[4] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-1 [14] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (85m)
Being a squash ref is probably, with being a taxi driver in Cairo, one of the toughest job EVAH.
And tonight, one thing is sure, our main ref – who is Egyptian – couldn’t be accused of national favouritism! Four times he called Zak’s shot not up, and four times, the video ref called the ball good. The Egyptian camp was fuming, and Joel was not overjoyed as he was adamant he was in a good position to win those rallies.
“Please, stop. Just stop”, he went on the 4th time to the poor ref. “Let me handle the match the way I feel is right, Mr Makin”. “I’m not being rude. I am just asking you to not call the ball before the end of the rally.”
Add to that a “stroke” against Zakaria that was overturned with a “no let”… And you have an Egyptian camp thinking that the ref is against their boy.
Back to squash.
I feel that the turning point of the match is when Joel is game ball down 10/4, and that, instead of folding it, he makes the Egyptian work extremely hard until 11/7. It’s a 19m first game, it’s warm, the ball is bouncy…. Our Joel is loving it out there. Even if he loses the first game, he put a lot of work into the teenager’s legs.
The second is even longer, 23m. Zak is up 4/1, the Welsh levels at 5/5, 6/6, and gets awarded with two strokes, 9/6. Two shots out of the court, and Joel is back 1/1, 11/6.
Third, again 23m. The work the Welsh is making the young man do is unreal. The game starts with a firework of unforced errors, 3 from Zak, 2 for Joel. 5/5, 6/6. The rallies are long but the stoppage is unreal. The court is very slippery, and the cleaners are working double shifts! The game ends with two strokes against Zakaria, 11/7.
The fourth is the quickest, 13m. From 3/3, Joel is now completely in control, as Zakaria is getting more tired rally after rally, and keeps getting warned not to protect his shot, not to make himself too big on the court, that he is making himself bigger than he should.
7/3, 8/4, 9/5. The young man hangs by a thread, but he is still fighting. At 7/9, he is penalised twice, two strokes, and it’s match to Joel, 11/7.
Not sure if the Egyptian was deliberately staying in the way, or if, like I feel, he was absolutely knackered by the end of the match, and was struggling to get out of the way. But what do I know…
Joel : The court conditions were hard, because there were constant stoppages.
He is a very dangerous player, he caught me off guard in the first game. Very attacking, very quick, he was very astute to change to those conditions, most glasscourts are much slow, this is one very fast, and I had problems adapting. And he caught me flatfooted, all credit to him for changing his tactics well there.
I had to drag down and find my spots, because he was very dangerous there, we all know how good he is, but I was happy with the way I worked my way up.
I feel fine physically. I knew I was going to be tested with him because he is a younger guy, and he was going to be a handful. As I told him at the end, I want it to be competitive, it got scrappy with the floor, and the decisions.
But I want tough matches, he wants tough matches. And I’m looking forward to that, as he develops. This is what we want, a different style, he is hungry, that who I want to play matches with.
Karim Abdel Gawad, completely different style again, seriously talented guy, completely different ball striker, does things with the ball nobody does, exciting player to watch, free flowing, very quick with his feet, and very quick with his adjustments, so I’ll have to impose my game on him otherwise, it’s going to be a hard night..
