Coming into the match, neither player had yet lost a game, although Arnold’s semi final encounter was considerably more physical than Blake’s. Both players started cautiously, weighing each other up and extending some long probing rallies looking for sings of weakness. With a two-point lead midway through the first, Arnold went on a run, using the long rallies to great effect, her hold and touch shots keep Blake off balanced and unsettled. The Malaysian reached game ball at 10-3 eventually closing the game out on a beautiful back hand drop shot.
The second game saw Arnold began incorporate more front-court play, pushing Blake into the corners and making the world No26 do most of the work. Blake weathered the storm however, and her tight length gained enough loose balls to keep the game score close only to hit a back hand error at 9-9 all, on which Arnold capitalised to take a 2-0 lead.
While it looked like another 3-0 could be on the cards for Arnold, Blake still had some tricks to play as changed her strategy and started set about some a more attacking strategy. She jumped out to an 8-4 lead and then closed out the game on a couple of Arnold errors.
The world No21 Arnold fought straight back and again extend the rallies, moving Blake around and using her drops from the back to increase pressure. Then a twenty shot rally at 5-2 ending with a forehand volley drop winner, seem to spell the end of Blakes resistance. Another long rally on match ball with both players scrambling to get back into the point was a fitting way to end the 2012 edition of the Delaware State Open at the Vicmead Hunt Club, as Arnold claims her seventh WSA title.
Semi final:
[1] Delia Arnold (MAS) bt [3] Latasha Khan (USA) 11-7, 12-10, 11-7 [2] Aisling Blake (IRL) bt [6] Lauren Selby (ENG) 11-4, 11-7, 11-7Quarter finals:
[6] Lauren Selby (ENG) bt [4] Sina Wall (GER) 13-11, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 [3] Latasha Khan (USA) bt [5] Miranda Ranieri (CAN) 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 [2] Aisling Blake (IRL) bt [7] Olga Ertlova(CZE) 11-2, 11-4, 11-9 [1] Delia Arnold (MAS) bt Thaisia Serafini (BRA) 11-3, 11-4, 11-4First Round:
[7] Olga Ertlova (CZE) bt Milou Van Der Heijden (NED) 11-9, 13-11, 11-6 [3] Sina Wall (GER) bt Ahn Eun Chan (KOR) 11-7, 3-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4 [2] Aisling Blake (IRE) bt Salma Nassar (EGY) 11-6, 11-2, 11-3 [1] Delia Arnold (MAS) bt Ileana Novelo (MEX) 11-6, 11-2, 11-1 [3] Latasha Khan (USA) bt Maria Toor Pakay (PAK) 11-9, 11-9, 2-11, 11-9Thaisia Serafini (BRA) bt [8] Olivia Blatchford (USA) 11-8, 9-11, 15-13, 11-4
[5] Miranda Ranieri (CAN) bt Adel Weir (RSA) 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 [6] Lauren Selby (ENG) bt Sabrina Sobhy (USA) 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5