‘That was massive for me’ says Makin
By SEAN REUTHE – Squash Mad Correspondent
Welshman Joel Makin claimed a huge upset in the men’s CIB Egyptian Squash Open as he ousted Egypt’s No.2 seed Tarek Momen to get his first win over the World No.3 at the third attempt. It came on an amazing day when five of the top eight seeds crashed out.
The Welshman has tested Momen in their previous two encounters, taking a game each time, but he executed his game plan to perfection to nullify Momen’s attacking intent, winning 11-8, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9 to ensure he will play Frenchman Victor Crouin in the last 16. Crouin overcame World No.15 Zahed Salem to reach round three of a major PSA event for the first time.
“That was massive for me,” said 24-year-old Makin afterwards. “I have had two tight losses to him recently. He played well and he is tricky, he moves the ball quickly around the court, he’s got into some really consistent form over the last few years and he hasn’t really lost to anyone lower down for a while.”
Meanwhile, England’s Chris Simpson completed the biggest win of his career as he stunned World No.8 Mohamed Abouelghar in a five-game thriller. Abouelghar was making his first appearance of the season after recovering from a shoulder injury, but Simpson played some of the best squash of his career to win 12-10, 7-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-5 in 73 minutes, setting up a meeting with compatriot Daryl Selby.
“It’s the most unexpected win of my career,” said the Englishman afterwards. “I’ve had an awful summer. Injuries, literally almost no squash and that’s sometimes just the way it goes. I was relaxed, I went on and knew he had been injured as well and after having such a good end to the season maybe he put a bit of pressure on himself, but I just wanted to do myself justice and to be honest I didn’t have any considerations about winning.”
Meanwhile, Frenchman Baptiste Masotti also claimed his best career win as he played some immaculate squash to defeat World No.9 Miguel Rodriguez, 24 hours after he upset former World No.5 Borja Golan. He will now play off against Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng for a place in the quarter-finals, with Ng beating Germany’s Raphael Kandra.
Elsewhere, Egypt’s World No.25 Mostafa Asal came back from two games down to upset World No.7 Diego Elias in a fractious 77-minute match. No.4 seed Simon Rösner was the other seed to bow out after he fell to Egypt’s Fares Dessouky.
Men’s CIB Egyptian Squash Open, Great Pyramids, Giza, Egypt.
Second Round:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-8, 11-7 (39m)
Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-1: 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-8 (40m)
Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Max Lee (HKG) 3-1: 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9 (57m)
Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [6] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 3-2: 12-10, 7-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-5 (73m)
[5] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-3 (38m)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) 3-2: 11-5, 11-7, 10-12, 4-11, 11-1 (87m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 (43m)
Fares Dessouky (EGY) beats [4] Simon Rösner (GER) 3-1: 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9 (61m)
[3] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Greg Lobban (SCO) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 (36m)
Leo Au (HKG) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 3-1: 12-10, 5-11, 13-11, 15-13 (69m)
Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 12-10 (43m)
Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [7] Diego Elias (PER) 3-2: 7-11, 14-16, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (77m)
Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt [8] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (48m)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Raphael Kandra (GER) 3-2: 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 6-11, 11-6 (60m)
Victor Crouin (FRA) bt Zahed Salem (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (36m)
Joel Makin (WAL) bt [2] Tarek Momen (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9 (68m)
Third Round (Top Half) October 27:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Mazen Hesham (EGY)
Daryl Selby (ENG) v Chris Simpson (ENG)
[5] Paul Coll (NZL) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Fares Dessouky (EGY)
Third Round (Bottom Half) October 28:
[3] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Leo Au (HKG)
Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v Mostafa Asal (EGY)
Baptiste Masotti (FRA) v Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
Victor Crouin (FRA) v Joel Makin (WAL)
Pictures courtesy of PSA