In the same venue where they contested the World Junior Final in
2002, appropriately it was James Willstrop and Peter Barker
who led England to victory after David Palmer had put
Australia into the lead.
France foil Egypt to claim Bronze ... Kenya claim 23rd
over Austria ... Russia rout Venezuela for 27th ...
Sweden stymie Scots for 17th ... Dutch dash hosts
India for 7th ... Finland finish 21st over Kuwait ...
Spain sweep past Japan for 19th ... Sri Lanka lash
Bermuda for 25th ... Pakistan punish Irish for 9th ...
Malaysia crush Canada for 5th ... Springboks skin Ireland
for 11th ... Hong Kong hurdle Germany for 15th ... Kiwis
clobber Usa for 13th ... Taipei trail in 29th ...
ROUNDUP:
Squash Passion,
Refs Clinic, Support from on High,
Best Ever for India, Indian Squash in good hands ...
[2] England 2-1 [4] Australia
[1] Nick Matthew 2-3 David Palmer
9/11, 9/11, 11/7, 11/2, 4/11 (82m)
[2] James Willstrop 3-0 Stewart Boswell
11/8, 11/7, 12/10 (65m)
[3] Peter Barker 3-0 Cameron Pilley
11/6, 11/3, 11/8 (60m)
England beat Aussie jinx Pradeep Vijayakar reports from Chennai
England
ended their brinkmanship against Australia in the medal rounds of
the World Team Squash Championships with a 2-1 win over Australia in
the final of the 21st edition of the event at the ICL-SDAT courts
here in Chennai.
England, losers to Australia in the final and semi-final in 1991 and
2001, retained their title with a 2-1 success in front of a goodly
crowd. France overcame top seeds Egypt to repeat their
third-place effort of last time, while hosts India claimed
eighth spot, their best ever after the 11th in 2005, losing to
Holland 0-3. Their players looked dead beat while the Dutch had
plenty in reserve.
England had players ranked No 5 (Nick Matthew), No 6 (James
Willstrop) and No 13 (Peter Barker) in the world. Australia had No
4, (David Palmer), No 16 (Stewart Boswell) and No 21 (Cameron
Pilley).
For once the stats were not liars, the rankings and seedings stood
vindicated. It was a match between two sides of supremely fit
players, who had benefit of world class coaching. The higher ranked
players played to form.
Australia’s former world champ David Palmer beat Nick
Mathew in a five game tussle that was quality squash. Palmer,
who had beaten World No 1 Amr Shabana in the semi-final upset of top
seeds Egypt, won the first two games using the powerful drives,
forcing errors from his opponent.
In the next two he inexplicably
began lobbing the ball, sometimes out of court, and lost them both.
In the decider he came back on course and it was the fitter Matthew
who had to seek the answers, which he couldn’t as there was no time
to think or blink. Palmer triumphed 11/9, 11/9, 7/11, 2/11, 11/4.
In the second tie, James Willstrop, who has risen
tremendously over the years since winning the the world junior title
here, looked the fitter player after an hour on court because
Aussie Stewart Boswell had to do most of the running. He won
in straight games, 11/8, 11/7, 12/10, though the third could have
gone either way.
In the deciding tie, Peter Barker,who lost that 2002
final to Willstrop,again showed the merits of keeping it
simple, straight drives and the odd crosscourt to finish. Cameron
Pilley was chasing the ball all over court and also went down
in straight games, 11/6, 11/3, 11/8.
It was all over in three and a half hours ...
A Noisy Start
There was quite some fanfare at the start of the match as young kids
escorted the teams into the arena to the sound of drums and piped
music.
The two teams exchanged pennants before the start of the match.
One bunch of kids sitting near the England camp raised a chant:
"Come on England," and kids in the Aussie camp returned with "Come
on Australia!"
England coach Paul Carter had to tell his newfound supporters not to
get excited so early, and the noise levels went down ...
"Greg played an
excellent match, he was hungry for revenge after his recent defeats
against the world number one, and dug in deep to clinch the victory.
"The team is satisfied with another medal for the World
Championship, the third medal in three editions (silver in 2003, and
bronze in 2005).
"Let's not forget the long journey which brought France to this
place, as one of the world's top nations for a few years now.
"We were seeded three, and we finish third. Now, it is an
understatement that the players were hoping for more, they wanted
the title. But such is sport....!
