R1: Shoulder is fine says Ibrahim,3/2, 85m against Dimitri

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[6] Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 3-2 Dimitri Steinmann (Sui) 13-11, 11-13, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9 (85m)

It’s so funny when you come and watch squash in Gouna. You feel that you are not in Egypt at times! Today, I swear that Dimitri was supported more vocally by the German-speaking squash fans than Youssef was at times! It was the same when Rafi Kandra was playing a few years ago.

Both left it all on the court, intensity maximum from both, playing extremely fast pace, and covering a lot of ground. Lovely squash to watch.

Youssef

I thought I played well, it just at crucial moments, when I needed to make a little distance on the score, take a little bit of an advantage, he kept coming back. He is very stubborn, and although I played him before, I felt that today, he took his chances very well.

I played well overall, I just couldn’t capitalise on the important patches in the match. But I was feeling good physically.

Next round I’m playing Abhay, I played him twice, maybe three times. It’s another tough match. He had a good win today against Aly. Aly is absolutely tough, so he must be playing very well, I’ll focus on my recovery tomorrow, get an off day, get a bit of practice, but looking forward to a good match…