[5] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-2 [12] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) : 11-4, 9-11, 1-11, 11-7, 11-7 (73m)
Contrasting styles. Joel could grind olive oil out of stones, and finish the point by a lovely crisp volley drop winner, while Aly can find winners from back at the changing room. So, bit of fascinating that was to be honest.
First game all about Joel, 11/4, the Welshman with the momentum in the second, 5/1, 7/4, 9/5. Out of the blue, Aly stops giving points away, 4 errors and 2 strokes up to that point, and he’ll find some exquisite front court winners, 6 points in a row. Is that the turning point of the match?
Yes, it is, seems to say the third game, 9/0, 11/1, 7m.
But if Aly found his game in the second and third, he seemed to switch back to a junior style of squash, going for far too short far too quickly. I guess the hard work produced had a lot to answer for… The second game on its own was 17m.
5 unforced errors from Aly, and it’s 11/7 to Joel, from 10/4 up. 9m.
The 5th is again riddled with errors from the Egyptian, still going for lovely shots to the front, hurting the legs of his opponent for sure. But the Welsh managed to always have a few comfy zone lead, 5/2, 7/4, 9/5, allowing him to handle the surge of winners coming from the Egyptian’s racquet. And Joel takes the 5th, 11/7, helped by 6 unforced errors and a conceded stroke: Joel had only 4 points to score.
Miles Jenkins – coach to Joel
Great match from Joel.
Aly changed tactics from the mid second on, it took Joel a while to reset there, to find a way back in, he had to get more injection, like racquet-speed, and more action on the ball when he was playing it short.
It’s what he always does, quite incredible he was able to come back from two one down.
Aly is in good form there, played some incredible shots, Joel got some great retrieving, counterattacks, and the way he managed to turn his game around tactically was quite impressive.
Happy to get through that, tomorrow a day off, then ready for Asal.
🎙️ "I was very happy to dig in and turn it around" 💪
Hear more from @JoelMakin after he fought back from 2-1 down to reach the @PSAWorldChamps quarters ⏭️ pic.twitter.com/PrLKTwVr4C
— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) May 11, 2026
Joel
I was two on down, I had to really turn it around and dig in.
I switched to play well and got back across the middle. And I was frustrated with what was going on, and I had to really turn it around mentally. A
It’s not been the tidiest couple of days, but you’ve just got to win these. It’s the world’s. So to get through a couple of rounds. 3-2 yesterday, 3-2 today, you’ve just got to win these as well, but the better players do than the next bracket down. So I’m happy to get through.
It doesn’t matter how you do it. Tactics were good, and they were sharp, and they tidied up the play a little bit at the start of the fifth. So that definitely pulled me away from him.
“Yeah, mental clarity is the big thing there. You’ve got to have a really good identity of what you’re trying to do. Yeah, I’ve been there a few too many times, but yeah, you draw on that. And it just means you come out on the better side of those because the margins are small, obviously, at this level. I was happy that I was able to do it again.
