WSF
World Junior Team Championship 2018
24 - 29 Jul
Chennai, India
REPORTS
Finals [1] EGYPT bt [3] ENGLAND 2/0 Marwan Tarek bt Nick Wall 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 (45m) Omar El Torkey bt Sam Todd 13-11, 11-4, 11-4 (32m)
Bronze medallists: [6] CZECH REPUBLIC & [8] USA
5th place play-off:
[2] CANADA bt [4] MALAYSIA 2/1 James Flynn bt Darren Rahul Pragasam 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 (34m) Ryan Picken lost to Shahrul Izham Nurhaqiem 8-11, 3-11, 6-11 (25m) George Crowne bt Siow Yee Xian 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (44m)
7th place play-off:
[9] HONG KONG CHINA bt [11] PAKISTAN 2/0 Chung Yat Long bt Muhammad Uzair 11-8, 11-3, 12-10 (34m) To Wai Lok bt Muhammad Farhan Hashmi 11-4, 11-8, 11-6 (24m)
9th place play-off:
[12] SWITZERLAND bt [10] NEW ZEALAND 2/1 Yannick Wilhelmi bt Gabe Yam 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-1 (41m) Campbell Wells lost to Anthony Lepper 11-13, 6-11, 7-11 (34m) Nils Roesch bt Temwa Chileshe 14-12, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7 (46m)
11th place
play-off:
[5] INDIA bt [15] ARGENTINA 2/1 Veer Chotrani lost to Miguel Gonzalo Pujol 6-11, 9-11, 9-11 (32m) Rahul Baitha bt Dylan Tymkiw 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 (22m) Utkarsh Baheti bt Jeremías Azaña 18-16, 11-6, 11-7 (32m)
13th place
play-off:
[7] COLOMBIA bt [16] AUSTRALIA 2/0 Matias Knudsen bt Nicholas Calvert 11-4, 11-4, 11-9 (30m) Nicolas Serna bt Jack Hudson 11-8, 11-7, 4-11, 10-12, 11-9 (58m)
17th place
play-off:
[17] SCOTLAND bt [13] FRANCE 2/1 Alasdair Prott bt Edwin Clain 11-9, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8 (46m) Fraser McCann lost to Adrien Douillard 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 6-11
(45m) Christopher Murphy bt Toufik Mekhalfi 5-11, 11-3, 11-8, 13-15,
11-5 (80m)
19th place
play-off:
[19] SOUTH AFRICA bt [20] SINGAPORE 2/1 Murray Schepers lost to Aaron Liang 9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 8-11 (52m) Jacques Duminy bt Kieren Tan 11-9, 11-3, 11-2 (26m) Tristen Worth bt Matthew Wong Yu Heng 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 (32m)
21st place
play-off:
[21] FINLAND bt [22] QATAR 2/1 Samuli Niskala lost to Hamad Al-Amri 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 7-11 (36m) Ville Koskinen bt Ahmad Al-Muraikhi 11-0, 11-2, 11-9 (18m) Atte Stengård bt Ibrahim Darwish 11-6, 3-11, 11-8, 11-7 (47m)
23rd place
play-off:
[24] ZIMBABWE bt [23] SAUDI ARABIA 2/0 Tayne Turnock bt Mohammad Almwled 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 (30m) Harry Lawton bt Abdulelah Boureggah 11-1, 11-3, 11-0 (15m)
Surpassing a five-title record set 26 years ago by Australia,
hot favourites Egypt today beat England 2/0 in the final of the
WSF Men's World Junior Team Squash Championship in India to win the
biennial World Squash Federation title for a sixth time, since 1994.
The Egyptian team, featuring both finalists in last week's
World Junior Individual Championship, cruised through the six-day event in
Chennai without dropping a single game. It was Egypt's eighth final
appearance in a row, since 2004 - but third seeds England's first time in the
climax since 2002, which was also in Chennai.
The team's top strings took to the all-glass showcourt at the
Express Avenue Mall in Chennai first. Marwan Tarek, the 18-year-old
2017 individual champion from Cairo who lost out to team-mate Mostafa Asal
in last week's final, faced Englishman Nick Wall, also 18, from
Sheffield.
Wall forced a tie-break in the opening game but Tarek took the
opener, then comfortably the next two to claim the 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 win in 45
minutes which put Egypt in the driving seat.
In the second match between the third strings, Sam Todd -
also from Yorkshire, but aged just 15 - threatened to give England a lifeline as
he matched Egyptian Omar El Torkey (both pictured below) all the way in
the opening game, earning game balls at 10-9 and 11-10. Egypt's bronze medallist
held his nerve, however, to take the lead - and never looked back as he took the
next two games comfortably give Egypt the title 13-11, 11-4, 11-4 after a
further 32 minutes.
