28/08/2011
WORLD TEAMS (MEN) 2011
Egypt Clinch World Title After Thrilling Final
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Egypt Clinch
World Title After Thrilling Final
 Egypt
sensationally retained their title in the WSF Men's World Team Squash
Championship after upsetting favourites England 2/1 in a thrilling
final today in Paderborn, Germany.
The 23rd
staging of the World Squash Federation event - the first senior world
championship since the IOC announcement that Squash is on the shortlist for
Olympic inclusion in 2020 - has been taking place in Germany for the first time.
With sell-out
crowds throughout the week, the final between the top two seeds on the
spectacular new blue all-glass showcourt at the Ahorn-Sportpark was the
dream climax to an event which is being hailed as the best world championship
ever.
The top two
players in the world took to the court for the opening clash, with Egypt taking
early honours when Ramy Ashour beat Nick Matthew, the world number
one from Sheffield, 11-7, 11-9, 14-12. Ashour, who also beat Matthew in the
final of the Australian Open in Canberra earlier in the month, went into the
match 8-6 ahead in their head-to-head count - but had never before beaten the
Englishman in straight games.
Matthew saved
a match ball in the third game before going on to have his own game ball. But
Ashour kept his cool to wrap up the match without dropping a game.
"He played a
lot better than me - he deserved it," said Matthew after the match. "I wasn't
playing my best squash. But if I'd won that third game I think I could have gone
on to win the match."
Londoner
Peter Barker brought the top seeds back into contention when he overcame
Ramy's older brother Hisham Mohamed Ashour 11-6, 11-9, 11-7.
 The decider
featured second strings Karim Darwish and James Willstrop - a pair
who have been opponents on a squash court since the world junior championships
in 2000, with Englishman Willstrop boasting a 12-6 head to head advantage.
But, after
losing out to Frenchman Thierry Lincou in the semi-finals, Darwish was
determined to make amends. The 29-year-old from Cairo took the first two games,
then survived the loss of the third to record an 11-5, 13-11, 9-11, 11-4
championship-winning victory - his first over the Yorkshireman since 2006.
Darwish was
immediately engulfed by his team-mates on the court as the Egyptian supporters
in the crowd went wild in celebration of Egypt's third world team title success
since 1999.
"I didn't play
well against Thierry yesterday because of the pressure, I just didn't play my
game," said a beaming Darwish minutes after his victory. "Today, I decided to
enjoy myself, and was much more relaxed. In fact I think I played one of my best
matches - I think I played superb squash. I don't think a lot of people expected
us to win.
"James is a
great player - and I had to be 100% against him. It was one of the biggest
matches I have ever played, and I was really focussed - I really didn't want to
lose.
"I am really
grateful to my team and Amir Wagih. They gave me a good push for the
match."
Fourth seeds
Australia won the play-off for third place, upsetting last year's
runners-up France, the third seeds. After David Palmer lost the
opening to French No1 Gregory Gaultier in straight games, Aussie No3
Stewart Boswell brought the former champions back into contention with a
four-game victory over Gregoire Marche.
And after a
64-minute decider, it was second string Cameron Pilley who clinched
victory for Australia, beating Thierry Lincou 12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6 to
claim his first win over the world No8.
"It was a
fantastic tie," said team manager Byron Davis. "To go to three matches
was very exciting for the spectators. Greg came out firing as we expected him to
do after his loss last night - but Stewart was as solid as a rock and played a
really good game.
"And the
decider was a great match - and, in the first match they'd ever played, Cameron
did well to beat Thierry, especially the way he's been playing here this week.
Cameron is improving all the time and loves playing for Australia. He did the
job perfectly."
There were
some notable final finishes lower down the order. Eighth seeds USA beat
India, the sixth seeds, in the play-off for seventh place to record their
best finish since 1983. Squad number one Julian Illingworth put the
underdogs in the driving seat by beating Saurav Ghosal, ranked five
places higher, in four games.
"With Gilly
(Lane) still recovering from his back injury, we essentially played the whole
tournament a man down," said team coach Paul Assaiante. "We'd love to
have had the luxury of being able to rest our players. But to beat India today
was very special and Julian's win was especially impressive."
