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Ayeni Olusegun
Doha
A packed crowd at Doha’s Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex came close to witnessing a historic squash moment for Qatar as home favourite Abdulla al Tamimi narrowly missed out on a quarter-final berth in the 2019-2020 PSA Men’s World Championship on Monday.
Tamimi lost to second-seeded Tarek Momen of Egypt 5-11, 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 4-11.
The world number 47 also had a bitter-sweet evening especially as the legendary Geoff Hunt will be leaving his role as coach of the young Qatari who he has nurtured for 14 years.
“Unfortunately Geoff has to go. We have been together almost 14 years and I have to say without him I wouldn’t be playing squash. When I was 16-17 I was 99% sure I wanted to quit squash and play football but he believed I could get to the top one day and it was the biggest decision of my life,” Tamimi said.
“I wanted to make this one to remember for him and I am bit disappointed I could not give him that, but I hope he is happy with the way I am playing at the moment.
“We will for sure be in touch because our relationship is more than a coach and a player, he is like my dad he means so much to me. I feel like he is part of the family, so it’s really good.”
Tamimi, already on a history-making run, had beaten French duo Gregoire Marche and Mathieu Castagnet – heading into the third round clash against the much-fancied world number three Tarek Momen with momentum on his side.
The 24-year-old however, began the match a bit nervy and Momen pounced to claim the first the first game 11-5. Cheered on by the crowd, Tamimi showed flashes of his brilliance and soon wrapped up the the second game 12-10 letting out a big scream for the home crowd.
In the third game, Tamimi fought his way back after going down 7-4 -- claiming the game 11-9 with some beautiful movement on court.
With the momentum on his side, Tamimi soon found himself 6-3 up in the fourth to put himself within touching distance of a massive upset. But a nasty fall saw a shift in the game and Momen took advantage to draw level.
In the fifth game, the Egyptian held his opponent off in the decider to book his spot in the last eight.
“I can’t be that much disappointed, I had my chances and in the fourth game I was playing really well. I had that momentum. Unfortunately at 7-7, I had the bleeding on my leg and the the game swung in his favour. He (Momen) is experienced and he knew exactly what to do after that,” said Tamimi.
“The ball was flying everywhere and I couldn’t really get back to the momentum I had. I was 6-3 up as well, so I had my chances.
“I am playing better squash at the moment. I had a couple of good results and this is the second time in a month to take Tarek to five games and I could have won both and that gives me positive vibes for the next tournament and for 2020,” the former Aspire athlete said.
Momen on the other hand said, “Halfway through the fourth game, I knew things were critical because I was 6-3 down. I had no answers at the time so I had to just really grind it out. I am really happy with the way I fought to come back and win, and I have to recover now, stop thinking about what happened and move forward and prepare for my match against Diego Elias.”
Doha
A packed crowd at Doha’s Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex came close to witnessing a historic squash moment for Qatar as home favourite Abdulla al Tamimi narrowly missed out on a quarter-final berth in the 2019-2020 PSA Men’s World Championship on Monday.
Tamimi lost to second-seeded Tarek Momen of Egypt 5-11, 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 4-11.
The world number 47 also had a bitter-sweet evening especially as the legendary Geoff Hunt will be leaving his role as coach of the young Qatari who he has nurtured for 14 years.
“Unfortunately Geoff has to go. We have been together almost 14 years and I have to say without him I wouldn’t be playing squash. When I was 16-17 I was 99% sure I wanted to quit squash and play football but he believed I could get to the top one day and it was the biggest decision of my life,” Tamimi said.
“I wanted to make this one to remember for him and I am bit disappointed I could not give him that, but I hope he is happy with the way I am playing at the moment.
“We will for sure be in touch because our relationship is more than a coach and a player, he is like my dad he means so much to me. I feel like he is part of the family, so it’s really good.”
Tamimi, already on a history-making run, had beaten French duo Gregoire Marche and Mathieu Castagnet – heading into the third round clash against the much-fancied world number three Tarek Momen with momentum on his side.
The 24-year-old however, began the match a bit nervy and Momen pounced to claim the first the first game 11-5. Cheered on by the crowd, Tamimi showed flashes of his brilliance and soon wrapped up the the second game 12-10 letting out a big scream for the home crowd.
In the third game, Tamimi fought his way back after going down 7-4 -- claiming the game 11-9 with some beautiful movement on court.
With the momentum on his side, Tamimi soon found himself 6-3 up in the fourth to put himself within touching distance of a massive upset. But a nasty fall saw a shift in the game and Momen took advantage to draw level.
In the fifth game, the Egyptian held his opponent off in the decider to book his spot in the last eight.
“I can’t be that much disappointed, I had my chances and in the fourth game I was playing really well. I had that momentum. Unfortunately at 7-7, I had the bleeding on my leg and the the game swung in his favour. He (Momen) is experienced and he knew exactly what to do after that,” said Tamimi.
“The ball was flying everywhere and I couldn’t really get back to the momentum I had. I was 6-3 up as well, so I had my chances.
“I am playing better squash at the moment. I had a couple of good results and this is the second time in a month to take Tarek to five games and I could have won both and that gives me positive vibes for the next tournament and for 2020,” the former Aspire athlete said.
Momen on the other hand said, “Halfway through the fourth game, I knew things were critical because I was 6-3 down. I had no answers at the time so I had to just really grind it out. I am really happy with the way I fought to come back and win, and I have to recover now, stop thinking about what happened and move forward and prepare for my match against Diego Elias.”
