Spanish top seed in full control of Indian Squash Circuit clash
By LIESL GOECKERÂ – Squash Mad Reporter
ENGLAND’S Adrian Waller, last week’s NSCI Open top-seed and champ, saw the world turn full circle as he lost to top-seed Borja Golan (ESP) in a quick 3-0 JSW Indian Squash Circuit encounter.
Golan, who has lost to Waller the last two times the players faced off, clearly came in with a plan to keep Waller off the T, and it worked in the first two games. By the third, Waller seemed stymied and an unusual string of unforced errors helped send the game and match to Golan 11-8, 11-6, 11-3 in 41 minutes.
“The match today was really important,” Golan said. “I tried to find a good length and tried to take him off the middle of the court. He was tough to beat. I tried to move him all the time.”
Shaun Le Roux (RSA) reached the final after a testy match against Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) in which the referee repeatedly admonished the players not to address each other. Much of the first two games was fought in the front court corners. Fathi’s short game was tighter in the first; Le Roux’s triumped in the second.
The third game saw the play lengthen and the players grow more frustrated. Le Roux did a better job of channeling it into his play, and — after a conduct warning for comments to Fathi — took the third and fourth games, helped by some key unforced errors by Fathi at the end. Le Roux won 7-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-1 in 51 minutes.
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