R1: Satomi takes no prisoner against wild card Talia Zakaria

[6] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-0 Talia Zakaria (EGY)  11-4, 11-2, 11-1 (20m)

I was impressed with that young lady squash today. Impeccable squash ethic, sportsmanship, she is very mature and patient for a junior… she is much more than the sister of…

Talia

Satomi is one of the toughest players in the world. Going into the match, I wanted to focus on how I play. This is my first wild card, and it’s such a good opportunity for any junior player, and I wanted to take advantage of that opportunity, and play my best squash.

I don’t feel I played near my best squash today. I was playing good squash but I couldn’t implement what my coach and I have been training for. And I feel very disappointed in myself today.

I had some tough matches before, to prepare for this match, for these points, but I wasn’t able to play them today. But then again, Satomi didn’t give me anything to play with! I always watch her play, and today, she was just playing top quality squash.

I wanted to play with the top players, and I did that, and it’s a wonderful experience.

I’m very proud I was able to compete today, as I got a very serious injury, and my coach told me at the time I might never play competitive squash ever again, which was the hardest thing I heard ever.

But I came back, I played in smaller tournaments, and in Egypt, those tournaments really test you, you play younger, better generations, then you play the top players, then you get to be hungry, and you get to see where you are at every single time. I think it’s very good.

I guess my best quality might be my figthing spirit, I do not let go, and I leave it all on the court. As for my weakness, I don’t get to rewatch my matches a lot, not enough, to study and learn from my mistakes.

I play in Alex Sporting Club, and I have several coaches: Ahmed Shohayeb, Mohamel Abdel Al, Ahmad Ramadan and my fitness coach, Hossam Shadad.

It’s actually very nice to have a big brother! He is very nice, and he is pushing me to be the best player I can. He doesn’t give me a lot, as he says that he did it on his own, but he gives me a lot of things to look up to, every week, there’s another tournament, and I hope that one day, I’ll be as good as him.

Satomi : She really has a great talent. Her hands are great, I got caught sometimes by her holds, even if the ball didn’t reach the front wall, she really has a bright future.

I think my experience made the difference today, being on Tour for quite a few years now. She is going to learn so much from now on, and of course, the young Egyptian players coming up all the time is a scare for everyone, but I really liked the game she approaches the game. And whatever happens on court, you want to win as well. And she did it with great sportmanship.

So I really enjoyed it. Happy with my squash, I felt great on court today, and I’m ready for tomorrow. If it’s Hana Moataz, I have a good record against her, but I never played Farida Walid…