ANDREW Forrest had to pull out all the stops to beat Max Endjala in the final of the Pionierspark Pharmacy Namibian Closed Squash Championships at the Wanderers court on Sunday.
In an excellent match, featuring long rallies, speed and sublime skills, the top-seeded Forrest’s experience told in the end as he won the match by three sets to one.
Endjala started in fine style, showing great retrieving skills as he ran down Forrest’s shots to take the first set 11-9.
Forrest struck back to take the second set 11-7, but the game took a twist in the third set with the score at 7-7.
Forrest took a three minute injury time-out after falling awkwardly, but came back and managed to withstand Endjala’s determined onslaught to win the set 13-11.
Endjala took an early lead in the fourth set, going 4-1 up, but Forrest’s experience told as he came back to win the set 11-8 and the match 3-1.
After the match a relieved Forrest was a gracious winner and congratulated Endjala on a fine performance.
“It was extremely tough – Max Endjala is one of Namibia’s top players, he’s an unbelievably fit player and I can see he put a lot of effort in behind the scenes,” he said.
“It was one of those games that could have gone either way and I was lucky I had a bit of experience on my side that took me through at the end of the day.
I’m still ranked number one, but I can see that all the juniors and Max and the other top ranked guys are really pushing hard to try and take me out which is great for Namibian squash,” he added.
Endjala said he tried his best, but Forrest was the better player on the day.
“It was very fast and a high-paced game. Andrew Forrest is a better player than me, I mean he’s been playing squash for quite a while and I’m only in my sixth year now. I tried my level best, but unfortunately he was the better player today,” he said.
He, however, added that Forrest’s injury time-out upset his rhythm.
“When he went off with an injury and that put me off completely. When he came back my focus was not there 100 percent anymore, so unfortunately he took it and that just changed the momentum of the game.
“But I’m going to work hard over the next month before our next tournament and hopefully then Ill beat him,” he added.
The women’s final between the number one seeded Chantelle de Gouveia and the number two Adri Lambert followed a similar pattern, with the experienced Lambert coming from behind to win the match 3-1.
De Gouveia, showing speed and dexterity chased Lambert across the court to take the first set 11-3.
Lambert, however, started to find her range in the second, pinning De Gouveia back with deep shots to the corners and the momentum swung in her favour as she took the next three sets 11-7, 11-7, 11-3 to win the match 3-1.
“It was very tiring – Chantelle is very fit and got the balls back very well, so I’m glad its over,” she said, adding that she changed her tactics in the second set,” Lambert said after the match.
“I was thinking I mustn’t play her game, I must play my game more and make it a bit slower, so that and my experience helped,” she added.
De Gouveia said it was a tough match, while she struggled with the altitude.
“It’s always a tough match when I play Adri. I’m from the coast so it’s different to play inland and she made me run a lot,” she said, but added that she would be back soon to compete in Windhoek again.
“I want to play in the Wanderers Open in July, so I’m looking forward to that and hopefully I’ll be a bit fitter by then,” she said.
The tournament saw a big turnout of 54 men competing in four divisions as well as 16 women, while a junior tournament also ran concurrently.
