QF: Farida all over the place against Satomi

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[3] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt [8] Farida Mohamed (EGY)  11-6, 14-12, 11-5 (33m)

I’m not sure what to think about Farida’s performance tonight. Messy, inconsistent? If recently, the Old Farida had gone far, far away, tonight, she seemed to be back with a vengeance.

I couldn’t see a game plan for the Egyptian, she would hit so hard, losing any kind of accuracy, making a lot of errors (5 in the opener alone). Plus conceding a stroke, that makes 6 points given away, Satomi only had to win 5 points…

The Japanese, all on her own, no one clapping for her great shots, played through the interferences, and that gave her a strong mental advantage, I thought. She overcame four game balls from 10/8 to finally get her chance and clinched the crucial second game 14/12. 14m game.

The Egyptian lost her way I feel in the 3rd, 6m game, 11/5, with so many errors.

Satomi : “Although the weather has cooled down a little bit, the ball was still quite bouncy. Also, for both of us it was our first match on the glass, so we were kind of struggling to find a good pace, good rhythm or just a good length, but I’m just happy I managed to win today.

“I’m just trying to think one match at a time because obviously Farida is such a tricky, tough player. Hopefully, I’ll have some time in the morning to analyse Amina’s play and bring the game tomorrow.

“I’m really pleased, and also proud that I’ve managed to stay in the tournament with all the good Egyptian players. I’m just looking forward to playing each of them one at a time, and I’m looking forward to playing Amina tomorrow.”