By Gareth James
Joel Makin swept into the quarter-finals of the Black Ball Open in Cairo after an impressive display.
The world No 9 from Haverfordwest overcame world No 14 Mazen Hesham in 42 minutes.
Makin won their third round match 11-7, 12-10, 11-5 to book his place in the last eight of the tournament where he is seeded eight.
And Makin’s reward for reaching his second successive quarter final at the Black Ball Sporting Club will be to face World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy or India’s Saurav Ghosal in the next round.
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“I thought that was a lot better today,” said Makin, who had avoided a shock defeat in the second round – and his first match since December – with a 3-2 victory over England’s world No 52 Patrick Rooney after 75 minutes on Sunday.
“I got a much better weight of line and got across the middle a little bit more, so that was a lot better.
“You have to be careful against Mazen, I knew that if I wasn’t playing well or I wasn’t sharp or a bit negative then he would hit winners from everywhere, so I had to step up and I thought it made a big difference.
“That’s the fifth quarter final now, I’ve made one semi-final. The quality of my squash just needs to improve, I’m getting there at times and I’m beating higher ranked players but it needs to consistent.
“I need be confident taking it in and initiating from the start, not doing what I did yesterday – we haven’t played for a long time, but it needs to be better than that. I’m happy with today and that’s the sort of quality I want to play.
“I’m going to sit in the room for another 24 hours. Get some mobility, some food and protein and a stretch and that’s about it for the rest of the day.”