[10] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Toby Tse (HKG) 12-10, 11-5, 11-4 (21m)
‘Joy was definitely riding the bus’ today… Amanda and Toby were having a great time on there! Toby never played a single shot at the back, and Amanda, well, only too happy to test herself in the first round of the Worlds, bless her.
The turning point of the match is 10/6 game ball for Toby in the opener. Amanda, so laid back her middle name was Gawad today, just strung 6 points to take the crucial first game, 12/10.
That was the end of the Hong Kong girl belief in her victory. And from that moment on, we had a bit of an exhibition, which I have to admit, I enjoyed thoroughly…
Amanda
I don’t think I even got to the back!
She was playing everything short and she caught me off guard. I was like fine, I’m going to play length, and she was nope, we are playing everything to the front! So I said OK, let’s have fun.
You know, I’m so used to coming from when I’m down. I’m like oh, here we are, welcome to the ball now, I guess it’s like a familiar place now. I knew I just had to take a point, then get a couple of points, then ‘you’re good’… As soon as I got the momentum going, we were fine.
And after that, once I won the first game, I was “whoah”… even if I didn’t get it, I knew I was fine.
I think both of us were having fun today. It was like good practice, I thought, let’s test my movement, can I get the fun shots, again, and again… I was like, that’s good, a bit of a pressure session, just get yourself going, and I’m happy with that. She is a great player…
Next round, Mariam or Mena. And especially if it’s Mariam, I’m happy I got to practice my left front court sprints…
