[8] Gregoire Marche (Fra) 2-1 [6] Joel Makin (Wal) 8-11, 11-9, 11-3 (59m)
A game of two halves, as so often. Those two love to hit and run, and they did that a lot in the first game, but from 4/4, Joel had the nose in front, 8/5 taking the game 11/8 in 19m.
I know that Joel doesn’t agree, but it felt like the pace was extremely high for those two game, and the court was pretty warm tonight, warmer than yesterday. It looked like Joel was just a bit out of oxygen in that last game, making uncharacteristic errors – 4 in 6 points, when was the last time that happened, and Grégoire just kept applying the same tactic, tight at the back, accurate and good choice at the front, 11-3 in 13m.
Frenchman @GregMarche is making the most of his late call-up here in Cairo!
He is showing his skills during his first group match against @JoelMakin 👏#WorldTourFinals pic.twitter.com/wggbqaZy5B
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) June 23, 2021
Greg : “It was unexpected. It was Sunday afternoon and I was watching TV and suddenly I had a text saying I could come.
“I had two and a half hours to pack my bag and get my flight, it was a big surprise. It’s crazy how life can be sometimes, I’m sorry for Fares but it was good news for me. It’s easier for me maybe because I had no pressure today, I just had to try and push every rally and I liked the way I played, even in tough conditions. It’s hot tonight and the ball is pretty bouncy, but I dealt with it and mentally, it was maybe one of my best matches.
“I just wanted to be more accurate in every shot. I was a bit shaky in the second game, but I tried to make it long, it wasn’t really accurate and I couldn’t win points so I just tried to be more into my shots and it worked.
“Makin is one of the toughest and physical players on tour, so to beat him means that I can be in this top eight and I deserve to be here. If I could reach the semis it would be a good job.”
Joel : I didn’t feel the pace was high, I just off the pace, I don’t know why. It was just poor, it didn’t feel right. I was disappointed with the way I had hitting the ball as well.
He run away in the 3rd game, every time he went for a kill even when he was tired, he hit it. He went for it, in that format, he deserves it, he attacked better than I did. I went short and hit tins today, sloppy and poor performance from me.