"The French team is a real team, and it has proven it today yet
again ..."
France Technical Director
"Nick
played better, that’s why he won those two games. At 6-4 in the
third I thought I had done it and dropped my concentration.
"Nick has always been a fighter and he came back strongly. But in
the decider I didn’t panic, started well and was happy to win.
"To beat Shabana and Nick in a couple of days feels great stuff."
"The
charm of team games was there to see. You can lose your match yet
the team wins. I did my best, but David is an exceptional player
when it comes to playing the big points.
"I think he got tired in the third and fourth games especially as I
was never going to `die’. But he held o, how he keeps his composure
is something for us to learn.
"James and Peter are my best friends, I am happy for them.
Celebrations will be hold till after the English Open.
"I
didn’t feel bad about missing the final. This game is about the team
not the individual.
"I had my moments, like beating Karim Darwish at No 2 in the win at
the last worlds at Islamabad.
"To have defended the title was a great feat. Winning back-to-back
titles proves how good a team we are."
"We
are over the moon. This is the stuff we dream about. It’s the stuff
to cherish, winning a world championship. It’s a major achievement
on court.
"We had to play a lot of tournaments but were able to maintain the
freshness. Brilliant and fantastic. "
"I
did feel the pressure of playing the decider initially. But I played
the basic game and a simple one, going straight to the front and
making it hard. The pressure came back in the third but I decided to
be patient. It worked."
"Our
No 2 and No 3 men played to form, kept us ahead of Australia. Nick
too raised his game but it is always hard to beat David. But after
we were one-down James and Peter kept their cool.
"Pilley felt the pressure more than Peter. It is the team which can
tackle this pressure that is the winner. Our boys needed good
starts and got them. This momentum makes such a difference.
"It was not possible to have a camp before this event because the
players are playing all over the world. But thanks to the support of
Sport England the support staff, Paul Carter, and Phil Newton, who
travel with the players to some tournaments. That way we can keep
tab on their fitness and performance.
"Above all our team spirit is very strong ...." England manager and national coach
"It
was really a great world team final.
"We were the underdogs at No 4, but David Palmer was exceptional
while beating Nick Mathew. He did well to win the crucial points
otherwise Nick may have had his day.
"Winning the first game makes a difference for the underdogs, we did
that against Egypt and that’s how we won. When David had allowed
Nick to level I told him that he had to move forward, he was hanging
back and allowing Nick to dominate, that way he could cut off the
shots early. He made the changes and won the decider.
"James was too strong for Boswell. Peter was solid. The England boys
had a better day."
[1] Egypt 1-2 [4] Australia
[3] Mohammed Abbas bt Cameron Pilley 7/11,
11/7, 11/4, 11/8 (62m)
[1] Amr Shabana lost David Palmer
8/11, 6/11, 11/6, 6/11 (55m)
[2] Karim Darwish lost Stewart Boswell
8/11, 11/7, 9/11, 8/11 (73m)
[2] England 2-1 [3] France
[3] Peter Barker bt Renan Lavigne
11/6, 11/6, 11/6 (42m)
[1] Nick Matthew bt Grégory Gaultier
11/3, 11/6, 11/4 (41m)
[2] James Willstrop lost Thierry Lincou
10/12, 8/11 (25m)
It's England
and Australia
Top seeds Egypt crashed out of the world team championships in
Chennai, beaten 2/1 by fourth seeds Australia in today's
semi-finals.
Mohammed Abbas got the Egyptians off to a fine start, recovering
from a game down to see off Cameron Pilley, but the Aussies levelled
when David Palmer halted his recent ruin of defeats to world number
one Amr Shabana, ending the world champion's 20+ match unbeaten
streak in the process.
Stewart Boswell wrapped things up for the eight-time winners with a
3/1 win over Karim Darwish.
In the final they will meet defending champions England, who
reversed their defeat at the hands of France in the 2005 semi-final
in Vienna. Peter Barker put England into the lead with a
straight-games win over Renan Lavigne, then Nick Matthew did much the same as Palmer,
recording his first in over Gregory Gaultier in five recent meetings
to put England into the final again.
England will be aiming for their fourth world team title (plus two
as Great Britain), Australia their ninth ...