Hosts
Germany, the 16th seeds, beat Netherlands 2/0 in the play-off for
ninth place to record their best finish since 1997.
"It really
could not have been better," said Simon Rosner, the Paderborn-based
German number one who has been the championship's ambassador. "For me,
personally, it was awesome to beat three players (Laurens Jan Anjema,
Shahier Razik and Borja Golan) who I've never beaten before.
"And we didn't
have the best draw, being in the same pool as England - but we beat every
country here except the two finalists, and this makes me very proud. The whole
experience has been incredible - awesome crowds, every day sold out. I am so
pleased for Paderborn and my club."
Denmark
also had much to celebrate. Seeded in the 17/24 group, the three-man squad upset
higher-rated teams through the week and today beat 11th seeds South Africa
to claim 13th place - their best finish of all-time.
Final:
[2] EGYPT bt [1] ENGLAND 2/1
Ramy Ashour bt Nick Matthew 11-7, 11-9, 14-12 (61m)
Hisham Mohamed Ashour lost to Peter Barker 6-11, 9-11, 7-11 (50m)
Karim Darwish bt James Willstrop 11-5, 13-11, 9-11, 11-4 (65m)
3rd place
play-off:
[4] AUSTRALIA bt [3] FRANCE 2/1
David Palmer lost to Gregory Gaultier 9-11, 4-11, 0-11 (47m)
Stewart Boswell bt Gregoire Marche 11-13, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (63m)
Cameron Pilley bt Thierry Lincou 12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6 (64m)
5th place
play-off:
[5] MALAYSIA bt [9] ITALY 2/1
Mohd Azlan Iskandar bt Davide Bianchetti 11-3, 11-7, 11-4 (23m)
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan lost to Amr Ramsy Swelim 11-6, 7-11, 11-4,
5-11, 9-11 (63m)
Ong Beng Hee bt Marcus Berrett 5-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-3, 11-6 (67m)
7th place
play-off:
[8] USA bt [6] INDIA 2/0
Julian Illingworth bt Saurav Ghosal 11-9, 2-11, 13-11, 11-7 (50m)
Todd Harrity bt Mahesh Mangaonkar 6-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-2, 11-5
(51m)
Christopher Gordon v Harinder Pal Sandhu (Match withdrawn)
9th place
play-off:
[16] GERMANY bt [14] NETHERLANDS 2/0
Simon Rosner bt Laurens Jan Anjema 17-19, 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 (75m)
Raphael Kandra bt Bart Ravelli 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 (57m)
Jens Schoor v Piedro Schweertman (Match withdrawn)
11th place
play-off:
[17/24] HONG KONG CHINA bt [13] FINLAND 2/0
Max Lee bt Olli Tuominen 11-9, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6 (50m)
Leo Au bt Matias Tuomi 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (27m)
Dick Lau v Henrik Mustonen (Match withdrawn)
13th place
play-off:
[17/24] DENMARK bt [11] SOUTH AFRICA 2/1
Kristian Frost Olesen bt Shaun le Roux 17-15, 6-11, 8-11, 12-10,
11-8 (78m)
Morten W Sorensen lost to Rodney Durbach 6-11, 3-11, 8-11 (27m)
Rasmus Nielsen bt Clinton Leeuw 11-9, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6 (56m)
15th place
play-off:
[7] CANADA bt [10] MEXICO 2/1
Shahier Razik bt Cesar Salazar 11-8, 11-5, 11-1 (25m)
Andrew McDougall lost to Erik Tepos Valtierra 9-11, 11-5, 11-5,
11-13, 8-11 (82m)
Shawn Delierre bt Eric Galvez 11-4, 11-7, 12-10 (31m)
17th place
play-off:
[17/24] SWITZERLAND bt [17/24] SPAIN 2/1
Nicolas Mueller lost to Borja Golan 7-11, 7-11, 1-11 (38m)
John Williams bt David Vidal 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 (36m)
Reiko Peter bt Ivan Flores 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 (37m)
19th place
play-off:
[17/24] KUWAIT bt [25/32] IRELAND 2/0
Abdullah Al Muzayen bt Arthur Gaskin 11-3, 11-5, 11-9 (30m)
Ali Bader Al-Ramzi bt Steve Richardson 11-8, 11-3, 11-9 (39m)
Ammar Al-Tamimi v Derek Ryan (Match withdrawn)
21st place
play-off:
