Joyce had the right game plan for Wright

10.15.00 Birmingham, SquashTalk News by Sarah Fitz-Gerald

LEILANI'S GAME PLAN
Sue Wright has a lot of tournament experience and used it to her full advantage in her British Open matches against both Vanessa Atkinson and against Carol Owens.

Sue knows how to create traffic in the court and use blocking to her own advantage. This frustrated both Vanessa and Carol Owens, who didn't know how to combat the situation on court.

Leilani Joyce knew that Sue would be continuing this strategy against her. To combat that, Leilani came in with a game plan that would keep the ball along the alleys and on high cross-courts, keeping herself clear of Wright. Both Atkinson and Owens could have followed that approach, but its easier said than done and Leilani came in with the game plan and stuck with it.

Even when Carol seemed to be getting the upper hand, both midway through the first game and at the beginning of the second, Leilani stayed patiently on track with her plan and executed to perfection.

MY OWN LOSS
At the same time that Wright had an effective apprach against Carol Owens, Owens certainly came away with an easy win against me in the quarterfinal.

It was a disappointing result for me, because I feel that I have been playing much better than I performed that day.

The game got away from me and I didn't execute well. I need to redouble my efforts now to get ready for the Women's worlds in a few weeks.

Visit Sarah's website at www.sarahfitz-gerald.com

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