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Unstoppable! On Wednesday, August 31st, Diego Elías continues strong in the start of the 2023-24 Squash season, at the Paris 2023 PSA World Tour-Platinum. As expected, our national representative showed a good level in the first two matches, defeating the Pakistani-American Shahjahan Khan (3-0) and the Englishman Nick Wall (3-0), to smoothly reach the quarter-finals of the French Open.
The first big challenge came in this round, equivalent to the fourth round. Facing a more experienced opponent like the Welshman Joel Makin, Elías prevailed 3-2, with scores of 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 7-11, and 11-7 in a match that lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes. Thus, the current number 2 in the PSA ranking qualified for the tournament's semi-finals, where he will compete against Nick Wall (England). The English athlete comes with high morale, having defeated the Egyptian Omar Mosaad 3-0.
"Joel (Makin) is a great fighter; I had to win points many times. I'm still not happy with many of the things I did today, but I am happy to be back on the court after a couple of months. I was enjoying it and I hope to improve with each match," said Elías. "I wasn't happy with my physical condition. He was very fast, volleyed a lot, I was under pressure from the beginning and I didn't expect it. I got a little nervous and those things can tire you out a bit more. I'm happy to be able to stay there and win," Elías stated.
When will Diego Elías play again?
Diego Elías, 2nd in the world, will return to action this Friday to face the Englishman Mohamed ElShorbagy, 3rd in the world rankings, who defeated the Egyptian Mazen Hesham 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, and 11-4). It is worth noting that for the first time in history, the matches of our national representative can be watched for free on the Red Bull website. Keep in mind that the previous season was the best for 'Puma' in his professional career. After nine years competing in the elite world of Squash, he reached the number 1 in the world rankings on April 17th of this year. Today, he starts his tenth year on the tour occupying the second position, focused on returning to the top of the discipline.
Pay attention, 'Puma' also has other challenges in sight, such as the Pan American Games Santiago 2023. Even before representing our country in this competition, he will participate in the Q-Terminals Qatar Classic (September 9th to 16th in Qatar) and the US Open (October 7th to 14th in the United States).
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