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McQuillan at the
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Latest:
Day 7:
England
Clinch World Title In Pakistan
More than four years after 'defecting' from Scotland to join
take advantage of England's Lottery-funded World Class Performance
Programme, Peter Nicol rewarded his country in the strongest possible
way by clinching victory for England in today's (Wednesday) final of the
Men's World Team Squash Championships in Islamabad, Pakistan. The 2/0
success over second seeds Egypt marks the first time England have won
the biggest team prize in world squash since 1997, and the first time that
Nicol has played a part in an England world championships triumph. It was
22-year-old James Willstrop who set up England's victory on the
all-glass court at the Mushaf Squash Complex in Islamabad. The new
world number two, who is leading the England squad for the first time,
fought back from a game down to claim a sensational 4-9 9-6 9-3 9-1 win over
world champion Amr Shabana in the 63-minute clash between the
countries' first strings. Nicol, who won a Commonwealth Games gold medal for
England in 2002 in Manchester, then faced Egyptian number three Mohammed
Abbas for the title. Despite scoring only three points, Abbas kept the
world No8 on court for 44 minutes before Nicol raised his arms in triumph
after the 9-0 9-2 9-1 win which earned England their third title since 1995.
"This is my way of repaying England for all the support they have give me
over the years – the programme, the funding, the coaching, and everything
else," said the jubilant former Scot afterwards. "I really wanted this
victory badly and am really pleased to have done it," added Nicol, who now
holds two world titles this year after winning the World Games trophy
in Germany in July.
Top seeds England triumphed 2/0 over Egypt, the
second seeds, in today's (Wednesday) final of the Big Time Men's
World Team Squash Championships in Islamabad, Pakistan, to win the
prestigious title for the first time since 1997. It was 22-year-old
James Willstrop who set up England's victory on the all-glass court at
the Mushaf Squash Complex in Islamabad. The new world number two,
who is leading the England squad for the first time, fought back from a
game down to claim a sensational 4-9 9-6 9-3 9-1 win over world champion
Amr Shabana in the 63-minute clash between the countries' first
strings. Next up was Peter Nicol, the former world No1 who is
competing for the first time in these championships as the England No3.
The 32-year-old from London faced Egyptian number three Mohammed Abbas
for the title. Despite scoring only three points, Abbas kept the
world No8 on court for 44 minutes before Nicol raised his arms in triumph
after the 9-0 9-2 9-1 win which earned England their third title since
1995. "This is my way of repaying England for all the support they have
give me over the years – the programme, the funding, the coaching, and
everything else," the jubilant Nicol said afterwards. "I really wanted
this victory badly and am really pleased to have done it. "This means a
lot to me – we've done it at last," added Nicol. France clinched
third place after beating Canada 2/1. World number one Thierry
Lincou was in fine form as he despatched Canada's Jonathon Power
9-4 9-2 9-2 to extend his unbeaten record in the championships. But
Shahier Razik brought Canada back into contention by defeating
Renan Lavigne 9-7 7-9 9-7 6-9 9-3 in a 116-minute marathon. However,
Frenchman Gregory Gaultier made sure of his country's second best
ever finish in the event when he beat Toronto's Graham Ryding 9-2
9-4 9-1 in the decider. Australia won the play-off for fifth place,
beating sixth seeds Malaysia 2/0 – but the sixth place finish
marks Malaysia's best-ever position in the event in 12 appearances since
1979. Hosts Pakistan also finished on a high, winning the play-off
for seventh place by beating Wales 2/1 – marking their best finish
since 1997. Also noteworthy was the 11th place conclusion by a young
India team – appearing in the event for the first time since 1995 when
they finished in 28th place! USA are also celebrating in
Islamabad: Seeded in the 19/22 group, the team coached by England world
championships hero Chris Walker beat Scotland 2/1 in the
13th place play-off, thereby recording their best finish in 22 years! The
young Kuwait squad, appearing for the 14th time in the event -
with a squad aged 21 or younger - finished in a commendable 16th place,
their highest place since 1979.
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OFFICIAL SITE
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MATCH REPORTS:
. DAY 1:
. Day 2:
.
Day 3:
.
