|
England
Crush France To Reach
World Squash Final In India
Defending champions
England have powered into the final of the ICL Men's World Team
Squash Championship after a devastating performance against European
rivals France in the semi-finals in the Indian city of Chennai.
Already celebrating a
record 14th successive appearance in the event's last four, the
three times champions are now through to their third successive final - and
their seventh appearance in the climax since making their debut in the
championship in 1981.
 Essex's Peter
Barker (left), the world No13 from Upminster, gave England a decisive lead
after the opening rubber, beating France's third string Renan Lavigne
11-6, 11-6, 11-6.
But it was the England
No1 Nick Matthew who played one of the matches of his life to clinch
victory for his country The 27-year-old from Sheffield crushed France's
in-form world No3 Gregory Gaultier, runner-up in the World Open
less than two weeks ago, 11-3, 11-6, 11-4.
It was a stunning
performance by US Open champion Matthew, who ended a four-match
losing sequence to the Frenchman this year.
In the final 'dead'
rubber between the second strings, Yorkshireman James Willstrop went
down 10-11 (0-2), 8-11 to former world champion Thierry Lincou as
France gained a consolation win.
"It was certainly one
of the best England performances I have seen," admitted National Coach
David Pearson "Peter, who is making his first appearance in a World
Team Championship here, played a confident opening match to give us the lead
and then Nick attacked right from the start and really didn't give Greg a
look in.
"It was a great
performance from Nick, and one which will no doubt give him a lot of
confidence in his top string match against Australia's former world champion
David Palmer tomorrow," added Pearson.
England, the second
seeds, will face Australia in Wednesday's final after the fourth
seeds pulled off a shock 2/1 win over strong favourites Egypt The
climax will be the first England/Australian affair since 1991.
Semi-final
results:
[4] AUSTRALIA bt [1] EGYPT 2-1
Cameron Pilley lost to Mohammed Abbas 11-7, 7-11, 4-11, 8-11 (62m)
David Palmer bt Amr Shabana 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6 (55m)
Stewart Boswell bt Karim Darwish 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 (73m)
[2] ENGLAND bt [3] FRANCE 2-1
Peter Barker bt Renan Lavigne
11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (42m)
Nick Matthew bt Gregory Gaultier 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 (41m)
James Willstrop lost to Thierry Lincou 10-11 (0-2), 8-11 (25m)
Top
Seeds To Contest World Championship
Semi-Finals In Chennai
Favourites Egypt
will take on fourth seeds Australia and defending champions
England will face third seeds France in the semi-finals of the
ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship after the top four top teams
earned comfortable victories in the quarter-finals in the Indian city of
Chennai.
Just 24 hours after
celebrating their first appearance in the quarter-finals for almost 30
years, hosts India, the tenth seeds, were brought down to
earth by Egypt in a 3/0 defeat India's Ritwik Bhattacharya put up a
brave fight against Wael El Hindi before going down 11-10 (3-1),
11-4, 11-8 to the Egyptian No4, ranked 14 in the world, in 44 minutes The
47 ranking positions that separate Saurav Ghosal from Amr Shabana,
the world No1 and world champion, were too much for the Indian No1 - who
went down 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 in 30 minutes to guarantee the favourites a place
in the last four.
In their first meeting
in the event for four years, Egypt will face Australia for a place in the
final The eight times champions fielded a full-strength squad against
Canada, the sixth seeds who were resting top string Jonathon Power
(right)
But after Australian No2 Stewart Boswell dismissed Matthew Giuffre
11-4, 11-8, 11-4 in 33 minutes, Canadian Shahier Razik tested
experienced former world champion David Palmer for over an hour
before the world No4 from New South Wales finally claimed the 10-11 (0-2),
11-7, 11-6, 11-6 victory which assured the fourth seeds a place in the
semis.
Defending champions
England also dropped games for the first time in the competition before
overcoming surprise opponents Netherlands, the No8 seeds Squad No2
James Willstrop was taken to four games by Tom Hoevenaars
before beating the 20-year-old Dutchman 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8.
But world No5 Nick
Matthew maintained his clean sheet in Chennai by beating Dutch No1
Laurens Jan Anjema 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 The 40-minute victory ensures that
England extends the impressive record of reaching at least the semi-finals
in all appearances (14) in the event since their debut in 1981!
In a repeat of a
memorable semi-final clash in Austria in 2003, second seed England will face
France With both sides featuring full-strength squads, France took on
Malaysia, the fifth seeds Former world No1 Thierry Lincou put
the Europeans into the lead by beating Ong Beng Hee 11-9, 11-6, 11-10
(2-0) Making his debut this year as the French No1, Gregory Gaultier
needed four games to overcome Mohd Azlan Iskandar 11-8, 11-7,
9-11, 11-7 - the 48-minute victory taking France into the last four for the
third time in a row.