Semi-Finals Pradeep Vijayakar reports
On Tuesday, with World Open champ Amr Shabana beaten by David
Palmer, fourth seeds Australia sent top seeds Egypt crashing out and
will take on defending champs and second seeds England who beat
third seeds France 2-1. The last time England played Australia they
lost to them in the semis of the Melbourne event in 2001, they also
lost the 1991 final in Helsinki.
India, 11th last time around, lost 1-2 to Canada for 5-8 positions
and take on Holland for the 7-8 spots. For positions 5-6, Canada
play Malaysia who beat Holland 3-0.
Aussies down the favourites
World Open Champion Amr Shabana, the star attraction of the event,
lost in four games to David Palmer in the second tie after No 3
Mohammed Abbas had beaten Cameron Pilley with some confident
strokeplay in the opener.
In the decider, Karim Darwish, tried his
best in spite of his recent injuries but the fitter Stewart Boswell
- who had taken Shabana to five games in the World Open first round
- kept getting everything back to win 3-1 to give the Aussies a
famous win.
For the first time in the tournament world class players were pitted
against one another. In such cases past reputation and record has no
relevance, the one that plays better on the day is the winner. Amr
Shabana just didn’t produce his wonted shots.
Palmer, on the other
hand, kept him busy in the back of the court. There were several
obstructions as Palmer refused to budge from the `T’ and Shabana
tried his best to do that.
In the end the strain of the past five
weeks in which he won four events told on Shabana.
"This result was not expected. David
had lost to Shabana at Bermuda, he played a lot better here. The
courts were slippery there they are good here.
"Aussies are strong in squash but the people don’t want to come to
play competitively for it takes a lot of time. They want everything
fast, fast food, they use it as a means of fitness in the fastest
time. The inhouse and heated courts are usually full and at junior
level the outlook is good because they have a lot of time for
tournaments.
"We have squash at most of our sports institutes at Melbourne,
Canberra, Brisbane and Adelaide where I come from."
Squash Australia president
It was sad to see Shabana almost in
tears sitting on the stairs for a long while. The Frenchmen kept
glancing at him from time to time with a tense look as if fearing
that their time could also come for that.
And it turned out exactly that way as England shut them out.
England Shut out France England played No4 Peter Barker at third string as Lee Beachill had
a bad tummy. Barker won the opener against Renan Lavigne in three
straight games. Then came the second upset of the day as World No 5
Nick Matthew beat World No 3 Gregory Gaultier also, 3-0. In the
`dead’ rubber Thierry Lincou beat James Willstrop 2-0.
When told that an `Ashes’-like battle will be fought out in the
final of the ICL World Men’s Team Championship here on Wednesday
Matthew, who had been instrumental in that happening,
said:
"Australia beats us in several sports, I hope we can beat them in
squash. I am pleased to be in the final but not over the moon, it’s
a half job done, it will be fifty-fifty for the final. I was the
team mascot when the last time we lost to Australia in Melbourne
2001."
"Greg Gaultier looked
stale. In Bermuda he was looking great, but he has had a long run,
it was bound to happen. In comparison Nick, who also plays a lot,
works hard on staying mentally fresh, and Peter Barker doesn’t reach
too many title rounds to get drained.
"It was certainly one of the best England performances I have seen."
England manager
"Nick Matthew was too strong today, and Gregory too tired
both mentally and physically by his last tournaments.
"He had the will before getting on court, but once in the cage, we
could feel that he wouldn't go and pick up the balls. Which led him
to make too many unforced errors by looking for winning shots.
France Technical Director
"I was devastated. I
wanted to Australia a good start. But Mohammed played well."
"We had no pressure
being No 4 seeds, but It’s always great to play for Australia.
In Bermuda he played well, I didn't play. Here I played well and he
looked tired.
"Anyone who has won four titles would be, I am surprised Egypt used
him in every match. You need a break. The mental tiredness is
terrible more than physical."
"It’s a fantastic
result. We played as a team and were sharp. David was great, he had
lost four times to Shabana this year. Pilley had a strong game
though he lost. Stewart kept a cool head to win against a higher
ranked player.
"We were happy the pressure was off us as fourth seeds, but we
respected every opponent. Australia last won at Vienna four years
ago and David and Stewart were there. Anthony Ricketts has retired
but we hope we win again."
Aussie coach
"Renan beat me last
September, so I was careful this time."
"England were better today. Against Barker I was good in the
first half of the games, but every time I played the ball short, it
turned into a loose shot.