"We're so proud and happy," said the Egyptian coaching team.
"The boys have worked so hard for this and they've got their reward, bringing
Egypt another treble, just like the girls last year. This generation has taken
over from those recent generations that have done the country so proud, and they
have the talent and the desire to dominate the senior ranks in the coming years.
"Thanks to the organisers, the Indian squash federation and all
the workers and volunteers that made this a great event and one that everyone
will remember and can be proud of."
Czech Republic and USA shared
the bronze medal - USA repeating their finish in 2017 but the sixth-seeded
Czechs checking out with their highest-ever finish.
Despite the absence of their top string Julien Gosset
following his quarter-final injury, second seeds Canada beat Malaysia
in the fifth place play-off to record their highest finish since 2010.
Hong Kong China beat defending
champions Pakistan 2/0 in the play-off for seventh place to better their
finish two years ago.
Their 2/1 win over New Zealand in the play-off for ninth
place sees 12th seeds Switzerland not only exceed their seeding, but also
record their best finish for 18 years.
After losing out to fierce Asian rivals Pakistan in the
pre-quarter-finals, hosts India finished their 2018 campaign on a modest
high after beating Argentina in the 11th place play-off.
Finally, event debutants Saudi Arabia - a young four-man
squad featuring two 17-year-olds, one 15-year-old and a 14-year-old who have
represented their country's first ever appearance in a world squash championship
- went down to Zimbabwe in their final tie to finish in 24th place.
Tragedy struck the championship on the final day when South
African team manager/coach Graham Prior, the WSF African Coaching
Coordinator, collapsed as he was boarding a bus after his team's tie. It seems
he suffered a severe heart attack and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
"The sense of shock, coupled with a complete numbness, is all
that one can feel when something like this occurs," said WSF CEO Andrew
Shelley on hearing the news. "Graham was such an esteemed and popular leader
amongst coaches, a mentor to so many. While that is how the world of squash know
him, it is his family and friends, robbed of Graham so early, that our hearts go
out to at this terrible time. He and they will be in everybody's thoughts, I
know."
Images courtesy of #wsfworldjuniors
Semi-finals:
[1] EGYPT bt [6] CZECH REPUBLIC 3/0 Marwan Tarek bt Viktor Byrtus 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (29m) Mostafa Asal bt Ondrej Vorlicek 11-8, 11-9, 11-2 (25m) Omar El Torkey bt Marek Panacek 11-3, 11-7 (21m)
[3] ENGLAND bt [8] USA 3/0 Nick Wall bt Daelum Mawji 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 (23m) James Wyatt bt Thomas Rosini 11-4, 11-8, 11-7 (35m) Sam Todd bt Ayush Menon 5-11, 11-3, 11-2 (26m)
5th - 8th place play-offs:
[4] MALAYSIA bt [9] HONG KONG CHINA 2/0 Darren Rahul Pragasam bt Chung Yat Long 11-13, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4
(35m) Siow Yee Xian bt Ho Ka Hei 11-8, 11-1, 11-8 (34m)
[2] CANADA bt [11] PAKISTAN 2/1 James Flynn lost to Abbas Zeb 11-9, 12-14, 12-14, 5-11 (51m) George Crowne bt Muhammad Uzair 5-11, 11-2, 11-3, 11-9 (41m) Ryan Picken bt Haris Qasim 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 4-11, 12-10 (54m)
9th - 12th place play-offs:
[12] SWITZERLAND bt [15] ARGENTINA 2/1 Yannick Wilhelmi lost to Miguel Gonzalo Pujol 7-11, 5-11, 6-11
(28m) Nils Roesch bt Jeremías Azaña 13-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9 (49m) Campbell Wells bt Dylan Tymkiw 12-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6 (50m)
[10] NEW ZEALAND bt [5] INDIA 2/1 Matthew Lucente lost to Veer Chotrani 12-14, 11-4, 5-11, 6-11
(44m) Gabe Yam bt Utkarsh Baheti 11-9, 11-8, 13-11 (35m) Temwa Chileshe bt Rahul Baitha 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 14-12 (58m)
13th - 16th place play-offs:
