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Hexagon |
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View from the Hexagon ...
Renan Lavigne reports from Chennai |
A true World Championship…
On its quest to reach the Olympics, squash can at least claim to
have all five continents in its 2007 World Championship
Quarter-Finals. Which is NOT the case in so many other sports which
are already in the Olympics…
Le Blue Corner
For most of the human beings on this planet, New Zealand is
synonymous with Rugby. Well, those humans have got to realise that
they are not bad at squash either! Although not quite good enough
yet to beat France in the last sixteen (France, 3/0). The All
Blacks, who played in Black as ever, offered strong resistance and
showed good promise for the future. Their coach, Dave Clark,
can be proud of his players.
Thierry Lincou, with a stiff neck, put his country on the
right track from the start, although conceding a game to Campbell
Grayson. Then the artist Greg Gaultier, literally,
arrived on stage… without forgetting his skills and shots in the
wings! It was a great show for both teams to watch, although I
reckon the New Zealanders would have probably preferred his shots to
find the tin than the nick!
One to be remembered, a backhand volley played from a good metre
behind him, so, out of nowhere, and which ends just a millimetre
from the tin … absolutely unplayable for the poor Kiwi number one
Kashif Shuja, who nevertheless played an excellent match .
Greg thus qualified France for its fourth quarter-final in a row, in
eight years, before Julien Balbo completed the French success
by beating Josh Greenfield 2/1, the outcome of the encounter
having already been decided.
Let’s not forget that if France had the feeling of 'duty done', we
never forget that eight years ago, in Cairo, our first qualification
for the top eight (France finished seventh), was an extremely great
moment for our country. Not to mention that 10 years ago, in
Malaysia, France only finished 13th.
We do not forget where we come from. Far from it ... |
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THE REST OF THE WORLD
If England (3/0 against Germany), Australia (3/0 against USA),
Canada (3/0 against South Africa), and Egypt (3/0 against HK) all
quite logically reached the last eight, they won’t want to stop at
that stage, obviously.
India has already succeeded in THEIR world championship ... and
how!!! By eliminating Alex Gough’s Wales, Indian players put
their country into the top eight for the first time (if you ignore
the time, 30 years ago, where they reached the 5th or 6th place, but
then, only 6 teams were playing!!!!).
And if you look at the young age of that team, and the efforts put
in for several years by the Indian Federation, it wouldn’t be
surprising at all to see them again and again at this level of
competition. And why not at a higher one..?
OK, Saurav Ghosal was playing an injured number one Alex
Gough, his left leg forcing him to surrender the match and therefore
the encounter. But before that, Ritwik Bhattacharya had kept
control at all times against David Evans, putting his country
on the right way, and the rest is History…
Same scenario for the other “surprise result” of the day, with
Dylan Bennett, who from the start kept Mansoor Zaman
under his thumb, (3/1), followed by LJ Anjema against
Aamir Atlas Khan. Not that surprising, if you think about it, as
the Netherlands are European Vice Champion after all, and have had
the same solid and reliable structure in their team for years, both
for players and officials.
And working in continuity ends up paying great dividends…
That way, the Orange pushed the Pakistanis out of the competition
(2/1), and are now in the quarters. Is it the first time in their
history (I didn’t see them since their win)? Well, you’ve got to ask
Mister Squash, alias John Williams, ex number 15. World
Champion in 2001 with Australia, who knows all the scores of all the
matches of all the tournaments!
To finish, Pakistan’s defeat is also an historical one. But in the
sad sense of the term. To not see that mystical country in the top
eight will be a surprise for us squash lovers.
For us who Squash still rhymes with Pakistan ...
French Captain |
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Squash & Rubgy, the resemblance :
Blue Corner :
 French
Team cruises the first stage of the Worlds Teams 2007 with a 3/0
victory over Japan, then the USA, and to finish
Venezuela, giving France top place in group D, and therefore, at
first sight, an "easier" opponent in the last 16, in this case New
Zealand.
And as we pass the All Blacks on our way (to the title?), it's
impossible to not make a parallel between these World Team
Champs and the Rugby World Cup two months ago. Like
our oval-ball friends, barring big surprises only a few teams can
pretend to the supreme title, the other ones fighting to get the
best possible result, sometimes to write a page of their own
history, sometimes of quash History.
It's already the case for our valorous opponents of Venezuela,
for whom this was their first appearance, like Chinese Taipei and
Russia. Those three countries are here to learn, like Portugal and
Namibia in Rugby. And their score will only take their importance at
the end of the event, when they'll fight to avoid the Wooden Spoon,
the last place. But the participation of these new countries is
already a victory for the Squash World.
During the first two matches, Greg needed to recover mentally from
the World Open, and against the South Americans, Thierry wished to
be left on the bench, so it was a "baptism of fire" with great
success for Julien's first selection - he was never impressed with
the importance of the event, and gave us some solid performances.
Whereas for your servant, a good food poisoning denied him the use
of his legs for the first three days ... accessories slightly useful
when playing squash! But at the end of the day, the important thing
was to win.
Three encounters, three wins...
The dynamic is in place...Till when... ?
THE REST OF THE WORLD
The other favourites, outside France, didn't have any worries
either. For Egypt, England and Australia the
essential was in managing the troops.
 Amr
Shabana, the man who plays - and wins - the most matches for a month
and a half (22 victories in a row), was still under fire twice since
the start of the competition.
The English are showing great professionalism as ever, spending very
little time on court, outside their training time that is. Same song
for the Australians, the team with the most prestigious record in
the event, and also the tallest team by far!!!!!
Just behind those four favourites, you'll find the outsiders -
Malaysians, Canadians, Pakistanis and Welsh.
Waiting for their turn?
Anyway, they didn't fall in the traps presented in the pool matches
by Kuwait, Ireland, India and Netherlands - a defeat against those
teams would have meant a second place in their pool, making a more
difficult path to the quarter-finals.
From the intensity and matters at stake, the Aamir Atlas Khan v
Saurav Ghosal (3-2) and Alex Gough v LJ Anjema (3-2) matches have
been the highlights of the tournament up to now...
Next to follow!!!!!!
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