[1] Patrick Rooney (ENG) 3-0 [15] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) 11-3, 11-9, 11-3 (27m)
Yassin and I play in the same German League team, and we saw each other play a lot. We knew each other’s game well, but he saw me play a lot of not that great squash last season.
Patrick
Today, I came in with a good game plan, it worked quite well in the first, but in the second game, he went on Egyptian mode. And that was a good tactic, it worked well for him.
I had to go with that, and attack more as well, because the first opportunity he got, he was straight in. And he is good at that. Luckily, I matched him in the attacking shots, I kept the pressure on, and we both were feeling it physically in the second.
And then I think it paid off in the 3rd game, I got a bit of a break from him.
Good match, happy with it.
[10] Matias Knudsen (COL) bt [9] Simon Herbert (ENG) 11-4, 11-5, 12-14, 5-11, 11-7 (57m)
Whaah… I have to say CHAPEAU Matias.
Honestly, when the Colombian couldn’t transform any on his 4 match balls in the 3rd, and I saw him very very, VERY tired in the 4th, I thought ‘na, match over, well done Simon’. Feeling confirmed when the English led nicely 3/1 in the decider…
How on EARTH did he managed to level back to 5/5, 6/6, 7/7, I’ll never know. Simon’s short game today was IMMACULATE, and his backhand along the tin shot was damaging even more the Colombian’s leg.
An absolutely ridiculous rally at 8/7 for the Tall Colombian, who retrieved shots that even him didn’t think he could retrieve. That gave him 3 more match balls.
A bit of a strange let given for a Matias shot in the left corner – which seemed to have obtain a lot of no lets previously but what do I know – the Colombian managing not to lose his focus, and the next same shot gets a no let, match to Matias – I thought that one was a simple let. What do I know!
Still, they were a HECK OF A LOT OF DECISIONS. You can’t get them all correct, come on. And again, what do we know!?
Matias
This tournament is testing my patience…. 🙂
After losing the 3rd, I was thinking that I wouldn’t have the physical reserves to win.
Losing the third was very tricky as I had 2 or 3 match balls, 4? Too many.
He is such a skilful player, he is such a clever player, so talented, he knows how to take his space, he knows how to move around the court so well, and he is very severe when the shots are in. And then, under pressure, he is thriving.
So I was up, he hit a winner, he shut me out, and then I wasn’t particularly agreeing with the referee’s decisions. I felt like I won the match 3times. But then again, I had to keep digging.
But in the fourth, it wasn’t even physical, which I thought it was going to be, it was mental. My mind was just shattered after that after losing those match balls. It’s all very well to say move on and get on to the 4th game, the match isn’t over, but way easier said than done!
In the 5th, it really helped me to have my friend Ivan (Perez) who was like ‘I’ve seen you do that so many times, you just have to go back, you can do it”, he helped me to find that reserve of energy: ‘It’s a 5th game for a Diamond, you’ve got to get everything”.
And that’s what got me through.
I surprised myself physically, 8/7 rally, I picked up 3 or 4 shots I didn’t think I could. In a row! And it granted me 3 match balls.
At 10/7, I hit that perfect drop, called “let’ and I was struggling to understand squash rules: I got so many no lets in the same position, and he gets a let?? It was just a good shot! And I won the match, with exactly the same shot, and this time, called no let. …
Again, I can’t be happier. Simon is such a great player, he should be in the event, so many people should be in the event that aren’t because we are all fighting, it’s a dog fight.
But I’m sure we’ll all pretty young, we’ll keep training, and hopefully, we’ll play plenty more matches but in the main draw this time…
