Welshman Makin Continues Ascension, Halts World No.6 Rodriguez In $175K Qatar Classic Thriller from PSA Media
photos PSA
October 29, 2018
-World No.33 Joel Makin, the 24-year-old from Pembrokeshire, Wales,
shocked Colombian World No.6 Miguel Angel Rodriguez in a thrilling
106-minute encounter to reach the third round of the 2018 Qatar Classic
PSA World Tour Platinum event taking place in Doha on a day of action
that also saw World No.2 Ali Farag and World No.10 Karim Abdel Gawad
narrowly escape second round defeats.
Makin pulled off one of the biggest wins of his career last week at the
Channel Vas Championship and proved that result was no fluke as he
out-hustled and out-played the tenacious Rodriguez, winner of the 2018
British Open, to secure his place in the third round of a major PSA
event for just the second time in his career courtesy of an 11-4, 6-11,
11-7, 10-12, 11-9 triumph.
He will now got up against Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet for a place in
the quarter-finals of the tournament and the rising star says he is
hungry to capitalise on the opportunity and go one step further than
his round of sixteen finish at the U.S. Open earlier this month.
“My first round match yesterday was tough but I felt like I got the win
last week (over ElShorbagy) out of my system in that match and felt
like I played much better today," said Makin.
"I knew I had to be so patient today because if you open the court up
too soon against Miguel he has such quick reactions and can hurt you
from anywhere.
"I was just trying to slow the ball down and take the pace out of the
game. I had to be disciplined, and maybe it was a bit boring at the
end, but it was all about controlling the pace when I wanted it, not
when he decided it.
"I feel like I’m getting good wins and getting close to reaching the
latter stages of tournaments at the moment. Today was a big ranking win
for me and one that could mean me going into the last eight, so I will
do what I can to try and make that happen in a few days because I want
to be competing day in day out with the top guys."
Castagnet secured his third round spot with a 3-0 win over Australia’s
Cameron Pilley while 2016 tournament winner and former World No.1 Karim
Abdel Gawad used his get out of jail free card to come from two-games
down to beat Malaysian former World Junior Champion Eain Yow NG 3-2.
NG had beaten local favourite Abdulla Al Tamimi in the first round and
picked up where he left off as he produced squash of the highest
calibre in the opening games to leave Gawad, the World No.10 from Giza,
searching for a way to stop the onslaught - which he duly found to turn
the match upside down and keep alive his hopes of winning the title for
the second time in his career.
"You do not become Junior World Champion if you are not very good,
strong and skilful and he made it a very tough battle for me today,"
said Gawad.
"I didn’t start positive, I was weak. But I used my experience today to
be tough on court and I'm very relieved to be into the next round -
where I know I have to play better."
Gawad will now go up against England’s Declan James after the
Nottingham-based player beat Karim Ali Fathi in straight games while
tournament second seed Ali Farag will face India’s Saurav Ghosal after
coming through a thrilling battle with compatriot Mohamed Abouelghar in
what was a match of the season contender.
For long spells Farag was powerless to stop the attacking barrage
coming from the racket of Abouelghar but his persistence and grit paid
off in the crucial fifth game when, tied at 9-9, he managed to sneak
two decisive rallies to escape from the clutches of defeat.
“I don’t know how I won that, I think I just got lucky at the end,” said Farag afterwards.
“He’s such a dangerous player, he’s so attacking, so dangerous, so
skilful. It was a very hard match mentally and physically, so I’m just
really glad to win. There are no easy matched at this level so I just
have to fully focus on my recovery now and come back and give it my
best tomorrow.”
The third round of the PSA World Tour Platinum event will be played tomorrow, October 30.
Results - 2018 Qatar Classic: Second Round - Bottom Half
