Julian Illingworth lost 3-0 to Erick Galvez (MEX) 9-0, 9-4,
9-7 in 41mins. Julian didn't seem to have his complete game
and struggled to get into long rallies with Galvez. Illingworth,
after 2 long matches on Sunday, had very little in his tank
in the final. Despite the loss, this was the furthest any
American has ever gotten in the Pan American Individuals
and his silver medal bests Preston Quick's bronze from 2003.
Illingworth’s two victories Sunday - which included
a quarterfinal upset win over No. 1 seed Shahier Razik of
Canada and a come-from-behind, five-set semifinal win over
Miguel A. Rodriguez of Colombia – took its toll on
him Monday. He had trouble matching the quickness of Galvez,
who did an excellent job moving around the court.
“I was little tired from yesterday and he played well,”
Illingworth said. “I wish I wouldn’t have lost
in three games, but that’s the way it goes. I just
hadn’t recovered as well from the matches yesterday
as I had hoped to.”
Said Walker: “Eric is a very good player. He plays
a fast pace and plays a very quick game at the front. Julian
was physically tired from yesterday’s matches. Eric
had to play matches as well, but Julian didn’t recover
as well as Eric did. As you saw, Eric was really pumped
to win that gold medal. Julian had a great tournament. He
played two fantastic matches to get into the finals and
this was a great experience for him.”
Illingworth now has to recover and lead Team USA through
the Team Event. First up on Tuesday is El Salvador at 8am.
Illingworth will have a shot at revenge over Galvez as USA
and Mexico square off in the Pool Play Tuesday at 5:00pm.
Should USA win both those matches, they will become the
#1 seed for the team event and get a bye into the Semi Finals
on Wednesday night. Should USA go 1-1 in Pool play, they
will slot into the quarterfinals. An 0-2 pool play performance
will eliminate Team USA from Medal contention.