Day 4:
. Day 5:
. Day 6:
. Day 7:
Final Results
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Winning England Team pose for thier first
World Teams title since 1977 |
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James Willstrop Triumphant following his win over World Champion Amr
Shabana in World Team FInal |
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A win for Egypt in second Semi sees them
play England in World Teams Final |
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Final Results:
Final:
[1] ENGLAND bt [2] EGYPT 2-0 (James Willstrop bt Amr Shabana 4-9,
9-6, 9-3, 9-1 (63m); Peter Nicol bt Mohammed Abbas
9-0, 9-2, 9-1 (44m); Lee Beachill v Karim Darwish (match withdrawn - dead
rubber))
3rd place
play-off:
[3] FRANCE bt [5] CANADA 2-1 (Thierry Lincou bt Jonathon Power 9-4,
9-2, 9-2; Renan Lavigne lost to Shahier Razik 7-9, 9-7, 7-9, 9-6, 3-9;
Gregory Gaultier bt Graham Ryding 9-2, 9-4, 9-1)
5th place play-off:
[4] AUSTRALIA bt [6] MALAYSIA 2-0 (Anthony Ricketts bt Mohd Azlan
Iskandar 10-9, 9-0, 9-2 (34m); Joseph Kneipp bt Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan 9-0,
9-2, 9-0 (20m); Stewart Boswell v Ong Beng Hee (match withdrawn - dead
rubber))
7th place play-off:
[7] PAKISTAN bt [8] WALES 2-1 (Mansoor Zaman bt Alex Gough 9-4, 9-0,
9-3; Safeer Ullah Khan lost to Gavin Jones 5-9, 3-9, 9-6, 2-9; Farhan
Mehboob bt David Evans 6-9, 9-5, 9-4, 9-1)
9th place play-off:
[12] SOUTH AFRICA bt [13/18] GERMANY 2-1 (Rodney Durbach bt Stefan
Leifels 9-2, 9-5, 9-0 (34m); Clinton Leeuw lost to Simon Baker 3-9, 10-8,
3-9, 9-3, 7-9 (87m); Michael Tootill bt Simon Rosner 9-7, 8-10, 9-6, 9-4
(61m))
11th place play-off:
[10] INDIA bt [9] NETHERLANDS 2-1 (Ritwik Bhattacharya lost to Laurens
Jan Anjema 1-9, 3-9, 3-9; Gaurav Nandrajog bt Tom Hoevenaars 9-4, 9-3, 9-3;
Siddharth Suchde bt Dylan Bennett 9-5, 9-6, 9-7)
13th place play-off:
[19/22] USA bt [13/18] SCOTLAND 2-1 (Preston Quick lost to John White
6-9, 4-9, 7-9; Christopher Gordon bt Stuart Crawford 9-4, 9-6, 9-4; Julian
Illingworth bt Harry Leitch 9-6, 9-3, 9-5)
15th place play-off:
[11] NEW ZEALAND bt [13/18] KUWAIT 2-1 (Callum O'Brien lost to
Abdullah Almezayen 4-9, 8-10, 0-9 (31m); Martin Knight bt Nasser Al Ramezi
9-1, 9-2, 9-6 (37m); Campbell Grayson bt Bader Al Hussaini 9-0, 10-9, 9-1
(29m))
17th place play-off:
[19/22] SPAIN bt [13/18] FINLAND 2-1 (Borja Golan bt Olli Tuominen
9-2, 9-2, 9-1 (32m); Alejandro Garbi Caro bt Hameed Ahmed 9-6, 9-3, 9-3
(36m); David Vidal Villamide lost to Matias Tuomi 9-4, 4-9, 4-9 (38m))
19th place play-off:
[13/18] IRELAND bt [19/22] IRAN 3-0 (Liam Kenny bt Majid Rohani 9-0,
9-3, 9-2; Neal Murphy bt Mohamad Hassan Jafari 9-3, 9-1, 9-5; Arthur Gaskin
bt Poya Ahmad Abadi 9-6, 9-7)
21st place play-off:
[13/18] HONG KONG bt [19/22] AUSTRIA 3-0 (Dick Lau bt Jakob Dirnberger
9-0, 9-5, 2-9, 9-1; Wai Hang Wong bt Aqeel Rehman 9-6, 9-0, 9-0; Roger Ngan
bt Stefan Brauneis 9-7, 9-3)
Semi-final Results:
[1]
ENGLAND bt [5] CANADA 2-1
lost to Jonathon Power 3-9 7-9 4-9 (52m)
Peter
Nicol bt Graham Ryding 9-4 9-2 9-6 (41m)
Nick
Matthew bt Shahier Razik 10-8 9-2 9-0 (47m)
[2] EGYPT v [3] FRANCE
Karim Darwish bt Gregory Gaultier 9/3, 9/3, 9/4 (65m);
Thierry Lincou bt Amr
Shabana 0/9, 9/6, 9/3, 10/8
(71m); Wael El Hindi bt Renan Lavigne 9/3, 4/9,
