Luxembourg – Estonia 0-3
Stéphane Ayache – Paul Piik 13-11 11-13 4-11 13-15
Daniel Hutchines – Kristjan Pettai 11-6 13-15 9-11 8-11
Marcel Kramer – Jaanus Pettai 6-11 5-11
Today, the playing order is 3-1-2, so first on court is Stéphane Ayache against a very fit looking Paul Piik. The first game was for Stéphane, he won it 13-11 on tiebreak. In the second game though, Paul Piik improved, did not make any mistakes anymore, and the very long game finished 13-11 for Estonia this time. The Estonian now played much faster, wearing Stéphane down, and wins game 3 easily 11-4. But Stéphane did not give up, and fought back: the 4th game was a gruelling one: long rallies, and the Estonian being all over the place, retrieving everything. He found amazing angles, and every boast almost went into the nick. Despite this, Stéphane stayed into the game, and even had 4 game balls, all saved by Paul Piik. Eventually, on another tight shot from the Estonian, Stéphane played it back to the middle, and a stroke gave the match to Estonia!
Next on court is Daniel Hutchines, who has to be prepared for a very long match. Good first game from Danny, who won it 11-6. Quote Mark Gillies “Well done!”. What a game the next one was: incredibly long rallies, good retrieving, and some astonishing shot-making by Danny. But Danny really should have asked for some lets: at least 4 clear strokes, and he just played one! Hopefully he can convert the advise Paul gave him between the sets. Danny started well in the 4th, and the score was very close throughout the whole game. In the end, the Estonian had a slight advantage, and at 9-10, game ball for Estonia, Danny served…out! So it’s 2-1 to Estonia now! The Estonian was too fit in the 4th game, which Danny lost 8-11.
In the dead rubber match, Marcel Kramer lost against Estonian number 2 Jaanus Pettai 0-2.
Final game is at 2pm…
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