[7] COLOMBIA bt [14] IRELAND 2/1 Matias Knudsen bt Conor Moran 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (32m) Andres Villamizar lost to Scott Gillanders 11-8, 5-11, 9-11, 6-11
(36m) Nicolas Serna bt Gavin L'Estrange 13-15, 5-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-2 (62m)
[16] AUSTRALIA bt [18] GERMANY 2/1 Nicholas Calvert bt Nils Schwab 15-13, 11-5, 11-7 (39m) Jacob Ford lost to Maximillian Baum 7-11, 6-11, 8-11 (33m) Maaz Khatri bt Simon Tietz 11-3, 11-1, 11-13, 11-9 (42m)
17th - 20th place play-offs:
[13] FRANCE bt [20] SINGAPORE 3/0 Toufik Mekhalfi bt Aaron Liang 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 11-5 (49m) Adrien Douillard bt Kieren Tan 9-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 (34m) Manuel Paquemar bt Leonard Lee 11-6, 8-11, 11-6 (23m)
[17] SCOTLAND bt [19] SOUTH AFRICA 2/1 Alasdair Prott bt Mikael Ismail 11-3, 6-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-6
(55m) Christopher Murphy bt Murray Schepers 11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9
(49m) John Meehan lost to Tristen Worth 2-11, 6-11 (13m)
21st - 24th
place play-offs:
[21] FINLAND bt [24] ZIMBABWE 3/0 Elias Korhonen bt Tayne Turnock 11-4, 8-11, 16-14, 12-10 (42m) Atte Stengård bt Ethan Alfalfa Porter 13-11, 12-10, 11-2 (40m) Ville Koskinen bt Harry Lawton 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 (27m)
[22] QATAR bt [23] SAUDI ARABIA 2/1 Hamad Al-Amri bt Mohammad Almwled 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (30m) Ibrahim Darwish lost to Abdulmajeed Boureggah 8-11, 3-11, 7-11
(26m) Ahmad Al-Muraikhi bt Abdulelah Boureggah 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (13m)
After straightforward victories in
today's semi-finals of the WSF Men's World Junior Team Squash Championship
in India, top seeds Egypt and third seeds England will
contest Sunday's final at the Express Avenue Mall in Chennai for
the fifth time since 1994 - England marking their first appearance in the final
since 2002 and Egypt celebrating their eighth in a row.
Egypt, boasting both finalists
from last week's world individual championship, brushed aside first-time
semi-finalists Czech Republic, the sixth seeds - claiming victory after
just 54 minutes of playing time. It was left to newly-crowned World Junior
Champion Mostafa Asal (pictured above in semi-final action) to clinch
their appearance in the final after beating Czech number two Ondrej Vorlicek
11-8, 11-9, 11-2.
"We're very pleased to be in the
final," said Egyptian coach Ahmed Matany. "The players are very
disciplined and are working hard.
"I'm very proud of this
generation, they all have the talent and the potential to become the next
generation of senior champions, but for now we have to concentrate on winning
this title. It would be our first back-to-back treble so it's very important to
keep our focus on the coming final."
Four-time champions England also
continued their impressive progress as they made quick work of a USA team
that recovered from the brink of defeat yesterday to beat second seeds Canada.
There was to be no recovery this time, as Englishmen Nick Wall and
James Wyatt (pictured above in semi-final action against USA's Thomas
Rosini) both won in comfortable style - ensuring the nation's first final
since 2002, also in Chennai!
"I'm happy with how everyone
played, again," said England coach Lee Drew (pictured below, right, with
the jubilant squad). "They played well tonight and the team spirit has been
brilliant throughout. So many teams are so close, we've talked about how
important it is to do the right thing on the day and to keep concentrating
throughout the entire match, and we've managed to do that very well every match
so far.
"Everyone is very relaxed, they're
a great bunch of players to work with and they deserve the chance to give it a
real go against Egypt tomorrow."
In the 9/12 place playoff
semi-finals, New Zealand won another dramatic tie to beat hosts India,
while Canada recovered from yesterday's disappointment to see off
title-holders Pakistan in the 5/8 place play-offs.