9/6, 9/6 (83m)
Quarter-final
Results:
England bt Wales 3-0 (James Willstrop bt David Evans 9-4
9-7 9-4, Lee Beachill bt Gavin Jones 9-0 9-5, Nick Mathew bt Ricky
Davis 9-3 9-2 9-2
Canada bt Australia
2-1 (Jonathon
Power bt Anthony Ricketts 1-9 9-3 9-4 9-3, Graham Ryding lost to Stewart
Boswell 3-9 7-9, Shahier Razik bt Joe Kneipp 1-9 9-7 9-1 9-5
France bt Pakistan
2-1 (Theirry
Lincou bt Shahid Zaman 10-8 9-3 2-9 9-4, Gregory Gaultier bt Mansoor
Zaman 9-2 7-9 9-4 9-1, Renan Lavigne lost to Farhan Mehboob 9-1 9-6 4-9
9-5
Egypt bt Malaysia
3-0 (Amr Shabana
bt Moh Azlan Iskander 9-0 8-10 9-7 9-4, Karim Darwish bt Ong Beng Hee W/O ,
Mohammed Abbas bt Mohd Mafizwan 9-0 9-0 9-0
Lower Place Play-offs:
Kuwait bt Iran 2-1
(Abdullah Al Mezayen bt Majid Rohani 9-1 9-7 9-7, Nasser Ramzy bt Poya Ahmad
Abadi 9-1 9-2, Omar Al Jamaan lost to Mohamad Hassan Jafari 6-9 3-9
6-9
Scotland bt Finland
3-0 (John
White bt Olli Tuominen 5-9 9-5 9-6 9-1, Harry Leitch bt Matias Toumi
9-6 9-4, Stuart Crawford bt Hameed Ahmed 9-3 3-9 10-9 9-6
USA bt Ireland 2-1
(Preston
Quick lost to Liam Kenny 2-9 2-9 0-9, Jullian Illingworth bt Arthur Gaskin
9-0 9-0 9-5, Chris Gordon bt Neal Murphy 9-3 9-6 9-6
New Zealand bt Spain
2-1 (Kashif
Shuja lost to Borja Golan 3-9 5-9 9-10, Callum Brien bt David Vidal
Villamide 9-3 9-3 9-3, Campbell Grayson bt Alejandro Garbi 9-5 9-1 3-9 9-3
Last 16 Play-off Results:
[8] WALES bt [13/18] GERMANY 2-1 [Alex
Gough bt Stefen Leifels 9-8 10-8 5-9 4-9 9-7, David Evans bt Simon
Rosner 9-4 9-1 9-0, Gavin Jones lost to Simon Baker 3-9 1-9 6-9 ]
[5] CANADA bt [10] INDIA 3-0 [Graham Ryding
bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 10-8 9-4 9-4,
Shahier Razik bt Saurav Ghosal 10-8 9-6 9-2, Mathew Guiffre bt Sidharth
Suchde 9-4 9-5 ]
[7]
PAKISTAN bt [9] NETHERLANDS 3-0 [Shahid Zaman bt Laurens Anjema
9-6 2-9 0-9 9-4 9-5, Mansoor Zaman bt Dylan Bennett 9-5 9-6 9-1, Farhan
Mehboob bt Tom Hoevenaars 9-0 9-3 ]
[6] MALAYSIA bt [12] SOUTH AFRICA 2-1 [Mohd
Azlan Iskandar bt Rodney Durbach 9-2 9-5 9-1, Ong Beng Hee bt Mike
Toothill 9-4 9-6 9-4, Timothy Arnold lost to Clinton Leeuw 9-5 9-5 9-7 ]
USA bt HONG KONG
3 – 0 [Preston Quick bt Wong Wai Hang 9-0 9-0 9-2, Julian Illingworth bt
Dick Lau 9-5 9-5 9-1, Chris Gordon bt Roger Ngan 9-6 9-7 ]
SPAIN
bt AUSTRIA 3 – 0 [Borja Golan bt Aqeel Rehman 9-1 9-2 9-0, David Vidal
bt Jakon Dirnbegrger 9-4 9-2 9-2, Alejandro Garbi bt Stefen Braunies 10-8
9-3 ]
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Big Time Men's
World
Team Championships
Islamabad, Pakistan |
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THE POOLS
THE POOLS
LINE-UP
(with seeding in brackets) are:
Pool A:
[1] England, [12] South Africa, [13/18] Kuwait, [19/22] Austria
Pool B:
[2] Egypt, [11] New Zealand, [13/18] Germany, [19/22] Iran
Pool C:
[3] France, [10] India, [13/18] Ireland
Pool D:
[4] Australia, [9] Netherlands, [13/18] Finland, [19/22] USA
Pool E:
[5] Canada, [8] Wales, [13/18] Hong Kong
Pool F:
[6] Malaysia, [7] Pakistan, [13/18] Scotland, [19/22] Spain
POOL RESULTS
FINAL QUALIFYING ROUNDS
Pool A:
[12] SOUTH AFRICA bt [13/18]
KUWAIT 2-1 (Rowan
Smith lost to Nasser Al Ramezi 6-9, 2-9, 4-9; Rodney Durbach bt Abdullah
Almezayen 9-6, 9-5, 9-4; Michael Tootill bt Bader Al Hussaini 6-9, 9-6, 6-9,
9-4, 9-3)
