QTerminals Qatar Classic Day Four: Afternoon Roundup

Day four of the QTerminals Qatar Classic began with two seedings upsets as Belgium’s Tinne Gilis came back to beat World no.4 Joelle King and Scotland’s Greg Lobban won against last year’s runner up Victor Crouin in a five-game battle.

King and Gilis were closely matched in the opening games, but some key mistakes from Gilis gave the New Zealander a two-game advantage after converting tie breaks in each.

The Belgian started the third game with better physicality. The World No.4 wanted to take advantage of her opposition’s seemingly waning confidence, but Gilis cut out the mistakes of the first two games, outlasting King in a number of longer rallies.

Despite a late push from King, the 25-year-old managed to avoid a third tie break and won her first game of the match 11-9.

After the Belgium No.2 took an early lead in game four, the No. 4 seed showed off her strengths as she used her reach to recover well from the back corners and catch up with her opponent.

But King could do nothing to stop Gilis’ momentum in game four as the Belgian kept consistent and forced mistakes out of the New Zealand No.1 to push the match to a fifth game.

King, after a conversation with men’s World No.4 Mohamed ElShorbagy in her corner, didn’t allow Gilis to control the tempo at the beginning of the fifth game, and fought the Belgian to 4-5, but in the end the World No.10 continued her push and completed her miraculous comeback from 2-0 down.

After the match, Gilis thanked another competitor for finding her way back into the game.

“The first two games could have gone either way, and I was a bit frustrated at myself that I didn’t get at least one of them.

“I was just happy I had [England No.1 Georgina Kennedy] in my corner to lift me up again even though I was 2-0 down.

“I’m very proud that I managed to stay mentally focused today. I didn’t change much of my game plan, I just tried not to rush and just tried to focus on each shot.”

Gilis will face World No.12 Salma Hany in the quarter finals, after the Egyptian made quick work of Canadian No.1 Hollie Naughton as she finished the match in straight games and just 28 minutes.

In the first men’s match of the day, last year’s Qatar Classic finalist Crouin faced Scottish No.1 Lobban.

The pair had met on one previous occasion on the PSA World Tour, in 2019 for the Cleveland Skating Club Open 2019, where Lobban took the match within four games.

The Scotsman went toe-to-toe with Crouin in a scrappy start to the match. The French No.1 then picked up the pace and pushed on from 5-5 to win the opening game 11-5.

World No.25 Lobban began pushing up the court and making it difficult for his opposition to play volleys, which was rewarded with a win on tie break in the second game to level the match.

The No.7 seed started game three on the front foot, and despite Lobban rarely trailing by more than a point, the Frenchman edged the game and took the advantage in the tie.

Lobban seemed sharp coming into the fourth game, but was consistently one point behind the World No.9 as Crouin looked to book his place in the quarter finals.

Despite having two match balls, Crouin couldn’t convert the opportunity and Lobban clinched the game 12-10 to take the match the distance.

The fifth game was stop-start, but after being tied at 6-6, the 31-year-old upped the tempo and made it difficult for Crouin to execute his game plan, winning emphatically 11-7.

Speaking on the match, Lobban talked on his change in mentality.

“I think in the third game… I really had to give myself a kick up the bum and tell myself ‘I’m in it here, I just need to string a few points together.’

“I’m just so happy to put myself in this position, in the last eight in one of the biggest tournaments in the world after a long long time of trying so I’m stoked.”

The result means that Lobban will face Joel Makin in his first Platinum tournament quarter final.

The Welsh No.1 proved too strong for Egyptian Mohamed ElSherbini, despite coming off the back of a 93-minute battle with World No.5 Paul Coll, and beat the World No.16 in straight games to progress into the quarter finals.

Results: QTerminals Qatar Classic Women’s RD3 – Afternoon Session

Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt [4] Joelle King (NZL) 3-2: 10-12, 10-12, 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (67m)
Salma Hany (EGY) bt Hollie Naughton (CAN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-4 (28m)

Results: QTerminals Qatar Classic Men’s RD3 – Afternoon Session

Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [7] Victor Crouin (FRA) 3-2: 5-11, 12-10, 9-11, 12-10, 11-7 (74m)
Joel Makin (WAL) bt Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-7 (41m)