[17/24] SCOTLAND bt [12] PAKISTAN 2/0
Alan Clyne bt Aamir Atlas Khan 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8 (35m)
Chris Small bt Nasir Iqbal 11-8, 11-13, 12-10, 11-13, 11-5 (57m)
Stuart Crawford v Yasir Butt (Match withdrawn)
23rd place
play-off:
[15] NEW ZEALAND bt [17/24] ARGENTINA 2/0
Martin Knight bt Gonzalo Miranda 11-3, 11-9, 11-9 (35m)
Evan Williams bt Roberto Pezzota 11-7, 3-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-5
(49m)
Campbell Grayson v Hernan D'Arcangelo (Match withdrawn)
25th place
play-off:
[25/32] AUSTRIA bt [17/24] COLOMBIA 2/1
Aqeel Rehman bt Andres Vargas 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 (23m)
Jakob Dirnberger lost to Juan Camilo Vargas 8-11, 9-11, 11-3, 8-11
(40m)
Leopold Czaska bt Javier Castilla Conde 8-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-5,
11-8 (58m)
27th place
play-off:
[25/32] HUNGARY bt [25/32] KOREA 2/0
Mark Krajcsak bt Nyeon-Ho Lee w/o
Peter Hoffman bt Seung-Jun Lee w/o
Marton Szaboky v Seung Taek Lee (Match withdrawn)
29th place
play-off:
[25/32] SWEDEN bt [25/32] UKRAINE 2/0
Christian Drakenberg bt Ruslan Sorochinskiy 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 (30m)
Alex Christensson bt Denys Podvornyi 11-6, 11-5, 14-16, 3-11, 11-8
(59m)
Sebastian Victor v Kostiantyn Rybalchenko (Match withdrawn)
31st place
play-off:
[25/32] NAMIBIA bt [25/32] BERMUDA 2/0
Marco Becker bt Micah Franklin 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 (30m)
Andrew Forrest bt Chris Stout 11-9, 12-10, 11-6 (35m)
Norbert Dorgeloh v Robert Maycock (Match withdrawn)
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Nick Matthew clinches win for England against David Palmer |
Shorbagy wins the decider against Castagnet |
England &
Egypt To Contest World Final In Paderborn
Favourites
England and title-holders Egypt will contest Sunday's final of the
WSF Men's World Team Squash Championship after contrasting semi-finals in
Paderborn, Germany.
The 23rd
staging of the World Squash Federation event - the first senior world
championship since the IOC announcement that Squash is on the shortlist for
Olympic inclusion in 2020 - is taking place in Germany for the first time.
England, four
times winners of the title since 1995, comprehensively defeated fourth seeds
Australia 3/0 on the spectacular new all-blue glass court at the
Ahorn-Sportpark, thereby avenging their defeat by the record eight-time
champions in the play-off for third place in the 2009 championship.
England number
two James Willstrop delivered his best performance of the tournament so
far to despatch Cameron Pilley 11-7, 11-8, 11-2. Willstrop, the world
No4, was extending his career head-to-head record over the world No14 to ten
successive wins since 2007 - but played down their previous history.
"To beat
someone of Cameron's ability like that is good," said the Yorkshireman. "It's
also good that the match wasn't too long - to keep me fresh for tomorrow."
England now
brought on their trump card, the world No1 Nick Matthew, also from
Yorkshire, to face Aussie veteran David Palmer, a two-time world champion
and former world No1.
Going into the
match, Palmer boasted a 12-9 career lead over his English rival over exactly ten
years - but Matthew had had the upper hand since last losing to Palmer in the
2007 World Team Championship.
But a fit and
focussed Matthew brought down the Aussie, winning 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 in 58 minutes
to take England into the final for the seventh time.
"James led the
way really well - which made my life a little bit easier," said Matthew after
his decisive victory. "It's never easy to play David - but that's the best I've
played all season.