[1] ENGLAND bt [19/22]
AUSTRIA 3-0
(Peter Nicol bt Stefan Brauneis 9-1, 9-1, 9-2; James Willstrop bt Aqeel
Rehman 9-1, 9-0, 9-0; Lee Beachill bt Jakob Dirnberger 9-4, 9-2, 9-4)
Final positions: 1
England, 2 South Africa, 3 Kuwait, 4 Austria
Pool B:
[2] EGYPT bt [11] NEW
ZEALAND 3-0 (Wael
El Hindi bt Martin Knight 9-2, 9-2, 9-1; Amr Shabana bt Kashif Shuja 9-4,
9-0, 9-0; Karim Darwish bt Callum O'Brien 9-1, 9-0, 9-0)
[13/18] GERMANY bt
[19/22] IRAN 3-0
(Patrick Gaessler bt Mohamad Hassan Jafari 9-3, 9-3, 9-0; Stefan Leifels bt
Majid Rohani 9-2, 9-4, 9-3; Simon Baker bt Poya Ahmad Abadi 9-2, 9-3, 9-5)
Final positions: 1
Egypt, 2 Germany, 3 New Zealand, 4 Iran
Pool C:
[10] INDIA bt [13/18]
IRELAND 2-1 (Siddharth
Suchde bt Brian Byrne 9-5, 9-1, 9-2; Ritwik Bhattacharya lost to Liam Kenny
7-9, 3-9, 6-9; Saurav Ghosal bt Arthur Gaskin 6-9, 9-5, 9-0, 9-1)
Final positions: 1
France, 2 India, 3 Ireland
Pool D:
[4] AUSTRALIA bt [9]
NETHERLANDS 3-0
(Joseph Kneipp bt Marc Reus 9-0, 9-1, 9-2; Anthony Ricketts bt Laurens Jan
Anjema 9-3, 9-3, 9-1; Stewart Boswell bt Tom Hoevenaars 9-0, 9-0, 9-0)
[13/18] FINLAND bt
[19/22] USA 2-1 (Hameed
Ahmed bt Beau River 0-9, 9-7, 9-5, 9-1; Olli Tuominen bt Preston Quick 9-7,
9-0, 9-1; Matias Tuomi lost to Julian Illingworth 10-8, 9-2, 5-9, 0-9, 2-9)
Final positions: 1
Australia, 2 Netherlands, 3 Finland, 4 USA
Pool E:
[8] WALES bt [13/18] HONG
KONG 3-0 (Gavin
Jones bt Anson Kwong 9-2, 9-1, 9-2; Alex Gough bt Wai Hang Wong 1-9, 9-2,
9-3, 9-4; David Evans bt Dick Lau 9-3, 9-2, 9-1)
Final positions: 1
Canada, 2 Wales, 3 Hong Kong
Pool F:
[7] PAKISTAN bt [6]
MALAYSIA 3-0 (Safeer
Ullah Khan bt Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan 9-3, 9-7, 9-0; Mansoor Zaman bt Ong Beng
Hee 9-6, 0-9, 9-10, 9-8, 9-3; Farhan Mehboob bt Timothy Arnold 9-4, 9-3,
9-1)
[13/18] SCOTLAND bt
[19/22] SPAIN 3-0
(Stuart Crawford bt
Alejandro Garbi Caro 1-9, 9-2, 9-2, 9-2; John White bt Iago Cornes 9-2, 9-5,
9-3; Harry Leitch bt David Vidal Villamide 9-7, 9-4, 10-9)
Final positions: 1
Pakistan, 2 Malaysia, 3 Scotland, 4 Spain
2ND QUALIFYING ROUNDS
Pool A:
[1]
ENGLAND bt [12] SOUTH AFRICA 3-0
(Nick Matthew bt Clinton
Leeuw 9-1, 9-2, 2-9, 9-3; Lee Beachill bt Rodney Durbach 9-2, 10-8, 9-0;
Peter Nicol bt Rowan Smith 9-2, 9-0, 9-0)
[13/18] KUWAIT bt [19/22] AUSTRIA 3-0
(Abdullah Almezayen bt Aqeel
Rehman 9-2, 9-0, 9-2; Bader Al Hussaini bt Jakob Dirnberger 9-7, 9-7, 9-2;
Nasser Al Ramezi bt Andreas Freudensprung 9-6, 7-9, 9-7, 9-0)
Pool B:
[2]
EGYPT bt [13/18] GERMANY 3-0
(Wael El Hindi bt Patrick
Gaessler 9-3, 9-0, 9-0; Karim Darwish bt Simon Rosner 9-2, 9-2, 9-3;
Mohammed Abbas bt Simon Baker 9-3, 9-0, 9-1)
[11] NEW ZEALAND bt [19/22] IRAN 3-0
(Kashif Shuja bt Majid
Rohani 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Martin Knight bt Mohamad Hassan Jafari 9-4, 9-0, 9-0;
Campbell Grayson bt Poya Ahmad Abadi 9-1, 9-0, 9-0)
Pool C:
[3]
FRANCE bt [10] INDIA 3-0
(Renan Lavigne bt Siddharth
Suchde 9-5, 4-9, 9-4, 9-2; Thierry Lincou bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 9-1, 9-1,
9-0; Gregory Gaultier bt Saurav Ghosal 9-3, 9-1, 9-5)
Pool D:
[4]
AUSTRALIA bt [13/18] FINLAND 3-0
(Joseph Kneipp bt Hameed
Ahmed 9-3, 9-6, 9-1; Anthony Ricketts bt Olli Tuominen 9-0, 9-4, 9-0;
Stewart Boswell bt Erno Teitti 9-1, 9-0, 9-0)