In the lower play-off
clashes, Chinese Taipei rounded off their maiden appearance in the
event with a courageous performance against Russia In anticipation
of hosting the World Games in 2009, Chinese Taipei presented the
youngest squad in the championship - and today's 25th-29th
place play-off featured the youngest and oldest players in the competition
Sergey Kostrykin,
at 43, the event's most 'senior citizen', put Russia ahead with an 11-3,
11-2, 9-11, 11-4 win over 16-year-old Chuang Kai-Han Russia went on
to clinch the tie after the second match, but it was the dead rubber in
which the youngest competitor, Chinese Taipei's 14-year-old Chen Ching-Han,
battled for glory against Valery Litvinko The 29-year-old Russian
prevailed, however, winning 11-8, 11-6.
Widely believed to be
the player boasting the most World Team Championships' appearances, Irishman
Derek Ryan celebrated his 38th birthday today in fine
style - helping 11th seeds Ireland to a 3/0 win over New
Zealand, the 13th seeds After John Rooney and
Liam Kenny gained victories over Kiwis Campbell Grayson and
Kashif Shuja, respectively, Ryan despatched 23-year-old New Zealand No4
Martin Knight 11-5, 11-3 to ensure Ireland a place in the 9th-12th
place play-offs
Quarter-finals
(playing order 2-1-3):
[1] EGYPT bt [10]
INDIA 3-0
Wael El Hindi bt
Ritwik Bhattacharya 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 11-8 (44m)
Amr Shabana bt Saurav
Ghosal 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 (30m)
Mohammed Abbas bt
Siddharth Suchde 11-6, 11-8 (22m)
[4] AUSTRALIA bt
[6] CANADA 3-0
Stewart Boswell bt
Matthew Giuffre 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 (33m)
David Palmer bt
Shahier Razik 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 (64m)
Cameron Pilley bt
Shawn Delierre 11-3, 11-7 (16m)
[3] FRANCE bt [5]
MALAYSIA 3-0
Thierry Lincou bt Ong
Beng Hee 11-9, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0) (36m)
Gregory Gaultier bt
Mohd Azlan Iskandar 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 (48m)
Renan Lavigne bt Muhd
Asyraf Azan 11-8, 10-11 (0-2), 11-5
[2] ENGLAND bt [8]
NETHERLANDS 3-0
James Willstrop bt Tom
Hoevenaars 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8 (40m)
Nick Matthew bt
Laurens Jan Anjema 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 (40m)
Peter Barker bt Piedro
Schweertman 11-4, 11-2 (20m)
9th - 16th place
play-offs:
[9] WALES bt [15]
HONG KONG 2-1
Rob Sutherland lost to
Max Lee 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 7-11 (52m)
David Evans bt Dick
Lau 11-10 (3-1), 11-9, 11-4 (49m)
Jethro Binns bt Anson
Kwong 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (28m)
[12] SOUTH AFRICA
bt [14] USA 2-1
Adrian Hansen bt
Christopher Gordon 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 (35m)
Jesse Engelbrecht bt
Julian Illingworth 11-9, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0) (57m)
Clinton Leeuw lost to
Jamie Crombie 9-11, 5-11 (20m)
[11] IRELAND bt
[13] NEW ZEALAND 3-0
John Rooney bt
Campbell Grayson 11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 2-11, 11-9 (66m)
Liam Kenny bt Kashif
Shuja 11-7, 11-7, 10-11 (3-5), 11-8 (52m)
Derek Ryan bt Martin
Knight 11-5, 11-3 (18m)
[7] PAKISTAN bt
[16] GERMANY 2-1
Farhan Mehboob bt Tim
Weber 8-11, 11-5, 11-0, 11-3 (35m)
Aamir Atlas Khan bt
Simon Rosner 11-2, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 (40m)
Yasir Butt lost to
Moritz Dahmen 10-11 (0-2), 10-11 (1-3) (18m)
17th - 24th
place play-offs:
[17/24] SWEDEN bt
[17/24] FINLAND 2-1
Badr Abdel Aziz bt
Matias Tuomi 11-10 (4-2), 11-4, 11-5 (37m)
Christian Drakenberg
lost to Olli Tuominen 8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-2, 6-11 (46m)
Rasmus Hult bt Henrik
Mustonen 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 11-5 (51m)
[17/24] JAPAN bt
[17/24] AUSTRIA 2-1
Takanori Shimizu bt
Jakob Dirnberger 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 (31m)
Jun Matsumoto lost to
Aqeel Rehman 7-11, 3-11, 5-11 (29m)
Yuta Fukui bt Andreas
Freudensprung 11-8, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (4-2) (35m)
[17/24] SCOTLAND bt
[17/24] KUWAIT 2-1
Stuart Crawford lost
to Abdullah Almezayen 2-11, 5-11, 10-11 (0-2) (27m)
Alan Clyne bt Bader Al
Hussaini 11-3, 11-5, 8-11, 3-11, 11-8 (79m)
Harry Leitch bt
Mohammed Hajeyah 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 (49m)
[17/24] SPAIN bt
[17/24] KENYA 3-0
Alejandro Garbi Caro
bt Hartaj Bains 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (27m)
David Vidal bt Hardeep
Reel 11-10 (5-3), 11-10 (2-0), 8-11, 11-6 (48m)
Arturo Santo Tomas bt
Otto Kwach 9-11, 11-8, 11-5 (25m)
25th -
29th place play-off:
[25/29] RUSSIA bt
[25/29] CHINESE TAIPEI 3-0
Sergey Kostrykin bt
Chuang Kai-Han 11-3, 11-2, 9-11, 11-4 (19m)
Alexei Severinov bt
Chang Chun-Yu 11-0, 11-4, 11-0 (15m)
Valery Litvinko bt
Chen Ching-Han 11-8, 11-6 (12m)
Hosts
India Celebrate Quarter-Final
World Championship Berth In Chennai
After three days of
almost all results going according to the seedings, hosts India
pulled off a sensational upset in the last sixteen round in the ICL World
Men's Team Squash Championship in Chennai to earn a place in the
quarter-finals for the first time since 1979.
