[1] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-0 [5] Nick Wall (ENG) 11-4, 12-10, 11-3 (44m)
The match in my opinion comes down to simple numbers: 7, 8 and 8. That’s the number of free points (unforced errors and stroke given away) Nick gave Joel.
So the Welsh had to score 4 points, 3 points and then 3 points.
Simple…
The games were pretty short of Joel – normally his game length is much higher – 11m, 13m, 11m. A good push from Nick in the 2nd, forcing Joel to keep working a bit longer, clinching the game on his 3rd attempt.
A good warm up for Joel that match, not sure why so few players chose not to attend the event. It’s a great opening of the season, a nice test, as Joel said after the match.
But what do I know…
Joel : “These guys are coming in as a bit of a free bet. It doesn’t mean I don’t think they can win, but all the pressure is off, and they can be really disruptive, which he was. He’s got a lot of good skills about him: heavy ball striker, clean hitter, he created a lot of pressure in the second game, and I had to revert back to what I was doing well, which was hitting my spots and finding my positions around the middle. It wasn’t straightforward.
“I think this tournament has got a lot of history to it, and I like to be a part of that. I think it’s important we keep it going and hopefully the players going forward after I’ve finished, they’ll carry on and keep the level high and put their names in amongst it as well.”
You train for months, you don’t know where you are, you’ve put on the work but it’s not guaranteed that you are going to feel good on there, so, it’s a good test.