[9]
NETHERLANDS bt [19/22] USA 2-1
(Tom Hoevenaars lost to
Christopher Gordon 9-1, 8-10, 4-9, 9-6, 0-9; Laurens Jan Anjema bt Preston
Quick 9-5, 9-2, 9-2; Dylan Bennett bt Julian Illingworth 1-9, 9-4, 9-5, 3-9,
9-5)
Pool E:
[5]
CANADA bt [8] WALES 3-0
(Matthew Giuffre bt Ricky
Davies 9-5, 9-7, 5-9, 9-3; Graham Ryding bt David Evans 9-5, 9-4, 9-4;
Shahier Razik bt Gavin Jones 5-9, 4-9, 9-0, 9-3, 9-3)
Pool F:
[6]
MALAYSIA bt [13/18] SCOTLAND 2-1
(Timothy Arnold lost to
Stuart Crawford 9-3, 1-9, 10-9, 5-9, 1-9; Mohd Azlan Iskandar bt John White
9-4, 9-3, 10-8; Ong Beng Hee bt Harry Leitch 9-5, 9-0, 9-0)
[7]
PAKISTAN bt [19/22] SPAIN 3-0
(Farhan Mehboob bt
Alejandro Garbi Caro 9-0, 9-4, 9-3; Shahid Zaman bt Borja Golan 9-5, 4-9,
9-2, 5-9, 9-7; Mansoor Zaman bt Iago Cornes 9-3, 9-1, 9-0)
1ST QUALIFYING ROUNDS
Pool A:
[1] ENGLAND bt [13/18] KUWAIT 3-0 (Nick Matthew bt Nasser Al Ramezi 9-3,
9-3, 9-3; James Willstrop bt Abdullah Almezayen 9-4, 9-2, 9-2; Lee Beachill
bt Bader Al Hussaini 9-6, 9-3, 9-3)
[12] SOUTH AFRICA bt [19/22] AUSTRIA 3-0 (Rowan Smith bt Andreas
Freudensprung 9-0, 9-1, 9-1; Rodney Durbach bt Aqeel Rehman 9-0, 9-1, 9-1;
Michael Tootill bt Jakob Dirnberger 9-4, 9-3, 9-5)
Pool B:
[13/18] GERMANY bt [11] NEW ZEALAND 2-1 (Simon Baker bt Campbell Grayson
9-6, 10-8, 6-9, 9-5; Stefan Leifels bt Kashif Shuja 10-9, 9-10, 5-9, 10-8,
9-3; Simon Rosner lost to Callum O'Brien 9-6, 6-9, 9-7, 7-9, 7-9)
[2] EGYPT bt [19/22] IRAN 3-0 (Wael El Hindi bt Mohamad Hassan Jafari 9-0,
9-0, 9-1; Karim Darwish bt Majid Rohani 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Mohammed Abbas bt
Poya Ahmad Abadi 9-1, 9-0, 9-2)
Pool C:
[3] FRANCE bt [13/18] IRELAND 3-0 (Jean-Michel Arcucci bt Neal Murphy 9-4,
9-4, 9-1; Gregory Gaultier bt Liam Kenny 9-6, 9-1, 9-0; Renan Lavigne bt
Arthur Gaskin 9-3, 9-4, 9-5)
Pool D:
[4] AUSTRALIA bt [19/22] USA 3-0 (Joseph Kneipp bt Beau River 9-0, 9-0, 9-3;
Anthony Ricketts bt Preston Quick 9-6, 9-3, 9-7; Stewart Boswell bt Julian
Illingworth 9-1, 9-1, 9-0)
[9] NETHERLANDS bt [13/18] FINLAND 2-1 (Marc Reus lost to Hameed Ahmed 9-10,
0-9, 6-9; Laurens Jan Anjema bt Olli Tuominen 9-7, 4-9, 9-1, 6-9, 9-3; Dylan
Bennett bt Matias Tuomi 9-0, 9-3, 9-6)
Pool E:
[5] CANADA bt [13/18] HONG KONG 3-0 (Matthew Giuffre bt Roger Ngan 9-6, 9-5,
9-7; Graham Ryding bt Wai Hang Wong 9-5, 9-0, 9-5; Shahier Razik bt Dick Lau
9-2, 9-5, 9-2)
Pool F:
[6] MALAYSIA bt [19/22] SPAIN 2-1 (Timothy Arnold lost to David Vidal
Villamide 6-9, 1-9, 9-3, 10-8, 2-9; Mohd Azlan Iskandar bt Borja Golan 3-9,
9-1, 9-6, 9-1; Ong Beng Hee bt Iago Cornes 9-0, 9-5, 9-0)
[7] PAKISTAN bt [13/18] SCOTLAND 2-1 (Farhan Mehboob bt Alan Clyne 9-6, 9-1,
9-2; Shahid Zaman lost to John White 6-9, 6-9, 8-10; Mansoor Zaman bt Stuart
Crawford 9-2, 9-2, 9-1)
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Reports
Day 6:
Top Seeds England & Egypt
To Meet In World Final
Favourites
England
will face second seeds
Egypt
in the final of the Big
Time World Team Squash Championships after both teams survived dramatic
deciders in their ties against
Canada
and
France,
respectively, in today's (Tuesday) semi-finals in
Islamabad,
Pakistan.
Former world number one
Peter Nicol put England ahead with a commanding 9-4 9-2 9-6 victory over
the Canadian number two Graham Ryding in the opening rubber. But