The tenth seeds faced
Wales, the 1999 runners-up seeded one position higher Former
Indian National champion Ritwik Bhattacharya, 28, from New Delhi, put
the hosts in a commanding position with an 11-6, 11-10 (3-1), 11-7 win over
David Evans, the former British Open champion from Pontypridd
But reigning national
champion Saurav Ghosal, the world No48 from Kolkata currently
studying at Leeds University in England, recovered from a game down against
veteran Welshman Alex Gough, ranked 23 places higher, to clinch
victory for his country when his opponent retired injured with the score
standing at 10-11 (2-4), 11-7, 11-3.
Ex-Harvard student
Siddharth Suchde, from Mumbai, made it 3/0 for the underdogs when
he beat Jethro Binns 11-8, 7-11, 11-2.
"I am absolutely
delighted - this is great for Indian squash," said India's National Coach
Cyrus Poncha "The Squash Rackets Federation of India has done a
magnificent job over the past few years and now we reap its reward The
boys played outstandingly today and they all deserve this victory as they
have toiled hard for the past few years."
Australian coach
Byron Davis said, "I have been seeing Indian squash at close quarters,
at World Juniors, World doubles and so on The support for the game is
great here India is becoming the hotbed for world squash Saurav and
Ritwik are gutsy players, I am sure they will get into the top fifty.’’
Referees' assessor
Rod Symington, from Canada, added: "This is the best Indian team I have
seen in 25 years The coaching has been superb It is always hard to
motivate yourself to win for your country Easier to win for yourself
because there is personal gain - big money That’s why one sees home teams
putting up a good show at events like the Olympics: It’s pure national
pride that took the Indians through."
Another upset took
Netherlands into the last eight for the first time since 1991 - and
consigned five times world champions Pakistan to the play-offs for
the 9-16 places for only the third time in 20 appearances in the
championships since the inaugural event in 1967!
Dylan Bennett
put the eighth seeds ahead, beating former Asian junior champion Mansoor
Zaman 10-11 (4-6), 11-10 (5-3), 11-7, 11-8 Dutch No1 Laurens Jan
Anjema sealed victory by beating top Pakistani Aamir Atlas Khan
11-3, 11-9, 11-4.