Final line-up:
[1] EGYPT v [3] ENGLAND
5th place play-off:
[4] MALAYSIA v [2] CANADA
7th place play-off:
[9] HONG KONG CHINA v [11] PAKISTAN
9th place play-off:
[12] SWITZERLAND v [10] NEW ZEALAND
11th place play-off:
[5] INDIA v [15] ARGENTINA
13th place play-off:
[7] COLOMBIA v [16] AUSTRALIA
15th place play-off:
[14] IRELAND v [18] GERMANY
17th place play-off:
[13] FRANCE v [17] SCOTLAND
19th place play-off:
[20] SINGAPORE v [19] SOUTH AFRICA
21st place play-off:
[21] FINLAND v [22] QATAR
23rd place play-off:
[23] SAUDI ARABIA v [24] ZIMBABWE
Quarter-finals:
[1] EGYPT bt [9] HONG KONG CHINA 3/0 Mostafa Asal bt Chan Chi Ho Russell 11-3, 11-9, 11-5 (27m) Marwan Tarek bt Chung Yat Long 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 (22m) Mostafa El Serty bt To Wai Lok 11-5, 11-9 (15m)
[6] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [4] MALAYSIA 2/0 Ondrej Vorlicek bt Siow Yee Xian 11-4, 12-10, 6-11, 11-2 (45m) Viktor Byrtus bt Darren Rahul Pragasam 10-12, 11-9, 11-1, 11-6
(41m)
[3] ENGLAND bt [11] PAKISTAN 2/1 James Wyatt bt Muhammad Uzair 8-11, 11-2, 11-2, 8-11, 11-2 (47m) Nick Wall bt Abbas Zeb 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6 (61m) Sam Todd lost to Haris Qasim 10-12, 11-9, 9-11 (24m)
[8] USA bt [2] CANADA 2/1 Tiber Worth lost to James Flynn 11-8, 11-8, 2-11, 2-11, 6-11 (49m) Daelum Mawji bt Julien Gosset 8-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-10 ret. (47m) Thomas Rosini bt George Crowne 11-9, 1-11, 11-5, 12-10 (51m)
9th - 16th place
play-offs:
[15] ARGENTINA bt [7] COLOMBIA 3/0 Jeremías Azaña bt Luis Alejandro Mancilla 11-8, 11-4, 11-3 (24m) Miguel Gonzalo Pujol bt Matias Knudsen 11-4, 5-11, 11-8, 9-11,
11-4 (51m) Dylan Tymkiw bt Andres Villamizar 11-8, 11-13, 11-9 (26m)
[12] SWITZERLAND bt [14] IRELAND 2/0 Nils Roesch bt Sam Buckley 11-6, 11-7, 11-3 (33m) Yannick Wilhelmi bt Conor Moran 11-3, 11-9, 11-6 (33m)
[5] INDIA bt [18] GERMANY 2/1 Veer Chotrani bt Nils Schwab 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 (25m) Yash Fadte lost to Abdel-Rahman Ghait 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 10-12,
5-11 (57m) Utkarsh Baheti bt Maximillian Baum 11-9, 11-4, 12-10 (28m)
[10] NEW ZEALAND bt [16] AUSTRALIA 2/1 Gabe Yam bt Jacob Ford 11-5, 11-5, 11-2 (31m) Matthew Lucente lost to Nicholas Calvert 16-18, 13-11, 5-11, 3-11
(65m) Anthony Lepper bt Jack Hudson 11-6, 11-13, 11-8, 12-10 (59m)
17th -
24th place play-offs:
[20] SINGAPORE bt [21] FINLAND 2/1 Matthew Wong Yu Heng bt Elias Korhonen 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-6
(40m) Aaron Liang bt Samuli Niskala 14-16, 11-4, 11-8, 11-3 (38m) Kieren Tan lost to Ville Koskinen 6-11, 9-11 (15m)
[13] FRANCE bt [24] ZIMBABWE 3/0 Toufik Mekhalfi bt Harry Lawton 8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 (33m) Edwin Clain bt Tayne Turnock 7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-2 (37m) Manuel Paquemar bt Aedan Martin 11-5, 11-3 (14m)
[19] SOUTH AFRICA bt [23] SAUDI ARABIA 3/0 Murray Schepers bt Abdulmajeed Boureggah 11-3, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5
(25m) Mikael Ismail bt Mohammad Almwled 11-2, 11-4, 11-1 (22m) Jacques Duminy bt Abdulelah Boureggah 11-2, 11-3 (14m)
[17] SCOTLAND bt [22] QATAR 3/0 Fraser McCann bt Ibrahim Darwish 11-1, 11-3, 11-6 (15m) Alasdair Prott bt Hamad Al-Amri 11-9, 11-13, 11-8, 11-8 (38m) John Meehan bt Ahmad Al-Muraikhi 11-2, 11-5 (13m)
Upsets continued to play
their part on day four of the WSF Men's World Junior Team Squash Championship
in India where Czech Republic and USA, the sixth and eighth
seeds respectively, defied the seedings to claim surprise berths in the
semi-finals of the biennial World Squash Federation event in Chennai.
The Czechs - in only
their second ever appearance in the championship and with a squad of players
none of whom had competed in last week's individual event - outshone fourth
seeds Malaysia. Second string Ondrej Vorlicek put the underdogs
ahead after 45 minutes with an 11-4, 12-10, 6-11, 11-2 win over Malaysian
Siow Yee Xian.
Top string Viktor
Byrtus, a 17-year-old from Ostrava, sealed victory for the Czechs, fighting
back from a game down to beat Darren Rahul Pragasam (both pictured in
action above) 10-12, 11-9, 11-1, 11-6.
"When the draw came out
we felt we could progress, but we didn't want to get ahead of ourselves," said
the Czech team (pictured in celebration below), who are now sure of their best
ever finish. "Beating the Swiss yesterday gave us confidence, and we knew we had
a chance against Malaysia, but Ondrej and Viktor played so well, both finishing
strongly."
