R1: Eain, Youssef, Leandro, Henry
18.15 Matches
Eain Yow Ng (Mas) 3-1 Cesar Salazar (Mex) 11-13, 11-5, 11-7, 11-2 (52m)
Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 3-1 Andrew Douglas (Usa) 11-5, 11-7, 4-11, 13-11 (42m)
Leandro Romiglio (Arg) 3-1 [wc] Moustafa Elsirty (Egy) 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (68m)
Henry Leung (Hkg) 3-2 Auguste Dussourd (Fra) 11-6, 5-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 (61m)
Leung v Dussourd : Auguste was not as his best physically, his ankle was heavily strapped but not sure how much incidence it had on the match overall. Like the match between Aifa and Nour, the ref Roy Gingell was kept very busy bless him and adopted the same attitude than for that match: no let and stroke were given galore…
Henry managed to take a very good start in the 5th, maybe the ankle started to hurt a bit for the French from the 4th game on. He looked not at his best in his movement from that point on, although he never stopped trying.
Henry : I’m feeling so great. With Auguste, we played a few times, quite a lot actually, and we always have close battles, 5 games. This time, I came on court with more confident.
Before the match, I heard that he twisted his ankle a little bit, but I didn’t think too much about it and focused on my game.
Luckily, I took the first game, and then found myself 2/1 down. I was able to come back in the 4th because of my fitness.
In the second and third game, I volley-cross to him, so he didn’t have to run that much. But when I realised what I was doing, I played more straight drives and that was the key. Even if the ref started to penalise me a lot!!
The fact I straightened my game is the reason why I managed to win the 4th and 5th. I’d like to thank my opponent today. We are very good friends. I’m lucky to win the match today.
Tomorrow, I’m playing Dimitri for the first time on PSA. We practice a lot but never actually played a real match. But for now, I need to do a good recovery, then good food, good sleep, maybe I’ll watch a bit of his matches tomorrow morning. And I will see with my coach what game plan to prepare.
Youssef : Yes, we had a pretty tough match a few weeks ago, in Pittsburgh, went to 5. It’s not so much what he does, it’s more what I do!
We played a lot in the juniors, and we played in College Squash as well, so there is that added pressure that comes with it. We played a lot of 5 setters.
Today, I made a lot of errors. I played really well in the first two games and then when the ball got soft a little bit, he used it very well. And then I was 5/1 down in the third, overcomplicated things, and I made a lot of tins, but I’m happy eventually won.
I was a bit nervous today, I managed to with that fourth, that’s good for me into tomorrow’s match, I’m playing Paul. So that match today was very important for me today, to get me in the mood a little bit, it was not too physical, more mental, so tomorrow, I’ve got to be at my best from the first point.
Leandro : It’s not easy to play Moustafa in Egypt! I knew it was going to be tough, he is a big guy, he takes a lot of space, he is very skilful with the volley, he can finish a rally very quickly.
I had to be very prepared from the start, very focused and alert. I think I executed the plan well.
In the first game, the ball was very fast and I couldn’t really get deep into the court. But then, the ball got a little bit softer, I managed to slower the pace a little bit, and that worked for me.
I got a few errors out of him because I was more patient, he was going for his shots, and he was making mistakes, so I took advantage of it.
Tomorrow, playing Marwan for the first time. So it’s going to interesting, but again, not an easy match! I’m going to enjoy it for sure, it’s going to be a good match. We all know Marwan, a very tough and talented player, so I’m going to give it all, and we’ll see…
