Crouin claims second World Games crown
In the men’s final, Victor Crouin defeated a spirited Balazs Farkas to retain the World Games title he first won in Birmingham three years ago.
The 26-year-old Frenchman beat the Hungarian 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 in an attritional encounter, with Crouin’s continued efforts to generate winners eventually wearing down the No.6 seed.
“It means the world I came here to defend the title, and I just did it, so I’m very proud of myself to win this title a second time,” Crouin told Olympics.com after.
“I think this was the best preparation for the Olympics, coming in three years, to experience a multi-sports event like this one was very important for me to try and get some feedback on how to handle the kind of pressure that comes with multi-sports events, logistics, being part of a bigger French team.”
He continued: “It wasn’t my best squash this week, but I found ways to win, which is very important and I think I want to keep that positive momentum going into the start of the season.”
Farkas had presented something of a banana-skin for Crouin, having beaten No.2 seed Dimitri Steinmann in the semi-finals and not dropped a single game across the tournament.
Crouin, meanwhile, had arrived at the title-decider off the back of an 83-minute-long epic against Colombia’s Miguel Rodríguez not 24 hours earlier.
But no signs of fatigue on the Frenchman were to be found, with Crouin noticeably getting better as the games unfolded.
Whereas the first two games had been dominated by long and intense rallies, the decider was much more decisive with the French ace punching ahead with a string of winners to take an 8-2 lead. And while Farkas tried, he could do little to stem the rising tide of his opponent.
Despite the loss, the Hungarian was pleased with the outcome.
“For me, I mean, this tournament was really important,” Farkas told Olympics.com after.
“I was training really hard, and the whole summer I did a really good preparation. Before the Games, I was a little bit nervous because I really wanted to reach a really good result. I didn’t know if it would be a medal or not. I just tried to focus on playing every game like it would be the last, so I was really happy to reach the quarters, then after, the semi-finals, and I tried everything in the final as well, so I’m really happy right now.
He continued: “I think he [Victor] played really well. He put me under so much pressure. We are really good friends out of the court, so we always try to play our best game.”
In the bronze medal matches, Spain’s Marta Dominguez saw off Ho Tze Lok of Hong Kong, China, 12-10, 11-5, 11-2, while Colombian veteran Rodríguez defeated Steinmann 5-11, 11-8,11-5, 11-6.