Canary Wharf Classic Semis: Makin Takes Down World No.1 Asal

Welsh World No.11 Joel Makin’s incredible run at the GillenMarkets Canary Wharf Classic continues, after he defeated World No.1 Mostafa Asal to reach the final of the PSA World Tour Gold level tournament.

The opening game was a fast-paced and high-quality affair. Both men were moving well around each other, and the squash was of a level that the crowd were really enjoying. Asal saved three game balls to send the match into a tie-break, but Makin was able to hold out on the fourth, winning it 12-10 to take the early lead.

The Welshman, who had defeated Diego Elias and Tarek Momen already this week, then held a commanding 7-2 lead in the second. However, Asal showed why he is at the summit of the world rankings, pulling the game back in his favour, and he reversed the scoreline from the first to win it 12-10.

After that, the match got scrappy and physical, with plenty of decisions from the referee. The Egyptian, who seems to thrive in those situations, was able to win the third game comfortably, but a change of ball at the start of the fourth game was the key to Makin’s comeback in the fourth.

The quicker pace allowed the Welshman to take control, and he sent the match into a decider with an 11-3 scoreline. There was then a pause in between the fourth and fifth, with a broken ball meaning a third new ball had to be warmed up. Asal then had two broken rackets in the early part of the fifth, but despite the disruptions, he went on to lead 8-5.

From there, though, the World No.1 hit a number of errors, including putting the ball in the wrong position to allow Makin to earn strokes. The Welshman won the last six points to secure a third upset of the week, and to move through to the final in London.

“I was obviously struggling and wasn’t getting things right through the first half of the season and I’ve taken on some new advice and I’ve had to adapt and change,” Makin said.

“My body has also come through at the right time, so I feel like things have come together as I would have wanted it to even when I wasn’t feeling great physically, I was still working on my squash and I was still thinking. So I felt like I spent months where my squash was getting better and my body wasn’t quite there.

“Then this week it’s come together and I’m in a good place and I’m confident. I think a few people didn’t think I was at that level or didn’t have the ability to adapt to that. So I certainly proved those sort of people wrong and have shown that my squash can be as good as my physicality.

“I can beat World #1, #2, #3, #4 as I’ve done this week and at Black Ball. So I’m in a good place. I played Tarek [Momen] in Black Ball, Tarek here, Diego [Elias] here… no issues at all, obviously, so I hope people can grasp what was causing the problems today and what the issue was.

“So I had to do what I had to do to win a match today. That’s not how I want the sport to be played. I don’t want people to be put off from watching it. That’s not what I want to do. That’t not how I want the sport to be represented. But at the same time, you can’t let these guys get away with what they’re doing, I had to level the playing field and find a way through that. It’s not easy to go on there and deal with all these things and still find a way through.

“The final will be quality whoever it’s against, these guys have played big finals and we know what we’re going to get with these guys. Whoever is better at squash is going to win tomorrow and that’s the sport we’re playing really. So I’m looking forward to that. I’m hoping it’s going to be a great final for the crowd as well because yeah, after that they need a good match. 

“We had the Commonwealth Games in the summer. That was just such a good atmosphere and I feel like I played some of my best squash just because so much energy from the crowd, so much adrenalin and it feels like you’re playing something that there is importance on it.

“When we get these crowds here, this is what we need. We want the sport to be exciting. Big dives, trick shots, adrenaline, big points, change of the scoring system makes it exciting, I think. I think the sport’s in a good place when it’s played like that. And I really enjoy those occasions where the crowd’s buzzing and there’s loads going on. I’ve had a great week and I’m hoping to finish it off.”

Result:
Joel Makin (WAL) bt [1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 3-2: 12-10, 10-12, 3-11, 11-3, 11-8 (96m)