Croatia’s Zoran Primorac, who will celebrate his 40th birthday four
days after the curtain has been drawn on the H.I.S. World Championships
in Yokohama, performed the recovery of the morning on the third day of
play, Thursday 30th April 2009.
Trailing England’s 19 year old
Paul Drinkhall by three games to nil, the vast experience of the
Croatian, guided him to victory in a contest where by his own
admission, the final result could have gone either way. In the deciding
seventh game, Primorac saved one match point before winning three in a
row to secure victory.
Primorac won 4-11, 11-13, 1-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-8, 13-11.
Outstanding Start
"Paul
played outstanding well at the start of the match, he was aggressive,
every ball went on the table", reflected Primorac. "In the second game
I had a chance to level but I made a mistake playing a short ball, Paul
got an edge and I was two-nil down, I was very disappointed at that
stage."
The next game was totally dominated by the Englishman and Primorac was on the precipice of an early exit.
Experience
"Experience
saw me home, I just kept, fighting, fighting, fighting", said the
totally nationalistic Croatian. "In the first three game Paul had
played at a very, very high level; I felt he couldn’t keep that level
throughout the match; I think in the last four games his level went
down slightly and mine remained the same."
Unquestionably,
either player could have won, the seventh game was on a knife-edge but
if there was a difference it was when rallies developed.
Counter Topspin
Primorac
looked more secure in the counter topspin department, an area of table
tennis where for over two decades he has been one of the very best in
the world.
If Drinkhall was to win he had to win the points quickly; he gave his all but it was not to be and it was not to be for England.
Second Close Defeat
It was the second match of the morning when one of their aspiring players had lost a close seven games duel.
Kelly
Sibley, who just over one week earlier had celebrated her 20th
birthday, was beaten by the Czech Republic’s Renata Strbikova.
Strbikova won 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-7.
Another 40 year old in 2009
Two
close defeats for England but two close wins for those who will
celebrate their 40th birthdays in 2009 and have reputations for
fighting, fighting, fighting.
In addition to Zoran Primorac, Belgium’s Jean-Michel Saive had dig deep into the bag of experience.
Full Distance
He was extended the full seven games distance by Egypt’s Ahmed Ali Saleh.
Saive won 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 6-11, 13-11, 11-8.
Source: www.ittf.com
