Qatar Classic Round One: Fallows Closes Out Day One with a Win

England’s World No.55 Richie Fallows triumphed in the final match of day one at the Qatar Classic as he dispatched Pakistan’s World No.44 Tayyab Aslam to reach the second round of a PSA World Tour Platinum event for the first time.

Fallows was in control for the majority of the match – save for a period in the third where he let a 6-3 lead slip and Aslam briefly threatened a comeback.

Taxi!@tayyabsquash with the deception#QatarClassic pic.twitter.com/bjakD25iXL

— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) November 1, 2020

However, Fallows displayed a newfound maturity to his game as he kept his head to close out an 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 victory which will see him line up against new World No.1 Ali Farag in the next round.

“I think being consistent [was the key], which is usually something I’m not,” Fallows said afterwards.

“I showed a little bit of something that I’ve needed to do for a while, which is to stay steady without being so extravagant and going for winners. Sometimes you can just be consistent and hit lines and I think that’s what got me over the line today.

“I usually get to watch him [Farag] quite a lot because I’m normally out of the competition when I get home and I can watch him on TV. I enjoy watching Ali, he’s one of the best.”

Result
Richie Fallows (ENG) bt Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (41m)