Scottish Open Day 3: An Appetite for Disruption On The Menu For Ciara and Julie
By RJ Mitchell
Julie MacPherson and Ciara Torrance are looking for a power surge to help them secure victory in this afternoon’s Scottish Open Women’s Doubles semi-final.
The Scots will face Japan’s Haruna Konishi and Maiko Kawazoe in the last four encounter after posting a decisive straight sets victory over Denmark’s Mai Surrow and Julie-Finne Ipsen in the quarter-finals at lunchtime.
Looking forward Ciara admitted that an appetite for disruption would be crucial: “They are looking like a classic Japanese pairing and they like the long slow rallies so hopefully if we can perform like we did in the quarters and use our speed and power against them then we can disrupt that.
“So our movement will need to be good as well but we believe we have the game to beat them.”
Ciara added: “I think in the quarters we came out with confidence, speed and intensity and just started the match in the manner we wanted to and we can be proud of that.
“With it being the Japanese pairing next in the semis then Haruna Konishi is also in the semis of the women’s singles and had a late one last night and that might take the edge of her so here is hoping!
“But we know they will be tough as they were very strong in beating the Swedish pair in straight sets.”
When it came to the two hours of down time before hostilities resume Julie revealed how preparations will unfold: “The match yesterday was tough and we finished really late and the adrenaline was still going and it was tough to get to sleep and it was a definite plus we weren’t first on in the quarters.
“Now we have a couple of hours to stretch and recover and then we will be good to go again. It is definitely easier to play your second match later in the day than next morning after a late finish the night before.”
The One That Got Away for Chris and Matthew
CHRIS AND MATTHEW GRIMLEY’S defence of their Scottish Open Men’s Doubles title has come to an end at the quarter-final stage.
The brothers went down 19-21, 21-19, 18-21 to Denmark’s Andreas Sondergaard and Jesper Toft in a tense encounter where the margins between success and failure were fine.
Yet it was the failure to convert 11-6 and 15-12 leads in the final stanza that the Scots admitted was the key to their defeat.
Reflecting on this Chris said: “It was a few errors at the end, really it was neck and neck every set and when we got that little bit of a lead in the third set we just didn’t make the most of it and didn’t take the opportunity. The bottom line was that was it at the end of the day.
“So we will watch back and see what we did wrong but the match was there for us and we didn’t take it.
“Maybe we could have played a little bit better and there were errors but to be fair to them they played well and were very solid.”
The Grimleys also had to deal with a late night epic against more Danish opposition the previous evening when they edged William Kryger Boe and Christian Faust Kjaer 16-21, 22-20, 22-20, in an encounter that did not end until well after 10pm on Friday night.
Despite the obvious energy drain this placed on their ability to produce their best this lunch time there were no excuses from the Scots: “We didn’t get off the court until after 10 on Friday night and it is tough to bounce back mentally and physically the next morning,” said Chris.
He continued: “But we are used to that and you can’t use that as an excuse, we gave ourselves the chance to win that match but just didn’t take it.
“It will take a few days to get over this one and we will be analysing the match with the coaches to see what we could have done differently but really it was the errors at the end of the third that cost us dear.”
In the Women’s Doubles the No.2 seeded Scottish duo of Julie MacPherson and Ciara Torrance Julie Finne-Ipsen and Mai Surrow of Denmark in their last eight encounter.