Last sixteen round:
[1]
EGYPT
bt [15] HONG KONG 3-0
Karim
Darwish bt Max Lee 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 (28m)
Amr
Shabana bt Dick Lau 11-7, 11-2, 11-10 (2-0) (24m)
Mohammed Abbas bt Anson Kwong 11-8, 11-4 (17m)
[10]
INDIA
bt [9] WALES 3-0
Ritwik
Bhattacharya bt David Evans 11-6, 11-10 (3-1), 11-7 (38m)
Saurav
Ghosal bt Alex Gough 10-11 (2-4), 11-7, 11-3 ret (50m)
Siddharth Suchde bt Jethro Binns 11-8, 7-11, 11-2 (31m)
[4]
AUSTRALIA bt [14] USA 3-0
Stewart Boswell bt Christopher Gordon 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 (35m)
David
Palmer bt Julian Illingworth 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (32m)
Scott
Arnold bt Jamie Crombie 8-11, 11-7, 11-4 (41m)
[6]
CANADA
bt [12] SOUTH AFRICA 2-1
Shahier Razik bt Stephen Coppinger 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 (47m)
Jonathon Power bt Jesse Engelbrecht 11-4, 11-2, 11-2 (28m)
Matthew Giuffre lost to Adrian Hansen 11-9, 5-11, 6-11 (27m)
[5]
MALAYSIA bt [11] IRELAND 2-1
Ong
Beng Hee bt John Rooney 11-2, 9-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5 (78m)
Mohd
Azlan Iskandar bt Liam Kenny 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 (44m)
Mohd
Nafiizwan Adnan lost to Derek Ryan 11-6, 7-11, 7-11 (29m)
[3]
FRANCE
bt [13] NEW ZEALAND 3-0
Thierry Lincou bt Campbell Grayson 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3 (36m)
Gregory Gaultier bt Kashif Shuja 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 (23m)
Julien
Balbo bt Joshua Greenfield 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-5 (34m)
[8]
NETHERLANDS bt [7] PAKISTAN 2-1
Dylan
Bennett bt Mansoor Zaman 10-11 (4-6), 11-10 (5-3), 11-7, 11-8 (49m)
Laurens Jan Anjema bt Aamir Atlas Khan 11-3, 11-9, 11-4 (33m)
Piedro
Schweertman lost to Farhan Mehboob 7-11, 7-11 (18m)
[2]
ENGLAND bt [16] GERMANY 3-0
James
Willstrop bt Tim Weber 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 (27m)
Nick
Matthew bt Simon Rosner 11-4, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0) (32m)
Lee
Beachill bt Moritz Dahmen 11-1, 11-7 (13m)
17th - 32nd place play-offs:
[17/24]
FINLAND bye
[17/24]
SWEDEN
bt [25/29] BERMUDA 3-0
Rasmus
Hult bt Melrindo Caines 11-7, 11-2, 11-5 (19m)
Christian Drakenberg bt Chase Toogood 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 (29m)
Gustav
Detter bt Robert Maycock 11-3, 11-5 (12m)
[17/24]
JAPAN
bye
[17/24]
AUSTRIA bt [25/29] VENEZUELA 3-0
Andreas Freudensprung bt Juan Pablo Sanchez 11-6, 11-6, 11-0 (14m)
Aqeel Rehman bt Francisco Valecillo 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 (19m)
Stefan
Brauneis bt Luis Hernandes 11-5, 11-3 (14m)
[17/24]
KUWAIT
bt [25/29] RUSSIA 3-0
Abdullah Almezayen bt Sergey Kostrikin 11-3, 11-2, 11-2 (16m)
Bader
Al Hussaini bt Alexei Severinov 11-1, 10-11 (0-2), 11-2, 11-6 (29m)
Mohammed Hajeyah bt Valery Litvinko 11-2, 11-5 (10m)
[17/24]
SCOTLAND bt [25/29] CHINESE TAIPEI 3-0
Stuart
Crawford bt Huang Hsuen-Chih 11-4, 11-1, 11-1 (12m)
Alan
Clyne bt Chang Chun-Yu 11-0, 11-2, 11-3 (16m)
Harry
Leitch bt Chen Ching-Han 11-2, 11-3 (11m)
[17/24]
KENYA
bt [25/29] SRI LANKA 2-1
Rajdeep Bains lost to Navin Samarasinghe 5-11, 11-10 (3-1), 5-11, 4-11 (43m)
Hardeep Reel bt Saman Thilakaratna 11-5, 10-11 (0-2), 11-9, 11-3 (43m)
Otto
Kwach bt Anura Hewage 11-8, 11-4, 11-3 (24m)
[17/24]
SPAIN
bye
England Defeat Germany For Place In
World
Quarter-Finals
England,
the defending champions, stormed through to the quarter-finals of the ICL
Men's World Team Squash Championship after despatching European rivals
Germany 3/0 in the last sixteen round of the biennial event in the
Indian city of Chennai.
 British national champion James Willstrop
(left),
from Pontefract in Yorkshire, led the way for the second day in a row - this
time beating German number two Tim Weber 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 to put the
second seeds ahead
Refreshed after being rested for the previous
day's final qualifying tie against Hong Kong, England number one
Nick Matthew, from Sheffield, defeated former European junior champion
Simon Rosner 11-4, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0).
Completing the national side's all-Yorkshire
line-up, Pontefract's Lee Beachill made it a maximum points win by
dismissing Germany's third string Moritz Dahmen 11-1, 11-7 in just 13
minutes.
England will now face Netherlands for
a place in the last four after the eighth-seeded Dutch team pulled of a
surprise win over Pakistan, the No7 seeds.
Last sixteen round:
[2] ENGLAND bt [16] GERMANY 3-0
James Willstrop bt Tim Weber 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 (27m) Nick Matthew bt Simon
Rosner 11-4, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0) (32m)
Lee Beachill bt Moritz Dahmen 11-1, 11-7 (13m)
Birthday Boy Alex Leads Wales To Dramatic
World Championship Upset
PSA Tour
veteran Alex Gough celebrated his 37th birthday in
impressive style in India when he led Wales to a 2/1
upset - the first of the tournament - over eighth seeds Netherlands
in the final qualifying rounds of the ICL World Men's Team Squash
Championship in Chennai.
