[7] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-0 Charlie Lee (ENG) 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (37m)
The Gunslinger was reloading at will today and Charlie made his best to stay out of range! More seriously, Charlie was playing as fast as the Egyptian, retrieving most of the lethal attacks and gave a good run to Youssef.
But maybe, maybe, he opened the court a bit too much and allowed the skillful Egyptian to impose his seriously ridiculous squash. Still, Youssef showed us the other side of the coin, when he kindly put the ball in the tin 5 times in a row at the start of the second game, going down 6/1, bless him.
A good push/effort from the Egyptian, and he was back in the game, 8/8, 9/9, an error on the return of serve on game ball for Charlie and it’s 11/9, 2/0 up for Youssef.
The Englishman still pushed hard at the beginning of the third, but Youssef was just too much in control of the centre of the court, and it’s 11/5 match on his second attempt…
The glance back from @Yousseefibrahim… and then the winner 🤌#OptasiaChampionships pic.twitter.com/m5vbXfamei
— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) March 26, 2025
Youssef : “Playing Charlie here in my first match is an extremely hard draw. We played in the juniors and Charlie is one of the most technically gifted players I have played against. I know he is coming back from injury, and I’m sure he will climb back up the rankings really quickly.
“I just took it really seriously today. I wanted to impose myself on the match straight away today. I’ve never been that comfortable on the glass floor movement-wise, but I was pretty happy today with it. I could move well enough to move into the front corners, and I’m happy I stayed mentally consistent throughout the whole of the match.
“This court rewards very good lines into the back two corners, it’s a really dead court sometimes and really lively sometimes, so you have to be really aware of your game plan.
“Early on, I was able to make him do a lot of work. I’m a little disappointed with how I started the second game, I let him get a bit of a lead and there were too many errors on my part. I just had to refocus myself and get stuck into the second game.”
