Canary Wharf Classic QFs: Makin Gets Revenge On Momen

Welshman Joel Makin avenged his Black Ball Open defeat to Egypt’s Tarek Momen, getting the better of the former World Champion in straight games to book his spot in the semi-finals at the East Wintergarden.

The World No.11 had been two games up in his semi-final contest with Momen at the Black Ball Sporting Club last week. On that occasion, the Egyptian was able to battle back to win in a deciding fifth game, as Makin tired.

The best-of-three format helped Makin on this occasion, as he started quick, and carried it through the match. Errors from the racket of the Egyptian allowed Makin to build up a big lead in the opening stanza, and although he fired in some quality winners late on, the World No.11 took the first game once again.

It looked like Momen would take the contest into a deciding third game, with a run of four points in the middle taking him comfortably into the lead. However, the Welshman fought back, injecting pace towards the end, and a couple of errors from Momen gave Makin the straight games victory, with the World No.11 booking his semi-final spot in London.

“Last week was ridiculously hard. The situation I was in that match, considering what had happened in that match I thought I played quite well. Physically it just hurt but this match, I went about it in a completely different way because I had… less going into my legs,” Makin said.

“You know what Tarek [Momen] is going to do, I mean you don’t have to analyse the game at a high level to know he’s so dangerous through the middle, especially on that backhand mid-court area. I was having a look at a couple of stats and it looks like, 40% of his winners have come from that area on it’s own.

“You got to neutralise that as much as you can. I tried to hit hard through that line not to let him have it, but at times he’s just so good in that area, he’s going to hit winners, that is his best area. You can only nullify it  a certain amount.

“I think people sometimes think after a win against Diego [Elias] you’re going to come here and you’re going to be fine, with Tarek, I didn’t think that for a second. I’ve got a lot of respect for the level Tarek has sustained for years. That’s never an easy match. I’m very happy to get off with that.

“I’ve played great, free flowing squash all week and it’s not gonna be like that tomorrow. So I’m going to have to, take control of the middle and hit him physically where I can. If my squash is good and I’m playing physically… I’ve shown over the last couple of days, beating these guys all ranked above me five in a row now, basically one loss to Tarek and then [a win] today. I’m more than capable of winning these. I look forward to it!”

Result:
Joel Makin (WAL) bt [7] Tarek Momen (EGY) 2-0: 11-5, 11-9 (36m)