by Simon Daish

China’s Li Jiayi was the victorious competitor in the quarter-finals tie and despite the difficult task of taking on the Hungarian player in front of the home crowd the Chinese athlete managed to see off the no.5 seed Georgina Pota in five games.

The home fans were treated to the perfect start when Georgina Pota managed to snatch the opening game by a five point margin, however, Li Jiaji wasn’t fazed by the early score-line and went on to claim four consecutive games to progress to the semi-finals of the competition (6-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-9, 11-3).

“I was very nervous at the start because Gina is an experienced strong player who serves really well and I needed to adapt to her style as quickly as possible. I improved point by point in the match and as I got calmer and calmer in the match”, Li Jiayi.

Georgina Pota may not be competing further into the Women’s Singles event, but the Hungarian player is still confident about her chances in the Women’s Doubles final alongside Sweden’s Matilda Ekholm.

“I had a good start in the first game unfortunately in the second game the luck went her way then she settled into her rhythm and the game become harder. I had a chance in the fourth as well but she proved to be stronger. I am looking forward for our doubles final tomorrow”, Georgina Pota.

The bottom half of the semi-final draw will be an all-Chinese encounter with Li Jiaji’s next opponent being fellow compatriot Wen Jia.

Wen Jia, who is the no.10 seed for the category, came out on top against Ukraine’s Tetyana Bilenko in six games (14-16, 11-7, 8-11, 11-3, 11-1, 11-6) and after the match Wen Jia spoke about her struggles against the no.13 seed at the start of the tie:

“I could have prepared better against her it took three games to be able to adjust to her style after that I felt confident and controlled the game all the way through”, Wen Jia.