Czech team manager Jan
Mutina added: "It's an amazing feeling to be in the semis! At the start of
the tournament we wanted to confirm our seeding, yet we overachieved it, which
makes us very proud and happy.
"India provides us with a
great service, therefore we would like to thank them, as well as the whole
management. In the semi-finals we would like to show our viewers that squash is
an amazing sport, and that it deserves to be on the Olympic Games."
Czech now face Egypt,
the favourites who brushed aside Hong Kong China 3/0.
The final spot in the
semis was claimed by USA after a tie of unbelievable drama at the
Indian Squash Academy. The No.8 seeds faced North American rivals Canada,
seeded two and expected to achieve their best ever finish.
Tiber Worth
got the USA off to a great start, taking the opening two games, only to see
Canada's James Flynn recover to put the underdogs ahead after an 8-11,
8-11, 11-2, 11-2, 11-6 win in 49 minutes.
With the Canadian
Julien Gosset leading 2/1 in the second match and with match-ball at 10-6, a
semi-final berth for the No.2 seeds looked a certainty. But in stretching for a
ball, 18-year-old Gosset slipped badly, clutching his hamstring. After
treatment, he returned to court but was clearly unable to compete and at 11-10
down, was forced to concede the match to Daelum Mawji (pictured above
en-route to victory).
In the unexpected
decider, it was USA's Thomas Rosini who triumphed 11-9, 1-11, 11-5, 12-10
over George Crowne to clinch the semi-final berth for USA - much to the
sheer delight of his team-mates!
"I'm proud of how our
team has performed this week," said Canada's coach Jonathan Hill.
"Obviously today wasn't the best but the US played some great squash and we'll
look forward to the 5/8 playoffs and rebuilding our team."
US Coach Simba Muhwati
had mixed emotions: "Our hearts go out to Julien, he'd played an amazing match
before that injury.
"The emotions involved
from Tiber being two-nil up and losing, from Daelum being match ball down and
winning, and then Thomas playing so well to put us into the semis!
"It's a weird place to
be, we want to be happy to be in the semis to match our best ever finish, but we
feel so much for Julien and Canada."
USA now face England
for a place in the final after the third seeds defeated defending champions
Pakistan 2/1. Yorkshireman Nick Wall clinched victory for the former
champions when he beat the Pakistan No.1 Abbas Zeb (both pictured below)
11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6.
"It's great to be in the
semis," said England coach Lee Drew. "Pakistan put up a great fight as
you'd expect - they would have picked up a lot from last night's win here over
India.
"James (Wyatt) held his
nerve well and Nick overcame an opponent who was getting better and better as
the match progressed, and did well to close it out."
Semi-final line-up:
[1] EGYPT v [6] CZECH REPUBLIC
[8] USA v [3] ENGLAND
5th - 8th place
play-offs:
[9] HONG KONG CHINA v [4] MALAYSIA
[2] CANADA v [11] PAKISTAN
9th - 12th place
play-offs:
[15] ARGENTINA v [12] SWITZERLAND
[5] INDIA v [10] NEW ZEALAND
13th - 16th place
play-offs:
[7] COLOMBIA v [14] IRELAND
[16] AUSTRALIA v [18] GERMANY
17th - 20th place
play-offs:
[13] FRANCE v [20] SINGAPORE
[17] SCOTLAND v [19] SOUTH AFRICA
21st - 24th place
play-offs:
[21] FINLAND v [24] ZIMBABWE
[22] QATAR v [23] SAUDI ARABIA
In the day's biggest upset in the WSF Men's World Junior Team
Squash Championship in India, Asian rivals Pakistan denied the
hosts a place in the quarter-finals after a shock 2/1 defeat in the last sixteen
round at the Express Avenue Mall in Chennai.
Earlier in the day, favourites Egypt, second seeds
Canada, third seeds and former champions England, and fourth seeds
Malaysia, all eased into the last eight without dropping any matches.
Seeded five and expected to achieve their best finish for six
years, India had high hopes against underdogs Pakistan - hoping for their first
ever win over their fierce rivals in the event. But, despite being the 11th
seeds, Pakistan are the title-holders and were determined to perform like
champions - despite their opponents' clear home advantage.
India went ahead in the opening match
between the third strings, but Haris Qasim reclaimed the advantage to put
Pakistan 1/0 up after beating Rahul Baitha 5-11, 16-14, 11-6, 11-7 in 56
minutes.
The hosts also took an early lead in the next match between the
teams' top strings, but 16-year-old Peshwari Abbas Zeb held his nerve and
silenced the crowd when he defeated Yash Fadte (both pictured above)
6-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-2 to put the 11th seeds into the last eight.
Veer Chotrani provided small
consolation for the hosts by beating Pakistan's Muhammad Uzair 2/0 in the
third match.
