Rui Soares (POR) 3-2 Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8 (69m)
It was a very intense match, with both players giving it all; Moustafa played a solid match from the third game on, but Rui was held strong until the last shot, where the Egyptian ended on the floor with a no-let…
Rui : “It was a tough one. I thought I was really focussed when I started the game and I had a game plan. Moustafa [Elsirty] is such a tough player, he’s so good down the middle and if you lose your length, which I think happened in the second and third games, he started to control the game quite well and I was struggling to get in behind him. I think I’ve lost to him the last two times so it’s really good to get this win. I came into this World Championships with not much pressure because I got in at the last minute and it’s such a good tournament for me to play again. I’m quite happy to win this first round.
“We’re both quite tall players and we take up a lot of space. We were both struggling to get around each other, trying to dominate the tee and we’re both quite attacking and we like to control the middle. It was a battle for the tee and in the end I’m glad I kept my focus as it was very hard, I’m very happy with the ending of course.
“For the last two tournaments – this one and El Gouna – I didn’t expect to get in and it’s always good to play with no pressure. I didn’t think I was going to get in and when I did, I wanted to make the most of it and I’m going to have fun on court. It’s great to play here and I always love coming to Egypt – even more so for the World Championships.”