"But we came
here not to get to the final but to win it, and that's we've got to do
tomorrow."
Palmer was
gracious in defeat: "He's been the world's top player for probably the past two
years. It was good quality squash, but he was just too strong for me today."
Third string
Peter Barker made it a clean sweep for England by beating Stewart
Boswell 12-10, 11-8 in a best-of-three dead rubber.
Later in the
day Egypt, the No2 seeds lined up against third seeds France in the other
semi. And the underdogs took a popular lead when Thierry Lincou ended an
eight-match losing sequence stretching back to November 2006 by beating world
No3 Karim Darwish 11-7, 3-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6 in a controlled 70-minute
match.
"We couldn't
have asked for a much better start," said the 35-year-old former world No1 who
finally seems to have put the effects of a recent injury behind him.
"Personally,
I'm proud of myself - it's been a long and hard road back from injury,
especially after losing first round after first round on the tour. I have had
fantastic support from my friends and family and I now really feel motivated.
"Yesterday's
match was a turning point for me, but this was another level above - another
intensity, another pressure. I think my experience has helped me a lot."
But the French
high was short-lived as top-ranked Egyptian Ramy Ashour levelled the tie
with a stunning 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 victory over Gregory Gaultier, the world
No6.
It was the
decider that had the packed crowd on the edge of their seats, however, as
Mohamed El Shorbagy and Mathieu Castagnet battled to put their
countries into the final. After both players had game balls in the first, it was
Egyptian El Shorbagy that drew first blood.
Castagnet
struck back to take the next two games to open up a 2/1 lead - and the
24-year-old world No56 moved ahead in the fourth.
But
20-year-old El Shorbagy drew level and, after the lead changed hands in the
decider, it was the world No9 from Alexandria who emerged triumphant, taking
Egypt into the final for the fifth time since 1999 following his marathon 14-12,
9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 victory in 91 minutes.
"I am so
happy," said Egyptian coach Amir Wagih. "Ramy is an unbelievable player
and if he can play like he did just now in tomorrow's final, England will find
it very tough.
"France gave
us a fantastic match and Mohamed played a great game to get us through. He will
learn from this experience and it will do him a lot of good in the future
"It's another
great performance by him for Egypt - he's getting more experienced all the
time."
Semi-finals:
[1] ENGLAND bt [4] AUSTRALIA 3/0
James Willstrop bt Cameron Pilley 11-7, 11-8, 11-2 (43m)
Nick Matthew bt David Palmer 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 (58m)
Peter Barker bt Stewart Boswell 12-10, 11-8 (29m)
[2] EGYPT bt
[3] FRANCE 2/1
Karim Darwish lost to Thierry Lincou 7-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-4, 6-11
(70m)
Ramy Ashour bt Gregory Gaultier 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (51m)
Mohamed El Shorbagy bt Mathieu Castagnet 14-12, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7,
11-6 (91m)
5th - 8th
place play-offs:
[9] ITALY bt [6] INDIA 2/1
Marcus Berrett bt Siddharth Suchde 11-5, 6-11, 11-4, 11-0 (40m)
Davide Bianchetti lost to Saurav Ghosal 5-11, 11-6, 7-11, 3-11
(51m)
Amr Ramsy Swelim bt Harinder Pal Sandhu 11-9, 8-11, 11-4, 5-11,
11-8 (72m)
[5] MALAYSIA
bt [8] USA 2/0
Ong Beng Hee bt Christopher Gordon 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-4 (45m)
Mohd Azlan Iskandar bt Julian Illingworth 6-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-4
(36m)
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan v Todd Harrity (Match withdrawn)