"It's obviously a great disappointment. We all took the building on
the head, but we'll be back mentally for tomorrow's, and for that
third place.
"The analysis of the event, we'll do after the last match. Like two
years, it will be a question of desire to win, and we'll do our best
for that desire to have the French colours on!"
"Nick was too fresh, he played a super
match, but I, with all my will to beat our opponents, I just
couldn't do what I wanted, it's a whole really, the accumulation of
too many matches these past weeks.
"Still, I'm looking forward to playing Shabana tomorrow to take my
revenge on my last three defeats against him, but most of all, to
retain the bronze medal we acquired two years ago."
"Greg beat me in the World Open semis, so I had to stay mentally
stronger."
It is rare indeed for
my writings to make much sense, but for once my semi final preview
looks like the work of a clairvoyant. Naturally I was delighted at
England's win over France, which surprisingly turned out far easier
than expected, but Australia's win over Egypt did not surprise me
one jot.
The loss of Ramy Ashour was serious for Egypt, but no more so than
the loss of Anthony Ricketts for Australia.
So to a finely balanced final. Nick Matthew was already thinking
about the world teams before he left Bermuda and the top string
match with the redoutable David Palmer is heavyweight indeed.
Stewart Boswell played well in defeat against Amr Shabana in Bermuda
and clinched the match for his country in the semi finals. His match
with James Willstrop who has had little to do, cannot be other than
close. Perhaps with Lee Beachill or Peter Barker at three England
have a slight advantage, but it is marginal.
It all adds up to what should be a thrilling climax to the
championships, between genuine team players. My heart is obviously
with England for a multitude of reasons, one of which is that should
Australia win, I will be plagued with telephone calls from a certain
Australian Tony Smith, the Great Britain Rugby League coach.
It never seemed likely that any of the four top teams Egypt,
England, Australia or France would not make the semi finals of
the world team championships in Chennai, for the simple reason that
they are four exceptional sides - despite missing the prodigious
Ramy Ashour and the sadly retired Anthony Ricketts.
Of the four semi finalists, with no disrespect to Renan Lavigne,
France will probably need to win at one and two, but with Gregory
Gaultier and Thierry Lincou they are capable of doing just that.
England have a solid look and there has been little wrong with
Nick Matthew or James Willstrop in the first half of the season.
Whether Lee Beachill or Peter Barker plays at three a win from there
would seem almost necessary.
Egypt and Australia are both missing a key player, so it will be
David Palmer v Amr Shabana, Stewart Boswell V Karim Darwish
and Cameron Pilley v Mohammed Abbas. Egypt may have a slight
edge at three and Shabana is almost invincible at present.
But Australians are ultra competitive and essential team players.
The Egyptians do feel the pressure in team events, the game having
so much status for them and England's pressure will be much more
about retaining their title. France are singularly nationalistic at
such times, but since the game is relatively low profile in their
country, the pressure is less for them too.
There is no doubt what the world teams means to all countries and
equally there are some players who are team players. Despite Ramy
Ashour's absence, Egypt still look marginal favourites, but being
favourite, as any punter or New Zealand rugby fan will tell you is
no guarantee of success ...
Chinese pay a visit
The Chinese came to squash on Monday. Squash is in the 2010 Asian
Games at Guangzhou. China is zero in squash so they wanted to know
how it is played, how it is organised, what sort of facilities need
to be created, what sort of costs are there, what kind of other
nitty gritties are there.
And who to ask better than N.Ramachandran, secretary of the
Asian Squash Federation who has created a wonder of squash at
Chennai at the ICL Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu courts
in Chennai where the 21st edition of the World Men's Team Squash is
being held?
Luckily there were two who spoke English: One was a sports
department member and the other was Jodie Qi a member of the
external relations department, Guanghzhou Asian Games Organising
Committee.
This is their second visit to Chennai. They had discussions with the
SRFI officials and later flew to Delhi for another round of talks
with officials.
One question they were keen to know the answer to was how many
countries were taking part, and were pleased to know it was 29. Jodi
said squash was played in some places in China but there was little
general awareness about it yet.
Where's Joshna ?
"Where's Joshna Chinappa?" someone asked at the championship,
because there have been local women players of India like Deepika
Pallikal and Anwesha Reddy around this week.
Joshna's father Anjan who was there to watch and applaud Ritiwk's
effort against Egypt on Monday, said: "Joshna is in South Africa
training with fitness expert Heath Matthews."