The win bodes well for Pakistan (the three-man team pictured
celebrating above) who have been finalists in the past eight championships. But
the five-time champions now face third seeds England, four times winner of the
title.
"We're just so relieved now," said Pakistan Coach Mo Yasin.
"There was a lot of pressure on us today. Our boys started slowly but they both
picked up the pace and I'm proud of how they handled it. The win has given the
boys confidence now for the next match against England."
The day's closest tie also ended in an upset when Hong Kong
China, the ninth seeds, beat seventh seeds Colombia 2/1. With the tie
standing at one-all after the first two matches, Hong Kong's Ho Ka Hei
saw a 2/0 lead fall away as Colombian Luis Alejandro Mancilla fought back
to draw level - then the decider went to a tie break before Hei clinched the
match 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 12-10 in 55 minutes.
"A few unforced errors in the third turned the whole match
around," said HK coach Dick Leung (pictured above with the victorious HK
squad). "But I'm proud of how he handled the end of a tough match to put us back
into the top eight."
Quarter-final line-up:
[1] EGYPT v [9] HONG KONG CHINA
[4] MALAYSIA v [6] CZECH REPUBLIC
[3] ENGLAND v [11] PAKISTAN
[2] CANADA v [8] USA
9th - 16th place play-offs:
[7] COLOMBIA v [15] ARGENTINA
[12] SWITZERLAND v [14] IRELAND
[5] INDIA v [18] GERMANY
[16] AUSTRALIA v [10] NEW ZEALAND
17th - 24th place play-offs:
[20] SINGAPORE v [21] FINLAND
[13] FRANCE v [24] ZIMBABWE
[19] SOUTH AFRICA v [23] SAUDI ARABIA
[17] SCOTLAND v [22] QATAR
[16] AUSTRALIA bt [20] SINGAPORE 3/0 Jack Hudson bt Kieren Tan 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 (35m) Nicholas Calvert bt Aaron Liang 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (35m) Maaz Khatri bt Matthew Wong Yu Heng 11-5, 11-2, 11-4 (20m)
Final positions: 1 Egypt, 2 Australia, 3 Singapore
Pool B:
[2] CANADA bt [15] ARGENTINA 2/1 George Crowne bt Dylan Tymkiw 7-11, 2-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-4
(52m) Julien Gosset lost to Miguel Gonzalo Pujol 7-11, 11-9,
3-11, 11-2, 4-11 (61m) James Flynn bt Jeremías Azaña 11-8, 11-7, 11-3 (34m)
[15] ARGENTINA bt [17] SCOTLAND 2/1 Dylan Tymkiw lost to John Meehan 11-8, 6-11, 3-11, 2-11
(40m) Miguel Gonzalo Pujol bt Alasdair Prott 7-11, 11-5, 11-9,
11-8 (47m) Jeremías Azaña bt Christopher Murphy 6-11, 11-5, 11-7,
13-15, 11-3 (55m)
Final positions: 1 Canada, 2 Argentina, 3 Scotland
Pool C:
[14] IRELAND bt [19] SOUTH AFRICA 2/1 Scott Gillanders bt Tristen Worth 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8
(62m) Conor Moran bt Mikael Ismail 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (30m) Sam Buckley lost to Murray Schepers 11-8, 10-12, 11-8,
9-11, 6-11 (53m)
Final positions: 1 England, 2 Ireland, 3 South Africa
Pool D:
[4] MALAYSIA bt [13] FRANCE 2/1 Shahrul Izham Nurhaqiem bt Adrien Douillard 11-13, 9-11,
11-2, 14-12, 11-7 (74m) Darren Rahul Pragasam bt Edwin Clain 12-10, 1-11, 11-5,
5-11, 11-5 (45m) Siow Yee Xian lost to Toufik Mekhalfi 10-12, 11-2, 11-7,
11-13, 10-12 (60m)
[18] GERMANY bt [13] FRANCE 2/1 Maximillian Baum bt Manuel Paquemar 11-8, 6-11, 4-11,
11-9, 11-9 (66m) Abdel-Rahman Ghait lost to Edwin Clain 4-11, 5-11, 12-10,
11-13 (52m) Nils Schwab bt Adrien Douillard 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 3-11,
11-7 (50m)
Final positions: 1 Malaysia, 2 Germany, 3 France
Pool E:
[12] SWITZERLAND bt [23] SAUDI ARABIA 3/0 Miguel Mathis bt Osama Alotaibi 11-1, 11-2, 11-5 (15m) Yannick Wilhelmi bt Mohammad Almwled 11-5, 11-2, 11-2
(19m) Nils Roesch bt Abdulmajeed Boureggah 11-3, 11-2, 11-1
(19m)
Final positions: 1 India, 2 Switzerland, 3 Saudi Arabia
Pool F:
[6] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [11] PAKISTAN 2/1 Marek Panacek lost to Haris Qasim 5-11, 6-11, 6-11 (37m) Viktor Byrtus bt Abbas Zeb 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 4-11, 11-9
