Squash Captain’s Report: Day 3 at World Champs 2014
After playing two matches on Monday, we had a rest day on Tuesday, only to play two more matches on Wednesday. We started the day of by playing the 5th seeds , France at 11h00. It was always going to be a tough task on paper, with France being led by the Camille Serme, world #6. The playing order for the day was 1,2,3, therefore as captain, I would have to lead the way. In the first 2 games, Camille showed why she is Top10 player, by being accurate and absorbing any pressure I tried to impose, which saw me being the one making the errors.
In the 3rd game, I settled down more and focused on imposing my game, which seemed to work, and showed more patience in playing out the rallies, instead of rushing them to end. I won the 3rd game, and the 4th was similar, but at 8-8, she then showed her experience by placing balls more accurately around the court and I was left trying to scrape balls off the walls. All in all, I gave my best and managed to produce some good squash against a top player.
Milnay and Alex Fuller, also had a tough task in their hands, with both girls having to compete against players with higher rankings than them. Both fought valiantly, but unfortunately succumbed to the game plan that France was enforcing on us. France won the fixture 3-0.
Next up was India at 18h00. This is a fixture we wanted to win to ensure we could have a chance to still reach our goal of finishing in the Top 10. My opponent was Joshana Chinnapa, a player with great attacking style to the front of the court, also ranked #22, and someone I have already had a few battles with in the past. She came out firing, and unfortunately I never quite settled down fast enough to be able to absorb her ferocious attack, and to also turn it around to impose mine. This was not my one of my finest moments, and was disappointed to lose that game 3-0.
But this is where the TEAM effort kicks in, because Milnay Louw and Cheyna Tucker played like superstars! Milnay went on court and the first two games were over before the girl new what hit her. In the third game she had to dig a bit to finish more convincingly, but managed to wrap up the match in straight games. Cheyna also had a great start and went 2-0 up, then her opponent began to fight back. All of a sudden it was 2-1, then 2-2 and all of us are now biting our fingernails in anticipation. Then in the fifth game, Cheyna adjusted her approach, took command again, and finished off as strongly as she began. It was an important game to win, and that showed that she’s got some of that much needed BMT…Big Match Temperament. Well done girls. We won the fixture 2-1.
Our next match is against Mexico, Thursday evening 18h00 (Niagara Time). The winner will be in 9th-12th section, so without a doubt, we want that to be us!
For full results, visit http://www.wsfwomensteams.com
SIYOLI WATERS 