[26] Hana Ramadan 3-0 Marie Stephan (FRA) 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 (27m)
Hana
I got caught up in the fast pace. It’s quite bouncy, and her game is quite intense, hit and run. So I had to remind myself to go for my shots, to take some boasts, as much as I could, it was a bit up and down.
I could have played a better basic game, it was a bit loose, and I wasn’t attacking as much as I wanted to, and when I managed to take some shots in, it was too obvious, too telegraphed.
I’m playing against Rowan next round, she beat me last time, I’ve learned the hard way, I hope to improve and do better…
[18] Emily Whitlock (WAL) 3-1 Cindy Merlo (SUI) : 4-11, 11-1, 11-4, 11-4 (33m)
Coline Aumard (FRA) 3-2 [30] Rachel Arnold (MAS) 5-11, 6-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-3 (46m)
Oh well… I thought today could be the last World Champ match for our French Coline as she announced she will quit the PSA Tour after the Mauritius event – played in the club she is going to work in actually!
And when she found herself down 2/0 quite sharply, 5, 6, we thought her goose was cooked. But absolutely not. For the third time only in her career, and the first time since 2015 – merci Jérôme Elhaïk from FFSquash – Coline managed to claw back, clinching the next three games, clinching the fourth 13/11 on her 5th attempt, and wheezing through the 5th, 11/3.
Coline
Today was the 13th, my lucky number, so I never’ lost hope!
Actually the more I was playing, the better I was feeling, then I felt more confident with my squash. My tactics came more naturally. I had the wrong tactic to start with, I was going way to quickly to the front, where she is actually so good. I tried to be a bit more patient, more aggressive, wanting to fight for the win, so I’m glad I won today.
I hope she is ok though, she looked not at her best at the end, maybe tired, maybe not right in the body, I’m not sure.
I’m rather happy with my game plan today, I’m not going to lie, I haven’t trained much, didn’t play a lot of matches, but playing the Europeans actually helped a lot to be ready for this one. Last week, I hardly trained, I had to rest my body and also I got married!
I’m in a happy place, I’m glad I won, excited to play Tesni the day after tomorrow, one match, and then, why not one more, let’s see, I’m enjoying myself at the moment.
