[16] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-2 Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 10-12, 9-11, 11-5, 13-11, 13-11 (71m)
Next opponent: Iker Pajares / Diego Elias
GODS OF SQUASH, MORE OF THOSE PLEASE!!!!!
Incredible pace between those two utter LUNATICS, playing at an INCREDIBLE PACE, WITH EXPLOSIVITY, FLAIR, REFLEXES… and not a OUNCE OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR! Crowd was MASSIVE, and I had to fight to keep my seat….
I could only watch the last two games, in which Youss made 6 unforced errors for each game. But then again, 10 winners in the 4th, 12 in the 5th. Ratio is still largely positive.
The suspense was unbearable for both camp, but especially for Omar Abdel Aziz, coach and Karim Darwish, Wadi Degla director who has been supporting Prince Charming for years. With Andrew Wagih, we actually stopped watching the match and watch the reaction of Karim and Omar… Come on, these are long days, we need breaking the stress too…
Every time Youssef is ahead, he seems to let go of a few neurones, it took him 5 games balls in the 4th to push for a decider. Needless to say that his camp was not exactly secured and relaxed when he went up 10/9 match ball. And they were right, two unforced errors later, and we were 11/10 match ball to Juan!
But a tin from the Colombian and a superb attacking boast later, the Egyptian was finally the winner, 15m last game, 13/11.
Never in doubt.
Youssef
“I’m happy to get the win in such circumstances, but I’m not really happy with the way I played each game.
“Especially the first two games, I was 10-7 up in the first and 9-7 up in the second and I lost both. He gained so much confidence after winning those two games and then when I was 2-0 down I had nothing to lose. I had to think about the moment and take each point because it was going to be a long one if I had to come back.
“I stuck in there every game, I took the third and the fourth and I felt he was getting tired. I pushed a bit more mentally and physically than him during the last couple of points, but it was a toss of a coin in the end. I think I played the last two points better and I’m happy to get the win eventually.
“I told myself to keep fighting, but I didn’t want to think about losing or putting too much pressure on myself. I tried to be a bit more aggressive at the end because I didn’t want to be too passive, I kept attacking the ball because he was attacking too, so I’m happy it went my way this time.
“I’m not excited [about the glass court] right now because there is a lot of recovery to be done. I’m not going to hit too much on the glass, I just need to refresh mentally and be hungry again for the next match. I’m happy to play at the museum, it’s one of the best set ups in our sport.
“I’ve made it to the last 16 before, so hopefully I can make it one round further this time. I can’t play any worse than this, so hopefully in the next round I can play a bit better.”