The former world No5 is currently enjoying a rich vein of form after
reaching the quarter-finals of the World Open in Bermuda last week
Gough was taken to five games by Laurens Jan Anjema, but ultimately
beat the Dutch number one - now ranked 20 in the world - 11-6, 8-11, 11-8,
6-11, 11-7 in 87 minutes to put Wales in the lead.
Team-mate Jethro Binns, 23, from Abergavenny, clinched victory for
the ninth seeds by beating Tom Hoevenaars 11-6, 11-9, 11-4
Netherlands gained a consolation point when Dylan Bennett beat former
British Open champion David Evans 11-2, 11-8, 11-7.
Wales will now face 10th seeds India for a place in the
quarter-finals, while Netherlands progress to meet Pakistan, the No7
seeds, in the other half of the last sixteen draw.
Title-holders England, the No2 seeds, beat Hong Kong 3/0 and
now meet European rivals Germany for a place in the last eight
Favourites Egypt defeated Russia 3/0 and will now take on Hong Kong
in the last sixteen.
Final qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] EGYPT bt [25/29]
RUSSIA 3-0
Karim Darwish bt Alexei Severinov 11-4, 11-2, 11-4 (16m)
Mohammed Abbas bt Valery Litvinko 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 (22m)
Wael El Hindi bt Sergey Kostrikin 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (16m)
[16] GERMANY bt
[17/24] FINLAND 2-1
Simon Rosner bt Olli Tuominen 11-8, 4-11, 10-11 (0-2), 11-10 (5-3), 11-3
(62m)
Johannes Voit lost to Henrik Mustonen 8-11, 6-11, 4-11 (28m)
Tim Weber bt Matias Tuomi 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6 (60m)
Final positions: 1 Egypt, 2 Germany, 3 Finland, 4 Russia
Pool B:
[2] ENGLAND bt [15]
HONG KONG 3-0
James Willstrop bt Dick Lau 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (17m)
Peter Barker bt Anson Kwong 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 (23m)
Lee Beachill bt Max Lee 11-6, 11-2, 11-10 (2-0) (42m)
Final positions: 1 England, 2 Hong Kong, 3 Spain
Pool C:
[3] FRANCE
bt [25/29] VENEZUELA 3-0
Gregory
Gaultier bt Francisco Valecillo 11-4, 11-6, 11-7 (14m)
Julien Balbo
bt Richard Prieto 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 (23m)
Renan
Lavigne bt Juan Pablo Sanchez 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (14m)
[14] USA bt
[17/24] JAPAN 3-0
Julian Illingworth bt Jun Matsumoto 11-10 (2-0), 11-4, 11-7 (28m)
Richard Chin bt Yuta Fukui 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 (26m)
Christopher Gordon bt Takanori Shimizu 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 (54m)
Final positions: 1 France, 2 USA, 3 Japan, 4 Venezuela
Pool D:
[4] AUSTRALIA bt [13]
NEW ZEALAND 3-0
David Palmer bt Kashif Shuja 11-4, 11-2, 11-6 (24m)
Cameron Pilley bt Martin Knight 11-4, 11-7, 11-7 (28m)
Stewart Boswell bt Joshua Greenfield 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 (21m)
Final positions: 1 Australia, 2 New Zealand, 3 Scotland
Pool E:
[5] MALAYSIA
bt [25/29] SRI LANKA 3-0
Mohd Azlan Iskandar bt Saman Thilakaratna 11-6, 11-2, 11-5 (20m)
Muhd Asyraf Azan bt Kavinda Cooray 11-3, 11-1, 11-5 (15m)
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan bt Navin Samarasinghe 5-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-1 (28m)
[12] SOUTH AFRICA bt
[17/24] KUWAIT 2-1
Jesse Engelbrecht bt Bader Al Hussaini 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (47m)
Adrian Hansen bt Nasser B Al-Ramzi 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (30m)
Stephen Coppinger lost to Abdullah Almezayen 11-3, 10-11 (1-3), 10-11 (0-2),
3-11 (76m)
Final positions: 1 Malaysia, 2 South Africa, 3 Kuwait, 4 Sri Lanka
Pool F:
[6] CANADA bt [11]
IRELAND 2-1
Jonathon Power bt Liam Kenny 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (40m)
Matthew Giuffre bt Derek Ryan 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7 (62m)
Shahier Razik lost to John Rooney 4-11, 2-11, 11-7, 11-3, 8-11 (60m)
Final positions: 1 Canada, 2 Ireland, 3 Austria
Pool G:
[7] PAKISTAN bt
[25/29] BERMUDA 3-0
Mansoor Zaman bt Chase Toogood 11-4, 11-1, 11-6 (23m)
Yasir Butt bt Robert Maycock 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 (18m)
Farhan Mehboob bt Melrindo Caines 11-2, 11-0, 11-4 (15m)
[10] INDIA bt [17/24]
KENYA 3-0
Ritwik Bhattacharya bt Hardeep Reel 11-4, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (2-0) (35m)
Gaurav Nandrajog bt Otto Kwach 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 (24m)
Siddharth Suchde bt Hartaj Bains 11-2, 11-4, 11-3 (20m)
Final positions: 1 Pakistan, 2 India, 3 Kenya, 4 Bermuda
Pool H:
[17/24] SWEDEN bt
[25/29] CHINESE TAIPEI 3-0
Christian Drakenberg bt Chang Chun-Yu 11-1, 11-1, 11-3 (16m)
Gustav Detter bt Chen Ching-Han 11-2, 11-2, 11-1 (18m)
Rasmus Hult bt Huang Hsuen-Chih 11-3, 11-2, 11-2 (22m)
[9] WALES bt [8]
NETHERLANDS 2-1
Alex Gough bt Laurens Jan Anjema 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7 (87m)
Jethro Binns bt Tom Hoevenaars 11-6, 11-9, 11-4 (47m)
David Evans lost to Dylan Bennett 2-11, 8-11, 7-11 (22m)
Final positions: 1 Wales, 2 Netherlands, 3 Sweden, 4 Chinese Taipei
Pakistan Down Hosts India In Chennai
Hosts India
went down 3/0 to close rivals Pakistan in the second qualifying round
ties in the ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship in the Indian
city of Chennai.