James Willstrop, the new world number two, was unable to repeat the win
he achieved over former world champion Jonathon Power in last week's
World Open in Hong Kong.
Playing in his first world
championships as the England No1, the 22-year-old went down 3-9 7-9 4-9 to
Power as fifth seeds Canada levelled the tie against the top seeds.
Matthew, the world No10 from
Sheffield, raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening game of the decider against
Shahier Razik. But the Canadian No3 slowed the game down and drew level
at 8-8 before the Englishman reclaimed the upper hand to win the game.
Matthew maintained his
authority from the beginning of the second game and soon wrapped up a 10-8
9-2 9-0 victory to confirm England's place in the final for the first time
since 1997.
Later, Egypt's second string
Karim Darwish also put his country ahead, beating France's number two
Gregory Gaultier 9-3 9-3 9-4 in the pair's first meeting since
Darwish beat the Frenchman to win the World Junior title in Italy more than
five years ago.
The battle between the two
top strings brought France back into contention, as world No1 Thierry
Lincou recovered from a game down to beat world champion Amr Shabana
0-9 9-6 9-3 10-8.
It took 82 minutes to
resolve the decider, with Egypt's world No19 Wael El Hindi fighting
back from a game down to defeat Frenchman Renan Lavigne, ranked 14
places lower, 3-9 9-4 9-6 9-6 to take Egypt into the final for the third
time in six years.
In the play-offs for lower
positions, hosts
Pakistan went
down 2/1 to
Malaysia as their
Asian rivals gained revenge for the earlier pool defeat. Pakistan will now
face Wales
to battle for 7th
place while
Malaysia take on
Australia in a bid to finish in the top five for the first time
Germany
continued to defy their
seeding after beating tenth seeds
India
3/0. Seeded in the 13/18
group, Germany will now face 12th seeds
South Africa
in the play-off for 9th
place to achieve their best finish for eight years
Day 5:
Canada
Catch Australia Cold
Colin McQuillan in
Islamabad,
Pakistan
Fifth
seeded Canada, having been forced to play off with India for a place in the
quarter-finals of the Big Time Men’s World Team Squash Championship in
Islamabad, Pakistan, have summarily ejected the fourth seeded Australian
defending champions. For only the second time the Australians will finish
outside the top four. In 1977 they finished fifth behind Pakistan, New
Zealand, Egypt and Great Britain.
Lacking
their usual first string, David Palmer, who was banned from WSF events for
one year after behaviour problems at the World Doubles in Chennai, India,
earlier this year, Australia nevertheless dominated Pool D under the
leadership of British Open Champion Anthony Ricketts, with former World No4
Stewart Boswell, renowned this year as the super qualifier of the PSA World
Tour, at second string and the experienced Joe Kneipp at third string.
Canada,
traditionally viewed as something of a two man team since the emergence of
Jonathon Power and Graham Ryding, showed today that the addition of Shahier
Razik and Matthew Giuffre to the squad has changed that dramatically. They
had defeated Australia today even before Ryding took to the court against
Boswell for the second string rubber.
