[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 3-2 [3] Joel Makin (WAL) 7-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-2 (81m)
One thing is sure: men shouldn’t think. They are not equipped. Kidding, OF COURSE, relax, boys.
No, what I mean is that the pressure got to Mostafa at the start of the match, everybody talking about him going to world number 1 should he win the event. Reminded me of Nour El Sherbini during the last Worlds, and people pressuring her about Nicol David’s record.
And Joel took full advantage, playing completely out of his comfort zone, taking Mostafa to his own game. Powerful beyond belief, intense through the roof in the legs, calm as a cucumber. And it worked perfectly for 2 games, 11/7, 11/4, 17m, 10m. The Egyptian was unable to adjust his shots; he was expecting a slow and gruelling pace and was facing someone with the same explosive power as his! That must have been a bit of a shock to the system.
From that point on, Mostafa was back on track and never let the Golden Tiger get the better of him, territorially wise. He cut down the errors – only 1 error in the 3rd, and 1 in the 5th, stepped up the court and took complete possession of the lefthand wall. He was pushing Joel back and forth; the Welsh was sublime in his response, but couldn’t initiate the rallies anymore; he was reacting, and not acting.
What I don’t understand is why Joel didn’t adapt his gameplan as it obviously didn’t work. Maybe he thought Mostafa would tire a bit in the fifth? Or he just was so much in his intensity he didn’t want to change his tactic to a more comfortable pace? Not sure. But in my analysis, nobody is better at Mostafa’s game than Mostafa. And Joel tried to defy the Egyptian on his own territory. And maybe, maybe that’s an error.
Joel wasn’t able to score more than 6 points in the last two games, didn’t do much wrong though, 2 errors in the 4th, and none in the 5th. Today, it looked like the only one that could have beaten Asal, was Mostafa…
Mostafa : “It’s unbelievable to get that win. Joel was really impressive today. He didn’t give me anything in the first game and then in the second game I was thinking about the first game a lot. I needed to have a push and all of that push was coming from my father.
“He was telling me to grind and push. He said if I lose, I lose, but put in your full effort and performance. I’m proud of myself because I didn’t play my best squash today, but the mentality was there until the end.
“I will go back and think about what my father told me today. I will keep doing it even if I win or lose tomorrow. I’m really happy with myself and I hope the crowd enjoyed the match today.”