With all teams playing
in the order 3-1-2, it was the squad's 19-year-old third string Farhan
Mehboob that put Pakistan into the lead, beating Mumbai's Siddharth
Suchde 8-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5, 11-5 in 51 minutes The UK-based Indian
No1 Saurav Ghosal levelled his match against Aamir Atlas Khan
from two games down before the 17-year-old from Peshawar clinched victory
for himself - and his team - after 82 minutes, winning 11-10 (2-0), 11-6,
10-11 (1-3), 6-11, 11-9.
Mansoor Zaman
secured maximum points for
Pakistan when he beat Ritwik Bhattacharya 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 Tenth
seeds India must now beat Kenya in Saturday's final qualifying tie in
Pool G to keep alive their hopes of achieving their seeding, thus marking
their highest finish for almost 30 years!
Defending champions
England and former champions Australia began their 2007 campaigns
today Second seeds England swept to a 3/0 win over Spain in Pool
B Australia, eight times winners of the title since the event's inaugural
year in 1967, defeated Scotland 3/0.
 Favourites Egypt
recorded their second 3/0 win in two days, beating Germany 3/0
But world number one Amr Shabana (right), crowned world champion last week in
Bermuda, dropped a game against Simon Rosner before beating the
former European Junior Champion 11-7, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-3.
Jonathon Power,
the most successful North American squash player of all time, came out of
retirement to lead Canada to a 3/0 win over Austria The
33-year-old former world number one beat 21-year-old Austrian number one
Aqeel Rehman 11-1, 11-2, 11-4.
2nd qualifying rounds - Pool A:
[1] EGYPT bt [16]
GERMANY 3-0
Mohammed Abbas bt
Moritz Dahmen 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 (25m)
Amr Shabana bt Simon
Rosner 11-7, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-3 (37m)
Wael El Hindi bt Tim
Weber 11-7, 10-11 (0-2), 11-4, 11-2 (29m)
[17/24] FINLAND bt
[25/29] RUSSIA 3-0
Henrik Mustonen bt
Valery Litvinko 11-4, 11-0, 11-5 (23m)
Olli Tuominen bt
Alexei Severinov 11-4, 11-2, 11-4 (19m)
Matias Tuomi bt Sergey
Kostrikin 11-1, 11-3, 11-3 (15m)
Current standings: 1
Egypt, 2 Finland, 3 Germany, 4 Russia
Pool B:
[2] ENGLAND bt
[17/24] SPAIN 3-0
Peter Barker bt Arturo
Santo Tomas 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 (21m)
Nick Matthew bt David
Vidal 11-7, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0) (25m)
Lee Beachill bt
Alejandro Garbi Caro 11-4, 11-4, 11-10 (3-1) (25m)
Current standings: 1
England, 2 Hong Kong, 3 Spain
Pool C:
[3] FRANCE bt [14]
USA 3-0
Julien Balbo bt Jamie
Crombie 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 (32m)
Thierry Lincou bt
Julian Illingworth 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 (30m)
Renan Lavigne bt
Christopher Gordon 11-8, 7-11, 7-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-4 (68m)
[17/24] JAPAN bt
[25/29] VENEZUELA 3-0
Ken Okada bt Luis
Hernandes 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 (16m)
Jun Matsumoto bt
Francisco Valecillo 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 (20m)
Takanori Shimizu bt
Juan Pablo Sanchez 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 (20m)
Current standings: 1
France, 2 USA, 3 Japan, 4 Venezuela
Pool D:
[4] AUSTRALIA bt
[17/24] SCOTLAND 3-0
Scott Arnold bt Jamie
Macaulay 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (28m)
Stewart Boswell bt
Alan Clyne 11-3, 11-3, 11-6 (30m)
Cameron Pilley bt
Harry Leitch 11-6, 11-5, 11-2 (27m)
Current standings: 1
Australia, 2 New Zealand, 3 Scotland
Pool E:
[17/24] KUWAIT bt