9th - 12th
place play-offs:
[14] NETHERLANDS bt [17/24] HONG KONG CHINA 2/0
Dylan Bennett bt Dick Lau 6-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-9 (45m)
Laurens Jan Anjema bt Max Lee 11-6, 12-10, 11-5 (48m)
Piedro Schweertman v Leo Au (Match withdrawn)
[16] GERMANY
bt [13] FINLAND 2/1
Jens Schoor bt Henrik Mustonen 11-7, 11-9, 1-11, 11-9 (46m)
Simon Rosner lost to Olli Tuominen 12-14, 6-11, 5-11 (45m)
Raphael Kandra bt Matias Tuomi 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (34m)
13th - 16th
place play-offs:
[17/24] DENMARK bt [10] MEXICO 2/1
Rasmus Nielsen lost to Eric Galvez 9-11, 11-4, 11-2, 9-11, 3-11
(56m)
Kristian Frost Olesen bt Cesar Salazar 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 (36m)
Morten W Sorensen bt Erik Tepos Valtierra 11-5, 13-11, 6-11, 11-6
(55m)
[11] SOUTH
AFRICA bt [7] CANADA 2/1
Clinton Leeuw lost to Andrew McDougall 3-11, 12-14, 11-3, 7-11
(52m)
Stephen Coppinger bt Shawn Delierre 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7 (58m)
Rodney Durbach bt Andrew Schnell 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 (19m)
17th - 20th
place play-offs:
[17/24] SPAIN bt [17/24] KUWAIT 2/1
Alejandro Garbi Caro bt Ammar Al-Tamimi 11-9, 12-10, 11-6 (39m)
Borja Golan lost to Abdullah Al Muzayen 11-9, 4-11, 11-13, 8-11
(55m)
David Vidal bt Ali Bader Al-Ramzi 14-12, 11-7, 11-4 (42m)
[17/24]
SWITZERLAND bt [25/32] IRELAND 3/0
Reiko Peter bt Derek Ryan 11-5, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3 (62m)
Nicolas Mueller bt Arthur Gaskin 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (48m)
John Williams bt Steve Richardson 9-11, 11-2, 11-6 (24m)
21st - 24th
place play-offs:
[17/24] SCOTLAND bt [17/24] ARGENTINA 2/1
Stuart Crawford lost to Roberto Pezzota 4-11, 7-11, 9-11 (36m)
Alan Clyne bt Hernan D'Arcangelo 11-3, 11-6, 11-3 (25m)
Chris Small bt Juan Pablo Roude 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (29m)
[12] PAKISTAN
bt [15] NEW ZEALAND 2/0
Yasir Butt bt Campbell Grayson 10-12, 3-11, 11-9, 11-6, 15-13
(59m)
Aamir Atlas Khan bt Martin Knight 11-4, 12-10, 11-2 (31m)
Nasir Iqbal v Evan Williams (Match withdrawn)
25th - 28th
place play-offs:
[25/32] AUSTRIA bt [25/32] HUNGARY 2/1
Leopold Czaska bt Marton Szaboky 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 (27m)
Aqeel Rehman lost to Mark Krajcsak 4-11, 11-13, 10-12 (32m)
Jakob Dirnberger bt Sandor Fulop 11-9, 11-3, 11-1 (22m)
[17/24]
COLOMBIA bt [25/32] KOREA 2/1
Javier Castilla Conde bt Seung-Jun Lee 7-11, 11-3, 12-10, 11-8
(50m)
Andres Vargas bt Nyeon-Ho Lee 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-2 (45m)
Juan Camilo Vargas lost to Se Hyun Lee 8-11, 6-11 (20m)
29th - 32nd
place play-offs:
[25/32] UKRAINE bt [25/32] BERMUDA 3/0
Kostiantyn Rybalchenko bt Robert Maycock 11-7, 6-11, 11-4, 11-8
(41m)
Ruslan Sorochinskiy bt Micah Franklin 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (32m)
Denys Podvornyi bt Chris Stout 11-2, 11-8 (20m)
[25/32] SWEDEN
bt [25/32] NAMIBIA 2/0
Sebastian Victor bt Norbert Dorgeloh 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 (26m)
Christian Drakenberg bt Marco Becker 11-5, 11-5, 11-1 (24m)
Joakim Larsson v Andrew Forrest (Match withdrawn)
Final:
[1] ENGLAND v [2] EGYPT
3rd place
play-off:
[3] FRANCE v [4] AUSTRALIA
5th place
play-off:
[5] MALAYSIA v [9] ITALY
7th place
play-off:
[6] INDIA v [8] USA
9th place
play-off:
[14] NETHERLANDS v [16] GERMANY
11th place
play-off:
[13] FINLAND v [17/24] HONG KONG CHINA
13th place
play-off:
[11] SOUTH AFRICA v [17/24] DENMARK
15th place
play-off:
[7] CANADA v [10] MEXICO
17th place
play-off:
[17/24] SPAIN v [17/24] SWITZERLAND
19th place
play-off:
[17/24] KUWAIT v [25/32] IRELAND
21st place
play-off:
[12] PAKISTAN v [17/24] SCOTLAND
23rd place
play-off:
[15] NEW ZEALAND v [17/24] ARGENTINA
25th place
play-off:
[17/24] COLOMBIA v [25/32] AUSTRIA
