Delaware Open First Round: Latasha Khan Edges Toor Pakay, Blatchford Upset
by Ray Chan-A-Sue
February 2, 2012 - The main rounds of the 2012 CSC Delaware State Open began tonight, with some very enticing matches. While most of the seeded players made it through the first round, it was not without some scares. The most notable upset of the night being the win by Thaisia Serafini of Brazil beating the #8 seed and former top ranked world junior Olivia Blatchford of the USA in four very tight games in just under an hour. Serafini , a semi-finalist last year, again demonstrated her superior court movement, where she chased down every ball on a court that was unseasonably bouncy. The see-saw match evident in the third game as both players exchanged game points until Serafini gutted it out on her fourth game ball.
Another competitive match was between Latasha Khan and Maria Toor Pakay, who had already played a qualifier earlier in the day. While her current ranking does not reflect her play, Maria found herself quickly down to the veteran in the first game, worked her way back up only to loose out to Khan’s consistency. The second followed the same pattern, with Khan building an early lead, only to see Toor Pakay come back to narrow the gap, but loosing the game with some errors at the end. In the third , Toor Pakay came out and played a much tighter length and started to work Khan around the court some more. She got out to an early lead and never let Khan back in the game, using a variety of volley drops and deep cross courts. This set up an interesting battle as both players looked to gain position which led to many “let'” calls and the entire game remained tight until the end when Khan’s consistency was a bit too much for Toor Pakay.
If the first round was anything to go by, the quarter finals should add for more excitement.
First Round Results:
#7 Olga Ertlova (CZE) bt. Milou Van Der Heijden ( NED) –3-0 (11-9, 13-11, 11-6)
#3 Sina Wall ( GER) bt. Ahn Eun Chan (KOR) – 3-2 (11-7, 3-11,11-5, 8-11,11-4)
#2 Aisling Blake (IRE) bt. Salma Nassar (EGY)– 3-0 (11-6, 11-2, 11-3)
#1 Delia Arnold (MAS) bt. Ileana Novelo( MEX)- 3-0 (11-6, 11-2, 11-1)
#3 Latasha Khan (USA) bt Maria Toor Pakay (PAK) – 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 2-11, 11-9)
Thaisia Serafini (BRA) bt. #8 Olivia Blatchford (USA)- 3-1 (11-8,9-11,15-13,11-4)
#5 Miranda Ranieri (CAN) bt. Adel Weir (RSA) – 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-4)
#6 Lauren Selby(ENG) bt. Sabrina Sobhy ( USA) – 3-1 (11-5 , 7-11, 11-9, 11-5)
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