R2: [9/16] Joshna Chinappa (Ind) 3-1 Hana Ramadan (Egy) 11-6, 4-11, 11-8, 11-8 (43m)
Never played each other those two. But what a match that was. A battle of will, of experience versus exuberance. Today, Joshna’s experience made the difference in my eyes.
Hana was a bit nervous to start with, it showed. Although she managed to keep up with the WR12 up to 6/6, errors started to creep up at the business end, and the Indian was putting the ball exactly where it hurt. 11/6 in 9m.
Different players came on court, with Hana on fire and Joshna not that much. In 6m, it’s 3/0, 6/1, 9/3 and 11/4 for the 23 year old Egyptian physio.
The third starts again like a one-sided affair, but for the Indian this time. 4/0, 6/1, 7/3 courtesy of a few errors coming from the Egyptian racquet. A nice claw bak to 8/8, but a backhand volley drop shot that clips the tin, and it’s 9/8. A long intense rally, 10/8 for Joshna, and another tired tin, 11/8 in 12m.
The fourth is more balanced throughout, 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 6/6, 8/8. But again, a tin at that crucial stage, going for just a bit too much, forced to make the error by Joshna that took the time away from the Egyptian racquet. And it’s soon 11/8 in another 11 long minutes.
Hana very disappointed, frustrated as she couldn’t impose her talent today, but that’s what top dogs are here for, cutting the wings of young doves…
“All these girls are so good.
“Hana had a very good win yesterday and I was definitely looking forward to it being super challenging and it definitely was.
I knew the second game was over, she just thought she was 10-4 up and we were both shooting as much as we could. At the same time, there were some rallies that were extremely long and tough and I’m just happy to get through in four.
“For me, I was happy with coming back stronger in the fourth game. She steamrolled me in the second game, so I just wanted to come back strong, stick to basics and hopefully push her a lot more in the third game.
🗣 "She definitely steamrolled me in the second, so I just wanted to come back strong and stick to the basics!"
After losing the second, @joshnachinappa came out fighting, and she was happy to defeat @hanaramadann to reach the last 16#BlackBallOpen pic.twitter.com/hvSgG4fKv6
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) March 13, 2021
