Nhat Nguyen missed a chance to go one step closer to the knockout stages today after losing to Pablo Abian from Spain.
The Irishman won his first match yesterday against Daniel Nikolov, and now he has to win tomorrow to secure that spot in the knockouts.
Nguyen loses concentration in defeat
Nguyen who is one of the upcoming talents in Europe could not keep his focus after losing to Spain’s Pablo Abian from winning the first game, (18-21).
The former Youth Bronze medal winner played out a close second game with his opponent but the experience came to Abian’s aid as he won the game in a close (22-20) contest.
In the third, Abian really came out of his shell and showed people why he is in Minsk to defend his title as Nguyen fell to a 21-13 defeat.
Mistakes cost Nguyen
The 19-year old believes that the result was down to his game not being as it should and him not being patient enough against the current European Games Champion.
There is no doubt that experience counts in matches like this but Nguyen admitted he could have played better.
- I think I made too many easy mistakes at crucial points of the match, which gave him the lead and confidence, Nguyen said.
- I went for it too much, too early of the rally, so maybe tomorrow, I need to be more patient and take my time.
Nguyen spoke about his final match of the group stage tomorrow, as well as the pressure that multi-sport events can bring.
- I have a match against Wraber from Austria tomorrow, and I need to win tomorrow to go through.
- Everyone wants to do well at these multi-sport events, so it is whoever deals with it in the best way, comes through these games. So, I need to be better prepared for tomorrow, he continued.