27th place
play-off:
[25/32] HUNGARY v [25/32] KOREA
29th place
play-off:
[25/32] UKRAINE v [25/32] SWEDEN
31st place
play-off:
[25/32] BERMUDA v [25/32] NAMIBIA
Top Four Seeds
Make World Semi-Finals In Paderborn
Favourites
England will face fourth seeds Australia and title-holders Egypt
will take on third seeds France in the dream semi-finals of the WSF
Men's World Team Squash Championship after all four nations comfortably
overcame their opponents in today's quarter-finals in Paderborn, Germany.
The 23rd
staging of the World Squash Federation event - the first senior world
championship since the IOC announcement that Squash is on the shortlist for
Olympic inclusion in 2020 - is taking place in Germany for the first time.
In the
afternoon session, second seeds Egypt brushed aside USA, the No8 seeds,
3/0 on the new all-glass showcourt at the Ahorn-Sportpark. With world No2
Ramy Ashour rested, Egypt led with Karim Darwish as the world No3
despatched top-ranked American Julian Illingworth 11-4, 11-4, 11-2.
Mohamed El Shorbagy and Hisham Mohamed Ashour completed the
formalities to take Egypt into the last four for the ninth time since 1993.
France,
runners-up in the previous championship in Denmark in 2009, earned their fifth
successive semi-final berth after beating Malaysia 3/0. Gregory
Gaultier was in determined mood as he overcame the fifth seeds' Mohd
Azlan Iskandar 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 before French veteran Thierry Lincou
took out long-time rival Ong Beng Hee 12-10, 11-2, 11-7. Mathieu
Castagnet needed only 18 minutes to wrap up the dead third rubber beating
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan 11-8, 11-2.
French
national coach Andre Delhoste was pleased with his team's performance:
"It was a tricky match - I think we probably had the hardest draw. But it helped
us stay sharp, so it's been good for the guys. If they can keep this up, it'll
be good for the rest of the tournament."
Lincou, the
former world number one and world champion who has been a pillar of the French
world championship team since 1999, was also delighted with his game: "I would
say today was a big step forward in my return after my injury. Many times in the
game, I surprised myself with the way I played, my shot selection and my
tactical approach. It was good to really feel the game.
"I put all my
energy into the team. It's good to be in the last four for the fifth time in a
row," added the 35-year-old.
"Greg really
showed the way - his determination is good for all of us - he's been on fire all
week, and that's the Greg we love. It's been good teamwork."
 Later in the
day, top seeds England took out ninth seeds Italy - with Yorkshiremen
Nick Matthew and James Willstrop, ranked one and four in the world,
respectively, taking out the top two Italians Stephane Galifi and
Davide Bianchetti in straight games. Team newcomer Daryl Selby failed
to capitalise on match-balls in the best-of-three decider, going down 12-10,
3-11, 12-10 to Amr Ramsy Swelim.
But far away
from England's glass-court action, former champions Australia saw off rising
squash nation India, beating the sixth seeds 2/0.
David
Palmer
recovered from a game down to beat India's highest ranked player ever Saurav
Ghosal 7-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 before Cameron Pilley beat Siddharth
Suchde 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 to clinch victory.
"Saurav played
a really good game and put David under pressure," explained Australian team
manager Byron Davis. "But David fought hard to come back and win the
match.
"To get that
win was great - that put the pressure on them. Cameron then did what he needed
to do and pulled us through. We're really glad to be in the semi-finals and look
forward to playing England on the glass court."
