Mariam Metwally (EGY) 3-2 Torrie Malik (ENG) 11-8, 9-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-9 (62m)
Mariam probably won’t be happy with her performance squashwise, but I’m sure she’ll be very happy to close out the match in her favour. Torrie today had ‘all the cards’ I felt, but it’s all about handling the pressure of playing an experienced and shot-making Egyptian player at home, with a ref that maybe lacked “autorité” on the match: A lot of warnings were given, but very few actual penalties, and I feel that didn’t help the fluidity of the match.
Both girls are tall, both like to find winners at the front, take their space on the T, and don’t like sharing the court!
Torrie had to have a physio break when she got a bruise rib after a strong contact in the crucial third, that didn’t help the young English to stay calm and relaxed. Still a good fight in that game, down 1/7, the English scored 5 points in a row, set up three game balls, 10/7, but none were won, and it was Mariam’s turn to score 5 points in a row, 12/10 in 15m (minus 3m injury time)
Mariam’s experience showed in the last game, she was able to slow the pace when she needed, and led comfy 7/2. A last push from the English, 8/8, but it’s the Alexandria Queen that closes the match on her second match ball.
It could have been a great match, we needed a few strong calls at the start maybe…
