Matthew Lai (HKG) 3-1 [4] Henry Leung (HKG) 11-8, 14-12, 2-11, 11-9 (51m)
Matthew
The toughest thing is we know each other very well, so when we face each other, we have to aim for quality, and it brings the best squash out of us.
Before the match, I had a good game plan in my mind, and I was able to apply it, which I’m happy with. Sometimes, I can’t play my game and I lose, but if I can impose my game, I am in a better position to win.
I have to work on my mental side of things, when I lead quite nice, 9/2, 9/3, I seem to lose focus, I need to keep the consistency up, and be strong mentally.
Salah Eltorgman (CAN) 3-1 [13] Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9 (61m)
Ibrahim, my friend, we have to talk. I’ve known you forever, and I love you to bits, but the moustache has got to go.
Joke apart, a good game between two players who know each other rather well. It could have been messy, two tall boys, and one of them a bit tired, but it was a fluid, good squash match. Salah – my first time seeing him live – reminds me of Jansher, I hope he’ll be as successful, that’s all we can hope for him!
As for Ibrahim, he was short physically from the second game, he kept digging in and never gave up but was struggling. He was helped at times by the Canadian going wild with unforced errors though. Still it’s Salah that will clinch the last game, but the score tells the match… Intense, close, fast and brilliant squash.
Salah
I was not born Canadian, I actually moved to Canada when I was 12 and I have been living there since. I grew up playing Ibrahim actually during our junior careers, almost every time, he got the better of me… I grew up with everyone here, I know 90% of the Egyptian players, I played with them, and obviously, we are a bit close in the rankings, so we’ve seen each other multiple tournaments, we are very close.
We are both pretty big boys, and we can take a lot of space, so it could be pretty messy and we would have to move around, so I was quite happy we both played fluid squash and we are very good friends off court, no need to play dirty or anything.
I’m 22, still in College, Western College in Ontario, so I don’t play many tournaments in Europe or Egypt, I play most of my tournaments in North America. But moving up the rankings will allow me to play more in Europe.
Ivan Perez (ESP) 3-1 [11] Rui Soares (POR) 8-11, 11-7, 14-12, 11-5 (65m)
Ivan
We’ve played each other 3 or 4 times already, he is really tricky, when he has time, he is really dangerous.
Today, we were all over the place. It was a crazy match to be honest, the lines weren’t that good from either of us, and it was just a question of running and hitting the ball, crazy shots, weird points!
I think I kept it together mentally a bit better than him at the end. And that made the difference at the end of the games.
I’m playing Balazs Farkas tomorrow, I have never played him, I know he is a really good player, but honestly, I play better when my opponent is really good so, tomorrow, I will win for sure!