[25/29] SRI LANKA 3-0
Nasser B Al-Ramzi bt
Anura Nisshanka Hewage 11-4, 11-1, 11-2 (19m)
Bader Al Hussaini bt
Saman Thilakaratna 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 (25m)
Abdullah Almezayen bt
Navin Samarasinghe 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 (34m)
[5] MALAYSIA bt
[12] SOUTH AFRICA 2-1
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan
lost to Adrian Hansen 7-11, 8-11, 8-11 (36m)
Mohd Azlan Iskandar bt
Jesse Engelbrecht 11-4, 11-5, 11-9 (31m)
Ong Beng Hee bt
Stephen Coppinger 9-11, 11-5, 11-10 (2-0), 11-8 (68m)
Current standings: 1
Malaysia, 2 South Africa, 3 Kuwait, 4 Sri Lanka
Pool F:
[6] CANADA bt
[17/24] AUSTRIA 3-0
Matthew Giuffre bt
Andreas Freudensprung 11-10 (2-0), 11-6, 11-6 (31m)
Jonathon Power bt
Aqeel Rehman 11-1, 11-2, 11-4 (25m)
Shahier Razik bt Jakob
Dirnberger 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 (35m)
Current standings: 1
Ireland, 2 Canada, 3 Austria
Pool G:
[7] PAKISTAN bt
[10] INDIA 3-0
Farhan Mehboob bt
Siddharth Suchde 8-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5, 11-5 (51m)
Aamir Atlas Khan bt
Saurav Ghosal 11-10 (2-0), 11-6, 10-11 (1-3), 6-11, 11-9 (82m)
Mansoor Zaman bt
Ritwik Bhattacharya 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (25m)
[17/24] KENYA bt
[25/29] BERMUDA 3-0
Hartaj Bains bt Robert
Maycock 9-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-4, 11-2 (34m)
Hardeep Reel bt Chase
Toogood 11-4, 11-9, 11-4 (29m)
Rajdeep Bains bt
Melrindo Caines 11-3, 11-1, 11-3 (21m)
Current standings: 1
Pakistan, 2 India, 3 Kenya, 4 Bermuda
Pool H:
[9] WALES bt
[25/29] CHINESE TAIPEI 3-0
Jethro Binns bt Chuang
Kai-Han 11-1, 11-6, 11-8 (18m)
David Evans bt Chang
Chun-Yu 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 (24m)
Rob Sutherland bt
Huang Hsuen-Chih 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (18m)
[8] NETHERLANDS bt
[17/24] SWEDEN 3-0
Piedro Schweertman bt
Gustav Detter 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6 (39m)
Laurens Jan Anjema bt
Christian Drakenberg 11-3, 11-2, 11-9 (32m)
Dylan Bennett bt
Rasmus Hult 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5 (30m)
Current standings: 1
Netherlands, 2 Wales, 3 Sweden, 4 Chinese Taipei
Seeds Untroubled
On
Opening Day In Chennai
The top seeded nations
came through today's (Thursday) opening day of action in the ICL World
Men's Team Squash Championship with straightforward victories in the
first qualifying rounds of the 21st staging of the event since
1967 in the Indian city of Chennai.
Favourites Egypt
made a successful start in their bid to win the title for a second time
by beating Finland 3/0 in Pool A But newly-crowned World Open
champion Amr Shabana was taken to tie-breaks in the first two games
before overcoming the experienced Finnish NO1 Olli Tuominen 11-10 (3-1),
11-10 (5-3), 5-11, 11-9 in 40 minutes.
While defending
champions England, the second seeds, were not in action, third seeds
France swept aside Japan in a 3/0 victory in Pool C.
Hosts India,
the tenth seeds, delighted the local crowds with a 3/0 win in Pool G over
Bermuda National champion Saurav Ghosal sealed the team victory
with an 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 win over the Bermuda No1 Chase Toogood.
Raja Randhir Singh,
the IOC delegate in India and Secretary General of the Olympic Council
Asia, officially inaugurated the ICL World Championship.
In his inaugural
speech, Mr Singh stated that he supports squash as a medal sport at the
Olympic Games "The statement was greeted with applause by all officials
and players present at the ceremony," commented Tournament Director Major
Maniam.
