Eain Yow Ng (Mas) 3-1 [6] Victor Crouin (Fra) 6-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-6 (56m)
An excellent start for the Frenchman, he will make only 1 error while Yow will offer 4 points to his opponent. Close up to 5/5, then zoom for Victor to 11/6, 13m game.
From the second – the Malaysian might have listened to the advice of his coach for the day, Charlie Lee, who told him to be more aggressive and put more intention in his shots – Yow was finding better width, and keeping Victor behind him. That cost a lot of energy to the French number one, who this time round offered 5 points to his opponent, only two for Yow, 11m for the Malaysian 11/4.
The third, so close. 3/0, 4/1, 5/2 for Yow, a good push from the French to level 6/6, 7/7, 8/8, 9/9. Some huge rallies at that point, very fast pace, and a Victor that kept encouraging himself “allez pousse”, come on, push.
A very very harsh decision at the end, second game ball for Yow, 11/10, and a simple let that is called no let and confirmed, 12/10 for the Malaysian. Very harsh.
Again, an excellent game from Victor, only one error for 3 Yow.
The French was disappointed with his last game, down 3/0 and 6/1, he still clawed back to 5/6, and 6/7, but Yow was just too accurate today, and it’s 11/6 in 9m, 3/1 for the Smiling Ninja.
A 2️⃣nd Gold event quarter final coming up for @EaiNYow 🔥
He defeated World No.8 Victor Crouin in four games to progress and had this to say after the win ⬇️ #OptasiaChampionships pic.twitter.com/P3h4pWh3Ok
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) March 22, 2023
In the second, I probably relaxed a bit too much, and after that, I was just running and running, and I fell in a defensive mode, only running, I got a bit flat.
Yes, the third is crucial but I should be able to give a better response after losing it. I only had good energy when I was back to the wall.
It’s one of those matches, you have a good season, even a super season, and then baoum, there is a little FLOP, and today is the day, although I lost against someone who is so dangerous and only lost against very top players recently. Today, he was just better than me on court, he deserves to win.
And for me, it’s return back home, and back to the drawing board, to come back stronger for the British…
“It was definitely very tough, the third game could have gone either way. Still not quite happy with my performance, at some stages, I just lost focus, when I was leading and I can’t afford to do that but I am glad I came through. I stayed strong, mentally I was strong and physically I was strong, I feel really good and I can’t wait to keep moving on!
“It’s not quite the same as Harvard but I studied at UWE in Bristol. I am still studying actually, I have an assignment due tomorrow, so I will get that done after that! I will make full use of tomorrow, the rest day, and watch the matches.”