Heath sometime ago worked with another India star tennis icon Sania
Mirza during her comeback from injury.
So we should see a better Joshna in the circuit next time around.
Because of her ranking Joshna has been often run into the top seeds
in the early rounds and bit the dust, although she once had a US
Open semi-final spot.
Before she left for Durban Joshna received an award for achievers at
the hands of India's lady President Pratibha Patil.
Walker
watches
over US
Former
England great and current US coach Chris Walker was
disappointed over the team's showing against South Africa.
"South Africa had a lesson in squash for us. My boys learnt what it
is to play a big match, I hope the players realise that they can't
take things for granted. There is one thing in learning what to do,
another how to execute it."
Asked for a silver lining, Walker said: "There is this article in
the New York Times which says squash is growing in the US. That
parents are realising that if their kids play squash they have a
good chance of getting into the universities where squash is big.''
Indian kids and their parents realised this decades ago. Anil
`Lucky' Nayar, from Bombay (NOW MUMBAI), a Drysdale Cup winner, went
to the US in the sixties on a squash scholarship and won not only
the US collegiate title but also the US Open title.
In his wake over a hundred boys and girls followed suit and they
brought glory for their universities. Lads like Dinyar Ali Khan,
Adrian Ezra,Akhil Behl, Rishad Pandole, and more recently Siddharth
Suchde, Akhil Behl, Indian 1997 champ, who was a collegiate
semi-finalist is here for the World team. He recalled beating
current US player Julian Illingworth, a Yale freshman, at the
collegiate event. He said Julian had improved by leaps and bounds.
There was a time when US played hard ball and it was thought that
the problem of transition to soft ball would delay the advance of
the players.
Walker said: "Today's kids have begun only with soft ball so there's
no problem there. The only problem will be application.''
He also wanted the sport to grow nationwide rather than stay in
pockets like the east cost and some other centres.
In the end he said; "Watch out for Dillon, a 12-year-old I am
coaching at the next Drysdale Cup ..."
1-8: Big four safely through
The evening quarter-finals all went to seeding as Egypt, England,
France and Australia all took the first two ties to clinch their
places in the final four ...
9-16:
Springbok Success
In the first of the 9/16 matches South Africa took an unassailable
2-0 lead over the USA with wins for Adrian Hansen and
Jesse Engelbrecht Chris Gordon and Julian Illingworth
respectively. South Africa meet Wales, 2/1 winners over Hong Kong,
while in the other semi Ireland face Pakistan.
17-24:
Swedes win Scandinavian tussle
...
Scottish comeback
It came down to the wire between Sweden and Finland - Badr Abdel
Aziz, making his first appearance, put the Swedes ahead with a
3/0 win over Matias Tuomi, but Olli Tuominen levelled in a
3/2 thriller over Christian Drakenberg.
In the decider Rasmus
Hult came through 3/2 against Henrik Mustonen to keep the Swedes
on course for 17th - they now meet Japan, who defeated Austria 2-1.
Scotland, missing John White, went one down to Kuwait as youngster
Abdullah Al-Mezayen despatched Stuart Crawford. Alan Clyne
levelled - but only after squandering a 2-0 lead against Bader Al-Hussaini
- leaving it to Harry Leitch to notch up the Scots' first
win. Scotland now meet Spain - who dismissed Kenya 3-0 - in the
17/20 semis.
25-29:
First joy for Taipei
With a team of juniors, Chinese Taipei are very much treating this
championship as an experience-gainer for future events. In today's
match against Russia 14-year-old Kai Han-Chang won their
first game of the tournament as he went down 3/1 to Sergey
Kostrykin, at 43 the oldest player in the tournament.
This means that Russia, who won the match 3-0, move into the 25/28
semis against Sri Lanka while Chinese Taipei thus finish 29th, but have no
doubt, they'll be back ...