Palmer was
delighted to be back in winning form: "Saurav was very fast in the first game. I
felt I had him under control but he was getting everything back. It was midway
through the second that we had some long rallies and I think that did some
damage. I had a good start in the third and from then I think I was in control.
"It was a good
game of squash - and I think I played better than yesterday, which gave me a bit
of confidence," added the veteran Aussie who delighted home fans earlier this
month by making the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
"It's very
obvious that England and Egypt have had the strongest teams recently - but with
the same team that we have today, we beat Egypt four years ago in the
semi-finals and beat England for third place in the last championship.
"We've met our
criteria by getting to the semi-finals - and with the women winning the title
last year it means we've secured our funding, which is very important.
"So we go into
tomorrow with no pressure, England go in as favourites - but both Stewart and
Cameron are capable of causing trouble on their day, and Nick and I have some
close battles over the years.
"Playing for
Australia is always an honour, and that never changes," continued Palmer.
"Squash is a lonely sport much of the time - so playing team squash is very
special, especially as we only do this every two years (unlike the Europeans who
have their annual team event)."
Indian
national coach Cyrus Poncha was pleased with his team's performance:
"Overall, it's a good show by our boys. Obviously, on world rankings, the
Australian team were higher than ours - but we gave a great fight.
"We've got a
young team, with an average age of 22 - so when you look at the big teams Egypt,
England, Australia and France, we should get the title in two years time!"
Quarter-finals:
[1] ENGLAND bt [9] ITALY 2/1
Nick Matthew bt Stephane Galifi 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (44m)
James Willstrop bt Davide Bianchetti 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 (23m)
Daryl Selby lost to Amr Ramsy Swelim 10-12, 11-3, 10-12 (35m)
[4] AUSTRALIA
bt [6] INDIA 2/0
David Palmer bt Saurav Ghosal 7-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 (51m)
Cameron Pilley bt Siddharth Suchde 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 (50m)
Stewart Boswell v Harinder Pal Sandhu (Match withdrawn)
[3] FRANCE bt
[5] MALAYSIA 3/0
Gregory Gaultier bt Mohd Azlan Iskandar 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (55m)
Thierry Lincou bt Ong Beng Hee 12-10, 11-2, 11-7 (47m)
Mathieu Castagnet bt Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan 11-8, 11-2 (18m)
[2] EGYPT bt
[8] USA 3/0
Karim Darwish bt Julian Illingworth 11-4, 11-4, 11-2 (31m)
Mohamed El Shorbagy bt Christopher Gordon 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 (35m)
Hisham Mohamed Ashour bt Todd Harrity 8-11, 11-1, 11-7 (30m)
9th - 16th
place play-offs:
[17/24] HONG KONG CHINA bt [10] MEXICO 2/1
Max Lee bt Cesar Salazar 11-2, 11-5, 11-3 (28m)
Dick Lau lost to Eric Galvez 12-14, 4-11, 11-3, 9-11 (55m)
Leo Au bt Erik Tepos Valtierra 11-3, 11-6, 13-11 (48m)
[14]
NETHERLANDS bt [17/24] DENMARK 2/0
Laurens Jan Anjema bt Kristian Frost Olesen 11-4, 11-1, 11-5 (37m)
Dylan Bennett bt Rasmus Nielsen 11-8, 12-10, 2-11, 6-11, 11-6
(49m)
