Coach Assaiante Checks In From Paderborn After US Men Get Past Switzerland 2-1 To Advance To Money Round, Will Face Italy Today
from DailySquashReport.com
August 23, 2011 - The US will face Italy today in the final round of pool qualifying play with only championship-draw seeding at stake, as both countries have advanced to the elite tournament that will determine the world champion.
The American men fought off a game Swiss team yesterday in the second round of qualifying, winning two matches to one and guaranteeing themselves a spot in the round -of-16 championship knockout event.
In the #1 match, played first, Nicolas Mueller of Switzerland had a surprisingly one-sided win over top American Julian Illingworth, not yielding seven points in any game, winning 11-6, 11-4, 11-5. The result was surprising because Julian had beaten Mueller in four games on August 8th in the first round of the Australian Open.
At #2, the USA’s Gilly Lane beat Reiko Peter 11-8, 11-4, 11-8, setting up the critical #3 match between Chris Gordon and Switzerland’s John Williams. Gordon won the first, was up in the second but lost it, then steadied out the third and fourth to win the match for the US: 11-5, 8-11, 11-3, 11-9.
The US (2-0 in qualifying play) plays Italy (2-0) today, with both countries advancing to the money tournament regardless of the outcome.
The match outcome is significant, however, because the winner will gain the higher seed in the championship draw.
Coach Assaiante Told DailySquashReport
from Paderborn, Germany:
The team tonite was truly a team!
Julian picked a good day to have a bad day.
Muellar was superb, got all over Julian and it was too much too soon.
Gilly was great and came out firing on all pistons and was really focusing on getting out of the back corners cleanly and hitting the forehand boast to twist his opponent
Even so the third game was dicey, but he kept his nerves in check
Gordo went on at one all in matches.
Was thrilled that 5 minutes after his match Julian was back courtside cheering for his boys!
The ultimate teammate.
It was the toughest type of match for Chris because it was a winnable but also a loseable match against a very seasoned pro.
Gordo played an immaculate first game.
The pace dropped a bit and his opponent gained confidence with his backhand drop - Games 1-1.
Gordo came out like he did in the first game and pulled away nicely.
He got a nice lead in the fourth but before you knew it, Switzerland served at 8-9 and Chris hit a no-look topsin backhand drop, and served it out.
All in all it was a great team win, with great in-match adjustments.
Tomorrow Italy.
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