[3] FRANCE beat [5] MALAYSIA 3-0
Thierry
Lincou 3-0 Ong Beng Hee
11/9 11/6 12/10 (36m)
Gregory
Gaultier 3-1 Azlan Iskandar 11/8, 11/7, 9/11, 11/7
(48m)
Renan Lavigne 2-1 Muhd Asyraf
11/8, 10/12, 11/5
[2] ENGLAND beat [8] NETHERLANDS 3-0
James Willstrop 3-1
Tom Hoevenaars 11/6, 11/7, 9/11, 11/8 (40m)
Nick Mathew 3-0
Laurens Jan Anjema 11/6, 11/6, 11/9 (40m)
Peter Barker 2-0 Piedro Schweertman 11/4, 11/2
(20m)
Top
four
through to Semis Pradeep Vijayakar reports
One all-European semi ... Defending
champions England blanked giant-killers Holland 3-0 and
amazed the Indian squash buffs by then having a workout on the
all-glass centre court where they play tomorrow's semi-final against
France, who beat Malaysia 3-0.
French star world number 3 Gregory Gaultier said: "I am happy
I had a competitive the match against Azlan." Thierry Lincou
also had a keen tie against Ong Beng Hee, who had his moments in the
opening and closing games.
And one Antipodean-African
The other semi-final pits top seeds Egypt against many-time
winners Australia. Egypt beat India 3-0 despite resting
number two Karim Darwish and Australia beat Canada 3-0 with only
David Palmer having problems getting past Shahier Razik.
Razik, a top 20 player, worried the Aussie with his consistent
returns, the occasional drop from back, and his returning ability
and sudden winners stumped Palmer in the opening game which he lost
over extra points. But when Palmer slowed him down he suddenly lost
control of the game.
Stewart Boswell had earlier given Australia the lead and
Cameron Pilley wrapped up the dead rubber for the Aussies.
India beaten but not disgraced
Ritiwik Bhattacharya lost the first game against Wael El
Hindi on extra points 13-11, not having much luck with
refereeing decisions as he went on to lose in three. "I wish I had
the luck in the first, it would have been a different match. In the
next two it was a slugfest," said Ritwik.
Saurav Ghoshal played his shots against World Champ Amr
Shabana, who played them well thanks to the accuracy and width
of his shots, especially the crosscourts. Saurav did have him
stumped with a volley drop or two and some drives to length, but
Shabana went through 11-5, 11-8, 11-9.
In the third tie Siddharth Suchde could not perform as well
as the other two, losing the dead rubber tie to Mohammed Abbas 6-11,
8-11.
"It was a totally different level," said Suchde. "The length of the
shots that came back at you was totally different than you expected.
They have that kind of touch."
The tenth seeds, who made this round for the first time and were
rewarded by the Squash Rackets Federation of India with a Rs 2.5
bonanza, now play for 5-8 positions meeting sixth seeds Canada.
Power back next time for Canada
In Tuesday’s tie against Canada all eyes will be on veteran
Jonathan Power who is still playing for Canada despite retiring
from the pro tour almost two years ago. It appears he has some back
pain and was rested from Canada’s game against Australia.
"Nick
Matthew had a good run-up to the semi-final with his match against
LJ Anjema, but James Willstrop was a little out of focus against Tom
Hoevenaars.
"We beat France in a four-player Euro match but lost last time we
had a three-player affair."
"It’s amazing how when
the Egyptians want to win a point they do so."
Former Indian champion
"Saurav is
fast, has good hands, if he stays hungry he can make the top 20 and
go higher.
"Ritwik had some unlucky calls from the referee. But for that he
could have made the match interesting."
"Amr
has fantastic racketwork, it's phenomenal how much width he gets on
the crosscourts."
"I’m
feeling sore. I have respect for the Indian players. It will be a
tight match."
"I remember Mumbai and the Mahindra Open ... Jansher beat me 15-13
in the decider of the semi-finals ..."
Looking good for India & Asia
"The win over Wales can only be good for the sport in the country.
We knew it was possible but we had our fingers crossed. I am happy
for the boys.
"I'm looking forward to taking the sport forward in Asia. India,
Malaysia and Hong Kong are pushing it. Singapore, once a force, has
fallen back, also Thailand, but China will come if it becomes an
Olympic sport. It is an Asian Games sport and China will have it in
the next Asiad in Guangzhou. In fact a Chinese delegation is coming
here tomorrow to study the facilities here."
Asian Squash Federation Secretary
Playoff snippets ...
Scottish
smiles at last
Scotland wiggled out with a 2-1 win over Kuwait to
qualify for the 17-20 spots. Kuwait were 16th last time and will go
down to 20-24.
"This
is what is called winning ugly. I am not disappointed. Abdullah is a
good player so fit at this age, Rahmat has been doing good work the
boys.