They
headed Pool E from the qualifying rounds but needed a 3-0 win over India in
the Last 16 play-offs to make the quarter-finals.
On the
notably cold all-glass showcourt of the Roshan Khan Squash Complex, first
Power and then Razik simply outmaneuvered Ricketts and Kneipp to wrap up an
surprise entry to a semi-final against England. On the same frigid court the
top seeds later cruised past a Welsh squad that, assuming they would have
chances against Canada in the next round, rested their first string, Alex
Gough.
Power
took a game to get the measure of the court and then began to find the gaps
in the Australian’s increasingly disinterested rallying to win almost
routinely 1-9 9-3 9-4 9-3 in 59 minutes.
As Razik
advanced in remarkably similar fashion from a game and 0-7 down against
Kneipp to win 1-9 9-7 9-1 9-5 in 53 minutes, there was a wonderful
moment when the two top men standing behind the court looked at each other
in amazement, puzzled over how to react to the success, and finished up
almost smirking at each other as they gave in to a victory hug.
“Canada
winning with Graham Ryding. Its unheard off,” declared Power. “You could say
we were not expected to win today.” He explained that front wall of the
centre court at the 20-year-old Roshan Complex was seriously unresponsive
and the playing atmosphere completely dead. “We realized pretty early on
that we would have to place the ball rather than hit it, aim at the nicks
rather than try to rally.”
The
Australians seemed not to make the same analysis of the situation. Ricketts,
normally a fearsome competitor, remained almost disconnected from the
action, unable to generate any pace on the ball and unwilling to adventure
much in the front court, while Power was happily shooting at the wide nicks
around the grand old court.
Kneipp
became so disconcerted as the third string match slipped away from him that
at one stage he was kicking at Razik’ s shoes as he passed by between
services. “Joe likes to run things from the Tee normally, so I just set out
to keep him away from it by lifting the ball to the deep corners and placing
it into the front court with as much accuracy as I could manage,” Razik
explained. “It is a great win for us and I am so pleased to have won the
match that clinched it.”
Over on
the considerably warmer all-glass showcourt of the Mushaf Squash Complex,
built just across the road from the Roshan complex as a venue for the World
Junior Championships two years ago, Egypt tied up the other early
quarter-final easily enough against Malaysia, although the new World Open
Champion, Amr Shabana, oddly lost his way in mid-flight against Mohd Azlan
Iskander before collecting the first string rubber 9-0 8-10 9-7 9-4 in 49
minutes.
Egypt
will play a semi-final against France, who battled past an inspired Pakistan
squad in the last match of the day on the Mushaf Centre Court with Gregory
Gaultier needing to steady his nerve in the deciding rubber to win
9-2 7-9 9-4 9-1 against Mansoor Zaman and several hundred Pakistani
spectators
.
Day 4:
England to face Wales
in
Quarter Finals
Colin McQuillan in Islamabad
England,
the top seeds, will meet eighth seeded Wales in the quarter-finals of the
Big Time World Men’s Team Squash Championship in Islamabad, Pakistan, after
resting today while the Welsh battled narrowly past Germany thanks to a
fighting first string performance from Alex Gough.
England sped into the last 16
after a comprehensive defeat of Austria on Saturday that gave them complete
control of Qualifying Pool A. With all four members of the squad ranked in
the world top ten; a brand new World No2,
James Willstrop,
at their head; and the game’s most recent dominant figure,
Peter Nicol,
lurking threateningly at third string, the English have dropped only a
single game in their qualifying campaign, to South Africa’s
Clinton Leeuw
in a third string rubber against
Nick Matthew.
“We were winning well enough in that match and
Nick’s attention wandered in the third game. Frankly our most difficult
problem is keeping a sharp competitive edge through this stage of the
championship,” said David Pearson, the England National Coach. “We
will have a real challenge at some point in the proceedings and we have to
be ready for that.”
Today’s challenge was a visit to earthquake victims while the lower seeded
squads finished juggling for quarter-final positions.
The second seeded Egyptians, led by the new World Open Champion,
Amr Shabana, are to play Malaysia, while third
seeded France, led by World No1 Thierry Lincou,
face Pakistan and the fourth seeded
defending champions, Australia, meet Canada.
Pakistan, fielding a young squad led by the son and nephew of former World
No2 Qamar Zaman, defeated The Netherlands today to return to the
quarter-finals for the first time since Jansher Khan led a young team to six
place in 1997.
The Australians, lacking their usual first string, David Palmer,
who was banned from WSF events for one year after behaviour problems at the
World Doubles in Chennai, India, earlier this year, have nevertheless
dominated Pool D and will face Canada on Monday. If anyone doubted
the competitive intent of the Australian squad playing behind British Open
Champion Anthony Ricketts, they had only to watch Stewart Boswell
today destroying Tom Hoevenaars 27-0 in a second string dead rubber
at the end of their match against The Netherlands.
