Perry powers her way back to the top

IRISH TIMES/IRISH SPORTS COUNCIL SPORTSWOMEN AWARD FOR OCTOBER: Madeline Perry (Squash): SOME FAMILIAR names to our sportswomen awards were amongst our contenders again in October, including Jessica Kürten, winner of one of the richest prizes in her sport at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Cora Staunton, outstanding once again for Carnacon in the club championships, and Maria McCambridge, who produced an exceptional run in the Dublin City marathon.

Another multiple award winner, though, beat off the opposition and in doing so Madeline Perry becomes the only sportswoman to win one of our monthly awards every year since we got under way in 2004.

Reaching the semi-finals of the World Championships in Manchester might have been enough for Perry to clinch the award; getting to the last eight of the Qatar Classic a fortnight later, one of the most prestigious tournaments on the professional squash circuit, would have strengthened her claim, but it is the story behind Perry's displays that made her an easy choice for the panel of judges.

It was just a year ago that the 31-year-old from Banbridge, Co Down, in Italy for training, was knocked unconscious outside a restaurant in Milan, her attacker stealing her handbag and leaving her with a broken temporal bone in her skull and bleeding and bruising to the brain.

When she was finally released from hospital in Milan, Perry had to make it home to Banbridge by land and sea, having been advised not to fly, and was told by a local neurosurgeon that she had been lucky to survive.

Remarkably, just two months later, she won our December award when she made it eight titles in 10 years at the National Championships in Dublin on her return to action - it would probably have been a 10-in-a-row if injuries hadn't forced her out of the 2000 and 2005 events.

However, the prospects of Perry regaining lost ground on the international circuit seemed bleak, not least because she had been advised not to travel by air until she had fully recovered - she was also warned not to drive for six months.

Having reached number six in the world rankings a year before Perry, forced to miss three of the squash calendar's major tournaments, the World Open, the Qatar Classic and also the Hong Kong Open, watched as she dropped out of the top 10, eventually falling to 16.

But, this year, insisting that the only side effects from her injuries are that she is "more grumpy and more angry", she began her battle back, reaching the semi-finals of the Singapore Masters in August, her run ended by world number one Nicol David.

It was in October, though, that she proved she was back to her very best, going in to the World Championships ranked 14th and beating the sixth seed, New Zealander Shelley Kitchen, in straight sets in the second round.

She then fought back from two games and five match balls down to beat another New Zealander, Jaclyn Hawkes, to reach the semi-finals where she lost to the peerless David, whose victory put the Malaysian through to her 10th successive Tour final.

Two weeks later Perry beat Kitchen again to reach the last eight of the Qatar Classic, this time her progress halted by the number two seed, Rachael Grinham of Australia.

In the November world rankings, though, she had climbed to 11th, on course to regain her place in the top 10.

"It's only over the last couple of months that I've started to feel back to normal," she said.

"What happened last year was pretty traumatic, I nearly died then, and I was told I'd never be able to concentrate.

"Getting up the rankings again is probably more difficult than it was the first time, but this is a fantastic boost."

Grumpier and angrier, perhaps, but indomitable and gutsy as well.

Monthly Awards So Far

JANUARY: Kelly Proper (Athletics): The Waterford teenager, the 2007 Junior Athlete of the Year, broke the Irish indoor record for the long jump over three successive meetings in Nenagh, Belfast and Cardiff.

FEBRUARY: Chloe Magee (Badminton): The 20-year-old from Donegal began the year with a hat-trick of titles at the National Championships and went on to qualify for the singles in Beijing.

MARCH:Nina Carberry (Horse racing): The jockey had another memorable visit to Cheltenham, winning the Cross Country Chase for the second successive year, also picking up a couple of wins at Fairyhouse later in the month.

APRIL:Siobhan Byrne (Fencing): The German-born 23-year-old, whose father is from Meath, became the first female Irish fencer to compete in the Olympics in almost 50 years after qualifying for Beijing by reaching the final of the European qualifying tournament in Istanbul.

MAY: Leona and Lisa Maguire (Golf): The 13-year-old twins from Co Cavan made it an all-Maguire affair in the final of the Irish Close at Westport, Leona becoming the youngest ever winner of the tournament, Lisa going in to the Close as the leading qualifier by winning the Leitrim Cup.

JUNE: Emma Davis (Triathlon): Became the first Irish athlete to qualify for the Olympic triathlon when she finished 15th in a field of 79 at the World Championships in Vancouver.

JULY: Sinead Jennings (Rowing): The Donegal woman won silver at the World Championships in Austria, missing out on gold by just .55 seconds.

AUGUST:Olive Loughnane (Athletics): Knocked 93 seconds off her personal best to finished seventh in the 20km walk at the Olympic Games, Ireland's best result in track and field.

SEPTEMBER: Briege Corkery (Camogie) and Angela Walsh (Gaelic Football). The Cork women shared the September award, Corkery for her displays in the camogie and football All-Ireland finals and Walsh, outstanding at full back, for captaining the footballers to a four-in-a-row.

Each sportswoman is eligible for just one monthly award in 2008 but her achievements through the year will be taken into account by the judges when the decision on the overall winner is made.