"Alan Clyne is a comeback specialist so he pulled one back. But it
was good we had Harry Leitch at the end, his experience counted."
29th
for Taipei
The youngest of the tournament
Kan Han Chang was pitted against the oldest, Sergey
Kostykin. The match ended dramatically when Kan stretched for a
return and his legs were completely splayed sideways in the manner
of a gymnast. Shows how fit the Taipei players are.
Sergey, who promotes Black Knight sporting gear back in Moscow, said
"the kid was playing tough squash."
A disappointed Taipei manager Amingo said: "We are through
with the event, taking the wooden spoon, the 29th spot. But we will
be back."
Swedes
swing it
Sweden won an extended match against Finland their traditional
rivals thanks to the injured Badr Abdel Aziz playing his
first game and winning. "It still hurts the groin but I managed,"
said Badr, who said he was looking for a break until after the new
year.
Coach Jonas Gornerop said: "It was important to beat our old
enemies. We had a tough draw he hoped to finish in top 16 but now
play for 17-20. Every player played well, even the guy who lost
because it was 2-3."
Top
20 for Japan
Japan had their best showing in world
squash coming to the top 20 with a win over Austria.
"We were No 21 last time so that’s a great improvement,’’ said their
manager Hitoshi Ushiogi, who is managing director of the
Japan Squash Association. Japan play Sweden who edged out Finland
2-1 for 17-20.
Yuta Fukui, who won the first tie said he was rewarded for
his patience.
Takanori Shimizu, who won the decider, said: "I didn’t feel
the pressure of the decider, I was confident and that took me
through."
"Japanese
women have a better record than our men. We had two women in the
last eight of the 2006 Asian Games at Qatar. They are playing on the
WISPA circuit also. Unless squash gets into the Olympics it will be
hard to support squash. But the silver lining is that squash became
part of the Japan Olympic Committee two years ago.
"The JOC provides 50 per cent of the funding, otherwise we had to
shell out from our own pockets.
"Soccer, baseball, women’s golf (men’s golf has gone down) and
volleyball are the sports that attract the youth. Malaysia has a
system where you get tax rebates for funding sporting teams, I hope
it comes to Japan."
Aqueel gets
one for Austria
The redeeming feature of Austria’s loss to Japan was the win by
their Aqeel Rehman. He is the son of a Pakistani father and
Austrian mother. Father Shafiq runs a Pakistani/Italian restaurant
in Salzburg. Rehman, ranked in the 80s, said a big junior programme
was in the offing in Austria. But he said there wasn’t a squash boom
after Vienna staged the 2003 World Team event. "It’s okay, the
squash in our country."
The youngest v the Oldest ... experience wins, for today
...
DAY FOUR
Indians and Dutch gatecrash
the last 8 as top 4 ease through
Day four commenced with the five first round matches in the 17-29
playoffs, plus the first of the last 16 proper matches as defending
champions England took to the glass court with a comfortable
3/0 win over Germany. Austria, Kuwait, Scotland and Sweden all
recorded 3/0 wins while Kenya came from behind to beat Sri
Lanka.
The afternoon session saw the remaining seven main-draw matches take
place, with hosts India gatecrashing the last eight with a
3/0 victory over Wales. Netherlands, who lost out to Wales in
the final pool match, also defied the seedings as they beat Pakistan
3/0.
The rewards for the Indians and Dutch - who both lost crunch clashes
yesterday but bounced back as their victors suffered defeat today -
are clashes with top seeds Egypt and England respectively.
Third and fourth seeds France and Australia progressed
easily enough, while Canada and Malaysia both reached
their seeded positions with 2/1 wins.
England
brush
aside Germans Pradeep Vijayakar reports
Defending champions
England were the first team to make the last eight of the 21st ICL
World Men’s Team Squash Championship at the ICL-SDAT courts here.
Theirs was the only one of the eight matches to be played in the
morning, the remainder were scheduled for the evening session.
James
Willstrop, Nick Mathew and Lee Beachill won their ties without much
ado. There were a few rallies but the hard squash played by the
English plus their ability to cut short rallies served them well in
disposing off the German challenge.
German
coach Oliver Pettke said: "I am not happy. I expected a
better fight from the players. Of course England’s players are of a
very high stature. But I expected some spark from our men."
