2002 Games. Rorani announced that she is expecting a baby and will therefore not now represent New Zealand in next month's McWil Courtwall Women's World Team Championship in Denmark.

Leilani in Edinburgh in 2000 © Fritz Borchert

INCOMPLETE LEGACY
Leilani leaves behind a mixed squash legacy, and always the feeling that she was just on the verge of greatness. In December 1999, she was the unexpected victor in the British Open. Her disarming charm and excitement over her victory stood in stark contrast to the complete overconfidence that Cassie Jackman, the finalist, had exhibited throughout the event. She was a popular winner.

At the time of her '99 Victory, Leilani, whose career was closely linked to Sarah Fitz-Gerald, attributed much of he win to "Fitz". She publicly thanked Fitz-Gerald for her support, especially psychological.

The following season was undeniably Leilani's main squash accomplishment. In succession she won the Al Ahram, Heliopolis, Australian Open, British Open, and Wemuller Open from August to October of 2000. But that accomplishment always will have the asterisk next to it, that those were Sarah Fitz-Gerald's rehab months, after a knee injury, and in the British Open she didn't have to face either Carol Owens or Fitz-Gerald.

In fact, the month after the British Open 2000, she lost the world open title to Carol Owens, while holding the #1 ranking. Leilani rose to the top of the women's world rankings in November 2000. She held the #1 position for 10 months, but was never able to regain the top spot after that.

In fact her 2001 tournament participation was enigmatic at best, and the suspicion was that she was ducking the possibility of frequent meetings with Fitz-Gerald and Owens. That was in contrast to Fitz-Gerald's appearance in virtually every WISPA tour stop large or small, a strategy which actually slowed her climb back to #1 due to the methodology of rankings calculations (in which winning a small event can hurt the ranking of a top five player).

LAST HURRAH

The 28-year-old from Hamilton claimed a total of 16 titles on the WISPA World Tour. Her last win was an important one in which she won the Hong Kong Open in August 2001, beating Australia's four-times world champion and current world No1 Sarah Fitz-Gerald in five long games on the way to the final. At the time, Fitz-Gerald had been riding a calendar-long unbeaten winning streak. It was a great win for Rorani. And Fitz-Gerald, who always counted Leilani as one of her close tour friends, was gracious in defeat. Fitz-Gerald told SquashTalk at the time, "If I had to lose, I would want it to be to Leilani, she deserves it."

But as was all too typical during Leilani Rorani's career, Fitz-Gerald came roaring back beating Rorani in the finals of the Qatar Open and World Open both in October, giving up a total of only eight points over two matches to Rorani, and scoring two 9-0 games against Rorani. Rorani would never recover.

In December 2001, Rorani ruptured her Achilles in training and was forced to withdraw from the circuit until making her brief comeback at the Commonwealth Games in July.

Leilani in the 2002 Commonwealth Games Doubles © Fritz Borchert

At the Commonwealth Games, she had a disappointing finish in the singles event, but combined with New Zealand teammates to take two doubles gold medals. Observers were anticipating the showdown between Owens and Rorani at the New Zealand Nationals, but Rorani didn't particiate.

Rorani's game was a combination of smooth and athletic. Tall and with long arms and legs, Rorani had great reach and made use of the volley as well as economical court movement. But despite her size, Rorani rarely seemed in the way of her opponent. She seemed to effortlessly glide around the court and to, with one step, reach balls that at first glance appeared out of reach.

Deception and touch were not her strong suits, but she made classic use of slice, cross court angles, and the attacking boast. Her boast up front was often effective. Her shot selection was rarely wrong.

Rorani's put herself under more pressure because of her nationality. Rorani always found herself compared with the legendary Susan Devoy, a seven-time winner of the British Open (together, they give New Zealand 9 titles). And further, as a Maori, Rorani was under subtle pressure as the first non-white woman to reach the WISPA top ranking. More recently, with Carol Owens change from Australian to New Zealand nationality, there was substantial buzz over who would be New Zealand #1 - Owens or Rorani. (Rorani had a 5-1 record agains Owens from 2000 to the present). Now we'll always speculate.

In the final analysis, Rorani was a fine player and wonderful personality who brought much to the game of women's squash. Her record of two British Opens and two Commonwealth Games Gold medals are fine bookends to her twelve year WISPA career. Leilani received the prestigious M.N.Z.M. honour (Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit) from the Queen for her squash accomplishments.

Related Stories:

1999 British Open.
2000 British Open.
2001 Hong Kong Open.
2002 Commonwealth Games

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