Scotland will face Finland in the play-offs towards 13th place, while
Ireland face USA in the play-offs towards 17th place.
Day 3:
Hosts Pakistan Punish Malaysia
Hosts Pakistan ended their qualifying campaign in the Big Time World Team
Squash Championships in Islamabad by beating sixth seeds Malaysia 3/0 in
today’s (Saturday) final tie in Pool F to finish ahead of their
higher-seeded Asian rivals.
After Safeer Ullah Khan put the seventh seeds ahead when he beat
recently-crowned South East Asian Games champion Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan 9-3
9-7 9-0, his Pakistan team-mate Mansoor Zaman, ranked 27 in the world,
clinched victory for the hosts by fighting back from 2/1 down to overcome
Ong Beng Hee, ranked 11 places higher, 9-6 0-9 9-10 9-8 9-3.
India justified their tenth seeding by overcoming Ireland 2/1 to finish in
second place behind France in Pool C, thereby qualifying for a place in the
knockout stages for the top 12 nations.
Favourites England swept to their third successive 3/0 win in the tournament
with a comprehensive victory over Austria. Former world No1 Peter Nicol,
playing for the first time as third string for his country, put the top
seeds ahead with a 9-1 9-1 9-2 win over Austrian newcomer Stefan Brauneis.
Team-mate James Willstrop, the new world No2 and England No1, conceded just
a single point as he destroyed Aqeel Rehman to ensure England’s anticipated
status as winners of Pool A.
Defending champions Australia and former champions Egypt joined fellow top
four seeds France and England with further 3/0 wins today – Australia
beating Netherlands to head Pool D, and Egypt crushing New Zealand to finish
at the top of Pool B. All four nations receive byes in the next knockout
stage of the competition.
Germany became the only surprise team to claim a place in the knockout stage
to win a top 12 place. After upsetting New Zealand in the first qualifying
round, Germany clinched their place in the elite group by beating Iran 3/0.
________________________________________________
Day 2:
Scotland Fall To Malaysia
In Pakistan
Scotland
failed to convert a surprise first string win in today’s (Friday) second
qualifying round tie in the Big Time World Team Squash Championships
in Islamabad, Pakistan, and ultimately went down 2/1 to sixth
seeds Malaysia to ensure that the team will finish outside the top
twelve for the first time in six years.
Stuart Crawford,
a 24-year-old from Edinburgh who is ranked 270 in the world, played one of
the best games of his life in fighting back from 2/1 down to beat Malaysia’s
third string Timothy Arnold, ranked more than 130 places higher, 3-9
9-1 9-10 9-5 9-1.
Scotland, seeded in the
13/18 group, looked set for an upset as the hard-hitting world No9 John
White took to the court against the Malaysian No1 Mohd Azlan Iskandar.
But, in his first match against the Scot, Iskandar trounced the player
ranked six places higher 9-4 9-3 10-8.
In the decider, Malaysia’s
former top string Ong Beng Hee, the Asian champion, easily
beat 20-year-old Harry Leitch 9-5 9-0 9-0.
Elsewhere in Pool F, hosts
Pakistan looked likely to join Malaysia in the play-offs for the top
12 positions when they beat Spain 3/0.
Favourites England
maintained their clean sheet in Pool A with a 3/0 win over 12th
seeds South Africa, while second seeds Egypt also
claimed their second 3/0 win, beating Germany.
The rampant defending
champions Australia, the fourth seeds, crushed Finland 3/0,
losing just 15 points in three
matches!
_________________________________________________________________
Day 1:
Top Seeds Sail Through
Opening World Encounters
The top five seeds sailed through their opening encounters unscathed on the
opening day of action in the Big Time Men's World Team Squash Championships
in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Favourites England despatched 13/18 seeds Kuwait 3/0 in Pool A, with
22-year-old Qatar Classic champion James Willstrop, from Yorkshire,
successfully making his debut as the squad No1 by beating Abdullah Almezayen
9-4 9-2 9-2.
Defending champions Australia, the fourth seeds, also maintained a clean
sheet in Pool D as they defeated USA 3/0.
There was a first day surprise in Pool B when Germany, seeded in the 13/18
group, beat 11th seeds New Zealand 2/1. Australian-born Simon Baker put
Germany ahead by beating Campbell Grayson 9-6 10-8 6-9 9-5. Stefan Leifels
then made sure of victory with a 10-9 9-10 5-9 10-8 9-3 victory over the New
Zealand No1 Kashif Shuja. Callum O'Brien gained a consolation point for the
Kiwis when he beat Simon Rosner 6-9 9-6 7-9 9-7 9-7.
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