In the penultimate round of Stage 2 of the Women’s Singles Event at the 2024 European Olympic Singles Qualification in Sarajevo Georgina POTA of Hungary Anna HURSEY of Great Britain Barbora BALAZOVA of Slovakia and Britt EERLAND of the Netherlands secured their places in tomorrow’s two Olympic ticket matches.
In her last match on the third day POTA overcame Hana ARAPOVIC of Croatia in five games (11:9 12:10 11:3 5:11 11:3).
“In the second game she was leading 9:6 and lost it. That was the key moment of the match. Hana is very good and I faced difficulties from the beginning of the match with her big spins and powerful game. Somehow with my old style I managed to confuse her a little to put the receive out of balance. I put some side spins and made sure she did not get the same balls ” explained POTA.
In previous matches today Georgina overcame Italy’s Debora VIVARELLI 4:3 and Fu YU 4:1.
“Against Debora I was leading easily 3:0 and then she turned the match around. She put every ball on the table for 3:3. Against FU the key was the opening game. It was 8:8 and she missed the service. I don’t have to tell you how good her service is so this was a present from above. After that I tuned my receive which was sufficient because in the rallies we were equal.”
POTA will meet 17-year-old Anna HURSEY who recovered from 0:3 in reverse to beat Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia 4:3 (3:11 13:15 8:11 11:5 11:5 11:7 11:9).
“Our styles are very different and I found it very hard to adjust to her style at first. However as I got more used to it I played much better. It was the first time that I faced her in singles. Her style is quite tricky with short-medium pimples so I had to adjust the tactics slightly going for the right balls ” said HURSEY.
In the previous match Anna beat Sara TOKIC of Slovenia.
“We’ve known each other for a very long time played against each other. Since we were young we grew up together.”
Coming back from being down 1:3 Britt EERLAND leveled to beat Tin Tin HO of England (7:11 11:7 9:11 13:15 11:7 11:9 11:9).
“She was putting very good pressure on me and I did not feel I could take control over the rallies. I felt she was deciding it. Also at 1:2 I was leading 5:1 and she started to put extra pressure. I even called for a time-out to get some rest from the game but I lost. I really felt I had to change the game to be more in control and I managed it after being down 1:3. In the decisive game it was a mental fight for both of us ” said EERLAND.
In the previous round Britt also went the full distance against Hana MATELOVA of Czechia.
“She was really good playing very strongly. She changed the game more on the forehand serve so I had to make some adjustments and we played at an unbelievable level.”
Another thrilling comeback was performed by Barbora BALAZOVA who was down 0:3 before she beat Jieni SHAO of Portugal 4:3 (10:12 9:11 9:11 11:7 11:7 15:13 11:9).
“All the opening games were very close. I lost them by narrow margins. I was missing by little which made me more and more frustrated because I felt I was close but then I was too far. We know each other well and I know how good she is in tense moments. I had that on my mind too so at 0:3 I told myself it’s not over until it’s over. I changed tactics. The placement of my serves was better and I am happy I could return to the match. Then it was 3:2 7:5 for her so I managed to recover once again to push for the deciding game. Then I was down at the beginning got the lead at 9:7 and then my service which was working stopped. The same happened to her and somehow we finished this match ” said BALAZOVA.