(50m) Ondrej Vorlicek bt Muhammad Uzair 11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 11-4
(30m)
[11] PAKISTAN bt [24] ZIMBABWE 3/0 Haris Qasim bt Aedan Martin 11-2, 11-2, 11-5 (21m) Abbas Zeb bt Tayne Turnock 11-7, 11-2, 11-5 (25m) Muhammad Uzair bt Ethan Alfalfa Porter 13-11, 11-8, 11-7
(26m)
Final positions: 1 Czech Republic, 2 Pakistan, 3 Zimbabwe
Pool G:
[10] NEW ZEALAND bt [22] QATAR 3/0 Anthony Lepper bt Ahmad Al-Muraikhi 11-2, 11-1, 11-3 (17m) Matthew Lucente bt Hamad Al-Amri 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (30m) Temwa Chileshe bt Ibrahim Darwish 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (23m)
Final positions: 1 New Zealand, 2 Colombia, 3 Qatar
Pool H:
[9] HONG KONG CHINA bt [8] USA 3/0 Chan Chi Ho Russell bt Ayush Menon 11-4, 14-12, 13-11
(39m) Chung Yat Long bt Daelum Mawji 11-8, 11-2, 11-5 (32m) Ho Ka Hei bt Tiber Worth 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (35m)
[9] HONG KONG CHINA bt [21] FINLAND 3/0 To Wai Lok bt Ville Koskinen 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 (19m) Chung Yat Long bt Samuli Niskala 7-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-3
(32m) Ho Ka Hei bt Elias Korhonen 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9 (35m)
Final positions: 1 Hong Kong China, 2 USA, 3 Finland
Today's second day of Pool
play in the WSF Men's World Junior Team Squash Championship in
India featured intense action as the 24 teams battled for the top
two places in the eight pools to ensure a place in the last 16 knockout
stage in Chennai.
Favourites Egypt,
hosts India and former champions England were resting,
having been successful in two ties on day one.
The day's biggest surprise
came in Pool D where 18th seeds Germany took advantage of a tired
France after the 13th seeds narrowly went down to Malaysia,
the No.4 seeds, 2/1 in the morning session.
With the evening tie tied
after the first two matches, Germany's Nils Schwab held his nerve
in the decider after French opponent Adrien Douillard drew level
from 2/0 down. Second string Schwab went on to clinch the win 11-8,
11-8, 7-11, 3-11, 11-7 to take the underdogs (pictured celebrating
above) through to the last 16 round - where they face third seeds
England.
Hong Kong China
had two ties to contend with in Pool H - and the ninth seeds started off
well by upsetting USA, the No.8 seeds, 3/0 (see picture below)
before clinching unexpected supremacy in the pool by seeing off
Finland, the 21st seeds, 3/0.
Last sixteen round
line-up:
[1] EGYPT v [15] ARGENTINA
[9] HONG KONG CHINA v [7] COLOMBIA
[4] MALAYSIA v [14] IRELAND
[6] CZECH REPUBLIC v [12] SWITZERLAND
[5] INDIA v [11] PAKISTAN
[3] ENGLAND v [18] GERMANY
[10] NEW ZEALAND v [8] USA
[2] CANADA v [16] AUSTRALIA
[1] EGYPT bt [20] SINGAPORE 3/0 Mostafa El Serty bt Leonard Lee 11-1, 11-0, 11-4 (18m) Omar El Torkey bt Kieren Tan 11-0, 11-4, 11-5 (31m) Mostafa Asal bt Aaron Liang 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (22m)
[1] EGYPT bt [16] AUSTRALIA 3/0 Mostafa El Serty bt Maaz Khatri 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (30m) Omar El Torkey bt Jacob Ford 11-3, 11-6, 11-2 (32m) Mostafa Asal bt Nicholas Calvert 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 (30m)
Pool B:
[2] CANADA bt [17] SCOTLAND 3/0 Ryan Picken bt John Meehan 11-5, 12-10, 11-9 (30m) George Crowne bt Fraser McCann 11-6, 6-11, 11-2, 11-3
(29m) Julien Gosset bt Christopher Murphy 11-5, 11-5, 11-9 (28m)
Pool C:
[3] ENGLAND bt [19] SOUTH AFRICA 2/1 Jared Carter lost to Tristen Worth 10-12, 6-11, 9-11 (40m) James Wyatt bt Murray Schepers 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 (43m) Nick Wall bt Mikael Ismail 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (45m)
[3] ENGLAND bt [14] IRELAND 3/0 Sam Todd bt Scott Gillanders 11-4, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8 (41m) James Wyatt bt Sam Buckley 5-11, 11-7, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5