Official website:
http://wmt2007.com
1st Qualyfying Round
Pool A:
[1] EGYPT bt
[17/24] FINLAND 3-0
Mohammed Abbas bt
Henrik Mustonen 5-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 (34m)
Amr Shabana bt Olli
Tuominen 11-10 (3-1), 11-10 (5-3), 5-11, 11-9 (40m)
Karim Darwish bt
Matias Tuomi 11-7, 11-5, 11-3
[16] GERMANY bt
[25/29] RUSSIA 3-0
Moritz Dahmen bt
Valery Litvinko 11-4, 11-3, 11-1 (26m)
Simon Rosner bt Alexei
Severinov 11-2, 11-7, 11-9 (17m)
Johannes Voit bt
Sergey Kostrikin 11-1, 11-1, 11-2
Pool B:
[15] HONG KONG bt
[17/24] SPAIN 2-1
Max Lee bt Arturo
Santo Tomas 10-11 (0-2), 11-2, 11-9, 11-5 (45m)
Dick Lau bt David
Vidal 11-10 (3-1), 11-6, 9-11, 10-11 (2-4), 11-3 (80m)
Wai Hang Wong lost to
Alejandro Garbi Caro 10-11 (4-6), 8-11, 11-7, 10-11 (0-2) (47m)
Pool C:
[14] USA bt [25/29]
VENEZUELA 3-0
Richard Chin bt
Richard Prieto 11-4, 11-4, 11-2 (15m)
Julian Illingworth bt
Francisco Valecillo 11-4, 11-2, 11-4 (18m)
Christopher Gordon bt
Juan Pablo Sanchez 11-3, 11-3, 11-8 (17m)
[3] FRANCE bt
[17/24] JAPAN 3-0
Julien Balbo bt Yuta
Fukui 11-4, 11-3, 11-8 (26m)
Thierry Lincou bt Jun
Matsumoto 11-3, 11-4, 11-9 (18m)
Renan Lavigne bt
Takanori Shimizu 9-11, 11-6, 11-10 (3-1), 11-4 (38m)
Pool D:
[13] NEW ZEALAND bt
[17/24] SCOTLAND 3-0
Martin Knight bt Harry
Leitch 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 (34m)
Kashif Shuja bt Alan
Clyne 11-10 (7-5), 11-10 (3-1), 2-11, 8-11, 11-8 (63m)
Joshua Greenfield bt
Stuart Crawford 11-5, 11-9, 11-8 (24m)
Pool E:
[5] MALAYSIA bt
[17/24] KUWAIT 3-0
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan
bt Mohammed Hajeyah 11-3, 11-7, 10-11 (0-2), 11-4 (45m)
Mohd Azlan Iskandar bt
Bader Al Hussaini 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (34m)
Ong Beng Hee bt
Abdullah Almezayen 11-1, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8 (45m)
[12] SOUTH AFRICA
bt [25/29] SRI LANKA 3-0
Adrian Hansen bt Anura
Nisshanka Hewage 11-5, 11-1, 11-0 (12m)
Jesse Engelbrecht bt
Saman Thilakaratna 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (30m)
Stephen Coppinger bt
Navin Samarasinghe 11-4, 11-3, 11-2 (13m)
Pool F:
[11] IRELAND bt
[17/24] AUSTRIA 3-0
Derek Ryan bt Andreas
Freudensprung 10-11 (5-7), 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 (49m)
Liam Kenny bt Aqeel
Rehman 11-2, 11-9, 11-6 (25m)
John Rooney bt Jakob
Dirnberger 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 (25m)
Pool G:
[10] INDIA bt
[25/29] BERMUDA 3-0
Gaurav Nandrajog bt
Robert Maycock 11-3, 11-10 (4-2), 11-8 (25m)
Saurav Ghosal bt Chase
Toogood 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (24m)
Siddharth Suchde bt
Melrindo Caines 11-1, 11-2, 11-5 (13m)
[7] PAKISTAN bt
[17/24] KENYA 3-0
Farhan Mehboob bt
Hartaj Bains 11-2, 11-3, 11-6 (18m)
Aamir Atlas Khan bt
Hardeep Reel 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (23m)
Mansoor Zaman bt
Rajdeep Bains 11-1, 11-6, 11-3 (22m)
Pool H:
[9] WALES bt
[17/24] SWEDEN 3-0
Jethro Binns bt Gustav
Detter 11-10 (3-1), 11-5, 9-11, 11-1
Alex Gough bt
Christian Drakenberg 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4 (38m)
David Evans bt Rasmus
Hult 11-9, 11-10 (5-3), 11-4
[8] NETHERLANDS bt
[25/29] CHINESE TAIPEI 3-0
Piedro Schweertman bt
Chuang Kai-Han 11-1, 11-6, 11-0 (13m)
Dylan Bennett bt Chang
Chun-Yu 11-2, 11-1, 11-4 (21m)
Tom Hoevenaars bt
Huang Hsuen-Chih 11-0, 11-3, 11-2 (13m)
|