Germany
finished 10th last time around. They would like to finish higher,
but ninth is now their highest possible finish.
"It
was as expected. Now we await the winners of Pakistan and
Netherlands.
"The
change for us in the event is that unlike at Islamabad in the 2005
event we likely run into France in the semis, we met Canada last
time.
"On the basis of the rankings the matches between the number ones
and twos of England and France will be close. On form we should be
favourites to win the number three tie."
David Pearson
[10]
INDIA beat [9] WALES 3-0 Ritwik Bhattacharya 3-0 David
Evans 11/6, 13/11, 11/7
(38m)
Saurav Ghosal 3-1 Alex Gough
12/14, 11/7, 11/3 rtd (50m)
Siddarth Suchde 2-1 Jethro Binns
11/8, 7/11, 11/2 (31m)
Asian squash
goes topsy turvy ... Last evening when Wales beat Holland, there was a little sadness
in the Indian camp, for the hosts now had to face Wales and not
Holland in the round of 16. India had beaten Holland at Islamabad in
2005 and fancied their chances again.
But today when Holland sent 7th seeds Pakistan crashing out of the
medal round, the India camp’s thinking looked flawed. Wales had
'Dad’s Army' playing in the form of David Evans and Alex Gough and
looked the easier option. As it turned out India’s youth prevailed
and India sent Asian squash topsy turvy - the only other time India
finished higher than Pakistan was in the inaugural event in 1967
when all of Pakistan’s professionals did not play and India were
fifth and Pakistan sixth in the six-team event.
India,
who were 11th at the last worlds in 2005, are now assured of their
best finish ever, at least eighth, as they advanced to the
quarter-finals for the first time. They next play top seeds Egypt
who blanked Hong Kong 3-0.
Ritwik Bhattacharya, who has been hovering on the brink in
the earlier matches, showed his best game against David Evans,
drops from back, shots into the nick and timely crosscourts winning
3-0. The brinkmanship surfaced when he won the second game 13-11. He
took his dad’s advice to calm nerves. Evans showed his class in the
way he played for the crucial points.
Alex
Gough had a lesson or two for Saurav Ghosal. But Saurav
reads the game well and kept the ball to length. His positivity was
seen in his going for his shots when he had a `let’ coming his way.
"Nick
played better, that’s why he won those two games. At 6-4 in the
third I thought I had done it and dropped my concentration. 
"The
charm of team games was there to see. You can lose your match yet
the team wins. I did my best, but David is an exceptional player
when it comes to playing the big points. 
"I
didn’t feel bad about missing the final. This game is about the team
not the individual. 
"We
are over the moon. This is the stuff we dream about. It’s the stuff
to cherish, winning a world championship. It’s a major achievement
on court. 
"I
did feel the pressure of playing the decider initially. But I played
the basic game and a simple one, going straight to the front and
making it hard. The pressure came back in the third but I decided to
be patient. It worked."
"It
was really a great world team final. 
[1] Egypt 1-2 [4] Australia
"England were better today. Against Barker I was good in the
first half of the games, but every time I played the ball short, it
turned into a loose shot. 
Walker
watches 
Former
England great and current US coach Chris Walker was
disappointed over the team's showing against South Africa. 
"Saurav is
fast, has good hands, if he stays hungry he can make the top 20 and
go higher. 
"Amr
has fantastic racketwork, it's phenomenal how much width he gets on
the crosscourts." 
"I’m
feeling sore. I have respect for the Indian players. It will be a
tight match." 
"This
is what is called winning ugly. I am not disappointed. Abdullah is a
good player so fit at this age, Rahmat has been doing good work the
boys. 
29th
for Taipei
"Japanese
women have a better record than our men. We had two women in the
last eight of the 2006 Asian Games at Qatar. They are playing on the
WISPA circuit also. Unless squash gets into the Olympics it will be
hard to support squash. But the silver lining is that squash became
part of the Japan Olympic Committee two years ago.
Aqueel gets
German
coach Oliver Pettke said: "I am not happy. I expected a
better fight from the players. Of course England’s players are of a
very high stature. But I expected some spark from our men."
Germany
finished 10th last time around. They would like to finish higher,
but ninth is now their highest possible finish.
"The
change for us in the event is that unlike at Islamabad in the 2005
event we likely run into France in the semis, we met Canada last
time.
[10]
INDIA beat [9] WALES 3-0