Piedro Schweertman v Morten W Sorensen (Match withdrawn)
[13] FINLAND
bt [11] SOUTH AFRICA 2/1
Olli Tuominen bt Stephen Coppinger 3-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-3
(53m)
Henrik Mustonen bt Shaun le Roux 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (33m)
Matias Tuomi lost to Rodney Durbach 6-11, 14-12, 6-11 (36m)
[16] GERMANY
bt [7] CANADA 2/1
Simon Rosner bt Shahier Razik 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (38m)
Jens Schoor lost to Shawn Delierre 11-9, 12-14, 3-11, 9-11 (65m)
Andre Haschker bt Andrew McDougall 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 (68m)
17th - 24th
place play-offs:
[17/24] SPAIN bt [17/24] SCOTLAND 2/0
Borja Golan bt Alan Clyne 11-5, 11-6, 11-3 (37m)
Alejandro Garbi Caro bt Stuart Crawford 11-5, 11-7, 6-11, 13-11
(48m)
David Vidal v Chris Small (Match withdrawn)
[17/24] KUWAIT
bt [17/24] ARGENTINA 2/1
Abdullah Al Muzayen bt Gonzalo Miranda 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 (26m)
Ammar Al-Tamimi lost to Hernan D'Arcangelo 11-5, 6-11, 12-10,
6-11, 6-11 (62m)
Ali Bader Al-Ramzi bt Roberto Pezzota 11-5, 11-13, 11-6, 11-8
(57m)
[25/32]
IRELAND bt [12] PAKISTAN 2/1
Arthur Gaskin bt Aamir Atlas Khan 11-8, 11-7, 11-3 (26m)
Derek Ryan bt Yasir Butt 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (24m)
Steve Richardson lost to Waqar Mehboob 8-11, 7-11 (16m)
[17/24]
SWITZERLAND bt [15] NEW ZEALAND 2/1
Nicolas Mueller bt Martin Knight 11-2, 11-5, 11-2 (27m)
Reiko Peter lost to Campbell Grayson 5-11, 7-11, 6-11 (35m)
John Williams bt Evan Williams 11-5, 11-6, 11-3 (31m)
25th - 32nd
place play-offs:
[25/32] HUNGARY bt [25/32] BERMUDA 3/0
Mark Krajcsak bt Micah Franklin 11-6, 11-7, 11-1 (19m)
Marton Szaboky bt Robert Maycock 7-11, 11-7, 11-0, 12-14, 11-8
(52m)
Peter Hoffman bt Chris Stout 11-8, 11-6 (18m)
[25/32]
AUSTRIA bt [25/32] UKRAINE 3/0
Aqeel Rehman bt Ruslan Sorochinskiy 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 (31m)
Leopold Czaska bt Kostiantyn Rybalchenko 11-3, 11-4, 11-2 (22m)
Jakob Dirnberger bt Valeriy Fedoruk 11-9, 6-11, 11-6 (25m)
[17/24]
COLOMBIA bt [25/32] NAMIBIA 3/0
Andres Vargas bt Marco Becker 11-7, 11-8, 4-11, 11-7 (47m)
Javier Castilla Conde bt Norbert Dorgeloh 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 (27m)
Jairo Navarro bt Andrew Forrest 11-5, 8-11, 11-7 (33m)
[25/32] KOREA
bt [25/32] SWEDEN 2/1
Nyeon-Ho Lee lost to Christian Drakenberg 3-11, 7-11, 7-11 (43m)
Seung Taek Lee bt Sebastian Victor 11-8, 17-15, 5-11, 16-14 (73m)
Seung-Jun Lee bt Joakim Larsson 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 (37m)
Semi-final
line-up:
[1] ENGLAND v [4] AUSTRALIA
[2] EGYPT v [3] FRANCE
5th - 8th
place play-offs:
[6] INDIA v [9] ITALY
[5] MALAYSIA v [8] USA
9th - 12th
place play-offs:
[14] NETHERLANDS v [17/24] HONG KONG CHINA
[13] FINLAND v [16] GERMANY
13th - 16th
place play-offs:
[10] MEXICO v [17/24] DENMARK
[7] CANADA v [11] SOUTH AFRICA
17th - 20th
place play-offs:
[17/24] SPAIN v [17/24] KUWAIT
[17/24] SWITZERLAND v [25/32] IRELAND
21st - 24th
place play-offs:
[17/24] SCOTLAND v [17/24] ARGENTINA
[12] PAKISTAN v [15] NEW ZEALAND
25th - 28th
place play-offs:
[25/32] HUNGARY v [25/32] AUSTRIA
[17/24] COLOMBIA v [25/32] KOREA
29th - 32nd
place play-offs:
[25/32] BERMUDA v [25/32] UKRAINE
[25/32] SWEDEN v [25/32] NAMIBIA
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