Madeira International: Kostyukova in the semifinals of the tournament

Ukrainian Anastasia Kostyukova won a match against second seed Catriona Allen and reached the semifinals of the PSA Challenger 3 tournament for the first time in her career.

Kostyukova prevailed in the first game on a tie-break, outlasted her opponent in the second and comfortably doubled her lead. The third game also went to a tie-break, which our squash player finished with a score of 13-11. As a result: victory in three games and a place in the semifinals among the top four.

Anastasia Kostyukova says: "It was a match not with an opponent, it was a match with herself. I wanted to show that I can, to show a decent game first of all to myself and throw away unnecessary thoughts, doubts, fear.
Of course, there was some kind of delusion, but every time I said to these thoughts: "Go away! Let's work." And I managed to win against my opponent and myself.

The match was physically and mentally difficult, the score in the first and third games was a tie-break, if in the first the victory was a little easier for me, because we were just entering the game, then in the third it was a very intense struggle with a lot of refereeing decisions, a tense atmosphere and physical fatigue. It was especially difficult in the deciding balls, I had two match points and I won the third. I didn't want to concede this game and give my opponent a chance to win, and I didn't concede. I am proud of myself and the way I played."

On Saturday, in the semifinals, the Ukrainian will meet with the number 4 seed, the English Kira Marshall, and the first seed, Kateryna Tytsova, will compete with the French Lea Barbeau for a place in the final.

Anastasia added: "I want to say thank you to everyone who supported me - my family and parents, the Squash Federation of Ukraine, as well as the person without whom I would not be here, my sponsor @unsquashable. Thank you all!
And now it's time to get ready for the next match and leave today's in the past."

The Madeira International semi-finals will be held at the Galo Active Health Club on the Portuguese island on Saturday 10 September, with the games broadcast live on Galomar TV's YouTube channel.

1/4 finals: Madeira International
[7] Anastasiia Kostiukova (UKR): [2] Katriona Allen (SCO) 3-0 (13-11, 11-5, 13-11) (37 min)

Semi-final: Will be played on Saturday, September 10
[7] Anastasiia Kostiukova (UKR) v [4] Kiera Marshall (ENG)
[3] Lea Barbeau (FRA) v [1] Katerina Tycova (GER)