(57m) Nick Wall bt Conor Moran 11-3, 11-3, 11-9 (24m)
Pool D:
[4] MALAYSIA bt [18] GERMANY 3/0 Shahrul Izham Nurhaqiem bt Simon Tietz 11-8, 11-7, 11-8
(30m) Siow Yee Xian bt Maximillian Baum 15-13, 11-5, 11-2 (33m) Darren Rahul Pragasam bt Abdel-Rahman Ghait 11-8, 13-11,
11-7 (39m)
Pool E:
[5] INDIA bt [23] SAUDI ARABIA 3/0 Rahul Baitha bt Abdulelah Boureggah 11-1, 11-4, 11-2 (17m) Utkarsh Baheti bt Abdulmajeed Boureggah 11-2, 11-7, 11-5
(21m) Veer Chotrani bt Mohammad Almwled 12-10, 11-4, 11-8 (29m)
[5] INDIA bt [12] SWITZERLAND 2/1 Utkarsh Baheti bt Campbell Wells 11-6, 6-11, 13-11, 11-9
(38m) Veer Chotrani lost to Nils Roesch 11-9, 5-11, 3-11, 7-11
(41m) Yash Fadte bt Yannick Wilhelmi 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-4,
11-9 (68m)
Pool F:
[6] CZECH REPUBLIC bt [24] ZIMBABWE 3/0 Marek Panacek bt Harry Lawton 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (29m) Ondrej Vorlicek bt Ethan Alfalfa Porter 11-5, 11-6, 11-2
(28m) Viktor Byrtus bt Tayne Turnock 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 (24m)
Pool G:
[7] COLOMBIA bt [22] QATAR 3/0 Nicolas Serna bt Ahmad Al-Muraikhi 11-6, 11-2, 11-3 (20m) Andres Villamizar bt Ibrahim Darwish 11-3, 11-6, 11-7
(20m) Matias Knudsen bt Hamad Al-Amri 12-10, 11-5, 11-7 (22m)
[10] NEW ZEALAND bt [7] COLOMBIA 2/1 Temwa Chileshe bt Andres Villamizar 7-11, 11-5, 11-8,
9-11, 11-9 (64m) Gabe Yam bt Luis Alejandro Mancilla 11-9, 6-11, 11-8,
8-11, 11-5 (48m) Matthew Lucente lost to Matias Knudsen 9-11, 9-11, 5-11
(27m)
Pool H:
[8] USA bt [21] FINLAND 3/0 Ayush Menon bt Atte Stengård 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 (21m) Tiber Worth bt Elias Korhonen 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 (25m) Daelum Mawji bt Samuli Niskala 11-5, 11-2, 11-4 (20m)
Whilst New Zealand produced the only upset on day one of Pool
action in the WSF Men's World Junior Team Squash Championship in
Chennai, hosts India became one of only three teams to
ensure their place in the knockout stage - but were taken the full
distance in a dramatic tie at the end of the day before finally
overcoming Switzerland 2/1.
Tenth seeds New Zealand upset the form book in Pool G, defeating
Colombia 2/1 (see above) after the No.7 seeds beat Qatar
3/0 in the first tie of the day.
Favourites Egypt - boasting a powerful squad featuring the four
semi-finalists in the world individual championship - cruised into the
Last 16 knockout round following straightforward 3/0 wins over
Singapore and Australia.
Third seeds England also won both their ties - but in the opening
battle against South Africa dropped the first match before
bouncing back to win 2/1.
Second seeds Canada - expected to record their highest ever
finish in the 38-year history of the championship - justified their
status with a 3/0 win over Scotland (both teams pictured above),
and face Argentina in Wednesday's second qualifying tie.
But the main interest on the opening day at the Indian Squash Academy
was India's second tie against Switzerland, the 12th seeds. In the
morning session, the fifth-seeded hosts beat Saudi Arabia - the
nation proudly making its first ever appearance in a world team squash
championship.
Utkarsh Baheti
put India ahead in the opening match against the Swiss, beating
Campbell Wells 11-6, 6-11, 13-11, 11-9 - but the underdogs battled
back top draw level when Nils Roesch beat Veer Chotrani.
The crowd were on the edge of their seats as Yash Fadte went down
2/1 in the decider - but the Indian number one regrouped to draw level,
then took the fifth game against Yannick Wilhelmi (both pictured
above) to win the match 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9 in 68 minutes.
"That was so tense," said the Indian team (pictured celebrating below)
later. "In the end it came down to Yash's fitness and determination, and
the crowd probably helped too!"
