Crouin defends men's squash crown, Watanabe's sportsmanship shines at Chengdu World Games

CHENGDU, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- France's Victor Crouin defended his men's singles title at the World Games squash competition on Tuesday, while top seed Satomi Watanabe of Japan claimed the women's gold after a final that featured an act of sportsmanship.

In the women's final, Watanabe, the world No. 6, defeated France's Marie Stephan in straight games 11-8, 11-8, 11-7. The Japanese player admitted that mental pressure was her biggest challenge on the grand stage for non-Olympic sports.

"It was really hard mentally today, it's a bigger stage," Watanabe said. "I knew I had a lot of support, but at the same time, I was expecting or wanting too much to win the gold medal. So I think handling those pressure or even emotion was the hardest part."

She credited her coach for helping her manage emotions: "My coach tells me you're going to feel it anyway, so you have to focus on whatever you're doing on court at the moment. That helped me a lot."

A dramatic moment came in the second set when Watanabe, leading 7-4, hit a return that neither she nor the referee clearly saw whether the ball bounced twice. After checking with her coaching team, she admitted the double bounce, awarding the point to Stephan.

"If it's a double bounce it's her point. I know Marie will call those balls as well," Watanabe said. "At the end of the day, you would like to win it with nothing left regret on court."

Competing as the top seed at a major event for the first time, Watanabe said the pressure was constant but matches against different opponents helped her settle, especially her opener against 13-year-old Chinese player Yin Ziyuan.

"I think it's just the other players helping me," she said. "I would say definitely the first match against the Chinese girl. She's only 13, and she definitely gives me a different kind of push mentally especially."

In the men's final, Crouin overcame Hungary's Balazs Farkas 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 to retain the title he first won three years ago in Birmingham.

"I was a much younger man and less experienced, wasn't really thinking about the World Games this year at all," Crouin said of his 2022 victory after the final. "Since then, I think I gained a lot of experience, and I was quite prepared to defend my title this week."

The Frenchman said the gold medal boosted his confidence for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, noting that the World Games provided valuable experience in a multi-sport environment.

"It was important to get that experience and feedback on how to handle the pressure, the logistics and other bigger stuff. It's a bit different from just being on the professional circuit," he said. "It was a great and positive experience and now my focus is on the LA 2028."

Colombia's Miguel Rodriguez and Spain's Marta Dominguez took the men's and women's bronze medals respectively. ■